'C' is for couscous and cookies

Well that was good.

Have you guys had Israeli/Maftoul couscous? Its not the tiny wee bits that fall of your fork they're larger, almost tapioca sized grains, and I've managed to find it in most grocery stores in their ethnic section. Someone gave me half a box of it one summer back in Boulder and I've been hooked on it since.

Preparation is a little more complex than the couscous that comes with a spice packet, but you can really do whatever you want to it. Back in college I used to dump a chicken flavored Ramen packet into the broth (No 20 yr old has bullion cubes.) then added cumin, sauteed onion, and shrimp. Giada De Laurentiis has a really nice summery dish that has cranberries, mint leaves and slivered almonds. On the back of the couscous box they say you can just add some tomato paste, onion, chickpeas, cumin and call it a day.

I picked up a box of "Ziyad Brand Maftoul", two zucchini and an eggplant at my local produce place on Friday. While cleaning the apartment yesterday I had the chopped zucchini, eggplant and half an onion roasting in the oven with a bit of cumin added to the olive oil/S&P mix.

To make the couscous you first heat 2 c broth (or water with a bullion cube) to boiling in a small saucepan. Then saute 1 c of the couscous in some olive oil to brown it a little in a medium saucepan. Then add the broth, some cumin, S&P to the couscous and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until the couscous is tender (towards the end keep a close eye on it as they can stick to the bottom of your pan if it gets a little dry). Then remove from heat, put a lid on it, and let it sit for a few minutes. If all the water had already been absorbed (see sticking note) I might add a little bit more at this point.

Now you can add whatever veggies you've got! Yesterday I added some tomato sauce, a bit of a red pepper spread I had picked up, and the roasted veggies. I even went crazy and sprinkled some shredded cheese on top. Then I ate it. Mmmmm.

Today is a rather grey day, but grey or rainy Sundays seem appropriate somehow. It's the weekend you don't have to go outside if you don't want to! I don't have to leave the house until 3:45 pm so am sitting on my couch watching Stranger than Fiction. I'm baking today you see, and that movie just seems appropriate.

I do hope you've all seen it. It's my favorite Chicago movie (even though they never say that's where it is). But most of all it's because of the final lines:

As Harold took a bite of Bavarian sugar cookie, he finally felt as if everything was going to be ok. Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true. And, so it was, a wristwatch saved Harold Crick.

Isn't that just lovely? Life, it's all about the little things. And cookies.

...speaking of cookies...

Oh yes.

I definitely baked today.

I bought a bag of whole wheat flour for the bread I made last weekend and remembered there had been an Orangette recipe for chocolate chip cookies that used whole wheat flour. And today I finally got around to it.

Harold Crick, IRS agent and unlikely hero, kept me company.

It's a pretty straight forward cookie recipe, but oh my are they good. As Mo said after eating one, it has a really great nuttiness to it. And while it still has the buttery sugary goodness that I love from the Nestle recipe, the whole wheat heartiness is fantastic. Next time I may just do the Nestle recipe but sub in whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose...

Also, as the heartiness is not just in flavor but flour texture too I can't honestly recommend making them without a mixer like I did...

Yup, lost a bit of skin to the wooden spoon. Does this make me a hardcore baker or just an idiot?

Oh well.

Injuries aside I am please to report that April has been very satisfactory so far. I got my Illinois drivers license on Friday! I was a bit bummed to say goodbye to that Ohio license, it had such a good story attached to it, as well as that connection to my old state I'd be reminded of any time I bought a drink. But the times they are a changin' and I feel like I'm an official Chicagoan now. Plus the photo isn't half bad!

So here's to April and her showers! Go forth, bake some cookies, eat some couscous and remember what Anna Pascal, the rebellious baker and unlikely love interest of Harold Crick, put on the front of her bakery:

"We are here to fight, to think, to love, to rebel, to bake."