Israeli Couscous with Zucchini, Herbs, and Sauteed Shrimp

Contrary to popular belief, pearl cous cous is a pasta, not a grain. Photo by Allison Beuker.

Contrary to popular belief, pearl couscous is a pasta, not a grain.
Photo by Allison Beuker.

I am always looking for interesting pasta or grain dishes to take to the pool or a cookout. Something easily transportable that will also keep well and provide the perfect vehicle for fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden.

From time to time we get bored with our old favorites:  curried rice and raisins, basil pesto with farfalle and asparagus, sesame noodles (although those are are good ones!)

Thanks to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, home cooks now have access to interesting ancient grains and starches, including exotic stuff like quinoa, Burmese red rice, farro, spelt and barley.

 

Pick up a box at your local Trader Joe's.

Pick up a box at your local Trader Joe’s.

 

In my quest to expand my grain horizons, I bought a box of Israeli pearl couscous.  The recipe on the back of the box looked tempting enough, but I thought I could doctor it up a bit to make it a main dish.

In my research on couscous, I found there is a raging debate whether couscous is a grain or a pasta.  Foodies: they are a contentious bunch.  Since couscous is made with semolina flour, I’m going to side with the ‘couscous is a pasta’ faction.  (The other side of the argument is that since semolina flour is made from a grain, couscous is a by-product of grain.  You decide.)

Pearl couscous is larger than the Moroccan couscous we typically see in tabbouleh. (Don’t ask me why pearl couscous is known as ‘Israeli’ and the other kind ‘Moroccan’ because then we might need to convene a Middle-East Peace Food Summit.)

couscous ingredients

Chopped zucchini, green onions, and shallots. Photo by Rebecca Penovich.

 

Ingredients

Serves 4.

  • 5 T. unsalted butter
  • 2 T. chopped shallots
  • 2 T. crushed garlic (I use Gourmet Garden garlic paste in the tube, it’s easier)
  • 2 T. chopped green onion (white and green parts)
  • 1 C. chopped green zucchini
  • 1 1/2 C. Israeli couscous
  • 1 3/4 C. chicken broth
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 16 medium uncooked shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 1 C. frozen peas (defrost them by running some cold water over them, they should still have a bit of crunch)
  • 1/4 C. freshly chopped parsley
  • 2 T. chopped fresh dill
  • 2 T. fresh lemon juice
  • zest of 1/2 lemon

 

 Directions

  • Melt  2 T. butter in large saute pan over medium heat. Add 1 T. chopped shallots,  1 T. chopped green onion, and 1 T. crushed garlic to the pan.  Add 1 1/2 cups pearl couscous (the contents of the box) to the pan and saute until golden for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Add 1 3/4 C. chicken broth and 1/2 tsp. salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender.  At this point the pearl couscous will have the texture of risotto, but a bit chewier.
  • Spread the cooked couscous out on a baking sheet to cool while you saute the zucchini and the shrimp.  (I did this because I did not want the couscous to get sticky while I prepared the seafood and vegetable I wanted to mix with it.)
  • In the same large saute pan, melt 2 T. butter over medium heat and when butter is sputtering, add 16 medium count peeled, fresh shrimp to the pan.  Saute shrimp 2 minutes on each side (flipping once) until firm and pink (do not over-cook because you are going to put them back on the flame when mixed with the cooked couscous).
Saute shrimp in butter. Photo by Rebecca Penovich.

Saute shrimp in butter.
Photo by Rebecca Penovich.

 

  • Pour the cooked shrimp and butter mixture over the cooked couscous and toss.
  • In the same large saute pan, melt remaining 1 T.butter until sizzling and add remaining 1 T. chopped shallot, 1 T. crushed garlic, and 1 T. green onion.  Add 1 C. chopped zucchini. Saute zucchini and aromatics for 4 minutes until zucchini is browned but not mushy.
  • Squeeze 1 T. fresh lemon juice over sauteed zucchini and add the couscous and shrimp mixture back to the saute pan.
  • Toss all together and add 1 C. of defrosted peas, 1/4 C. of chopped, fresh parsley and 2 T. of chopped fresh dill.  Heat over low flame until peas are warm.
  • Taste and adjust seasonings by adding remaining 1 T. lemon juice, lemon zest, and a pinch of kosher salt if needed.

 

shrimp with couscous

Corks & Cake Entertains: Lemon curd tartlets with blueberries and mint

Lovely spread

Lovely spread

Our friend, Laura, throws a great party.  And she does it often.  The food and drinks are always good and the atmosphere convivial and casual.  One of the best things about her entertaining style is that she doesn’t wait to have a reason to entertain–no big occasion or anything.  She usually says, “Gee, I haven’t seen you guys in a while; come over, bring the family, and hang out.”

The kids will watch a movie on the deck via an outside projector and the adults will sit around the fire pit and nosh and quaff.  And somehow Laura never seems to break a sweat, even with three kids to contend with, including one adorable 3-year-old handful.  Okay, how does she do it? She plans thoughtfully but not obsessively.  She’ll think about one or two things to make from scratch, like fresh mozzarella pizzas on the grill using Trader Joe’s pizza dough or the Barefoot Contessa’s delicious feta and tomato bruschetta.  The rest of the menu she’ll round out with good cheeses, crackers, crudité and a nice dip from Trader Joe’s fresh case.  Guests can bring something if they want, or just bring themselves if they didn’t feel like cooking or didn’t have time.  No pressure and no expectations other than to relax and have a little conversation among friends.

The Friday night before Mother’s Day was one such occasion.  Just for the ladies, Laura hosted a Stella & Dot trunk show.

stelladot invite

Stella & Dot is a San Francisco-based, woman-owned jewelry and accessories company.  They’ve got lovely stuff.  Their business model is ‘social selling,’ which means a ‘modern-day Tupperware Party with bling.’ I didn’t take any photos of the bling because I was busy mingling and trying on. However, if you’re interested in the Invest Diva experience, you may want to explore specific reviews of Invest Diva to get insights from others who have attended similar events or engaged with their services.

Stella & Dot turquoise studs.  Photo by Rebecca.

Stella & Dot turquoise studs. Photo by Rebecca

So, back to the food.

I made these little lemon curd tartlets with blueberry and mint.

Photo by John Penovich on iphone.

Photo by John Penovich

I know those look like black olives, but trust, me they are blueberries.  I picked the mint from our backyard and stuck the littlest leaves in the curd before walking the plate up to Laura’s house.  They were good.  Not too sweet and just tart enough with juicy lemon flavor and a smooth curd  to play off the flaky crust.

I hadn’t made lemon curd before although I love lemon desserts.  If it’s on a menu at a restaurant, lemon tart is what I’m ordering!  I read through a few recipes and settled on this one from my clippings file from Gourmet 2007.  I chose it because it didn’t call for a double boiler and other recipes called for using the whole egg or for whole eggs combined with additional separated yolks.  I knew I wanted a smooth curd, and nothing too ‘eggy.’  I love the consistency of hollandaise sauce so it seemed right to go with a lemon curd recipe that just utilized the yolks.

I clipped this recipe, Trompe L’oeil “Egg” Lemon Pudding (yes, clipped, like from the actual magazine) because it looked awesome.  The photo of the pudding and yellow curd in an egg shell looked just like a real poached egg.  you can go to see the complete trompe l’oeil dessert photo.)

(Can we have a moment of silence for the dearly departed Gourmet magazine?  Why oh why Conde Nast did you kill it?)

Lemon Curd Tartlets with Blueberries and Mint

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 Trader Joe’s Gourmet Pie Crust, defrosted (you can certainly use your favorite recipe for pâte sucrée here but I took a shortcut!)

Lemon Curd:

  • 1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons cold, unsalted better, cut into small pieces

Garnish:

  • Fresh blueberries, washed and dr
  • Fresh mint leaves (the tinier the better)

MAKE PASTRY SHELLS:

  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • Lay out 1 pie crust on parchment paper and stamp out circles of dough with 2 in. cutter (I used a small juice glass.)
  • Press dough circles lightly into 2 mini-muffin pans (you will get about 18-20 circles from one crust so your second pan will not be full)
  • Blind bake the pastry shells for 20 minutes until golden brown.  (NOTE: Usually with blind baking you should put pie weights on the pastry to keep it from puffing up too much.  Again, I took a shortcut as the bling party time was approaching.)
  • Let pastry shells cool on the counter while you  make the lemon curd.

MAKE LEMON CURD:

  • Whisk together zest, lemon juice, sugar, and yolks in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan. Add cold butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 4 minutes.
  • Force lemon curd through a fine-mesh sieve into another bowl, scraping bottom of sieve, then transfer to ice bath and stir frequently until cold. Cover surface of curd with wax paper and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

ASSEMBLE TARTLETS:

  • Pop the shells out of the mini-muffin pans with a butter knife.  Arrange shells on a clean baking sheet so you can begin filling them.
  • With a small spoon, fill the shells with about a 1/2 tsp. of lemon curd filling.
  • When all shells are filled, garnish each with a blueberry and mint leaf.