1 can cooked chickpeas, drain
3/4 to 1 lb. pkg couscous
2 large onions chopped
1 carrot sliced
1 gr bell pepper, sliced
1 eggplant,sliced, salted &
1 rinsed
1 lb lamb, cut in 2 inch cubes
1 chicken cut up in 8 parts
3 tbsp oil
1 pimento
4 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
2 tsp papriks
1 salt
7 oz fresh string beans or peas
9 oz can artichoke bottoms
1 drained
1 cayenne pepper
4 oz butter
Directions
Place couscous in shallow pan with 4 cups water. Swirl and pour off
water immediately in a sieve. Rub couscous well between hands and
drop back into pan, making sure couscous is lump free. Let this dry
while preparing remainders. Fry onions garlic, pepper, carrot and
eggplant with chicken and lamb in oil. Then add chickpeas( if using
dried ones ) and enough water to cover. Add pimento and salt and
pepper to taste,Bring to a boil and fasten colander over kettle to
fit snugly. Spoon couscous into colander and let steam for 45
minutes, then dump couscous back into pan to let dry again. Add
tomatoes, beans or peas and cook another 1/2 hour. Now attach
colander and let couscous steam another 15 minutes. Add artichoke,
canned chickpeas to the stew. Cook a few minutes longer. Add some
butter to the couscous and place couscous shaped into a cone on a
serving platter. surround by meat and vegetables. Note: this is only
one version of many different types of couscous preparation. It is
thought that the name of this grain comes from the soft rumbling
noise that the couscous makes in a steamer. There is a special
couscous pot but a colander can suffice.
Servings: 4 servings
Algerian Couscous Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Beans; Meat; Poultry; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Academics have tracked the existance of recipes far back into ancient history, at least as far back as the ancient Egyptians, and maybe even further. In practice though, sadly, these early cookbooks were just simple hieroglyphic recipes for preparing meals.
Interestingly, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to academics is a series of clay tablets in Sumerian which describe the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel blissful. During Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled some scripts detailing recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. He tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were divided into starters, main course and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. This early Roman chef tells us how the cooks of his times used a wide range of spices and herbs, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks like bay, rue and dill. During the succeeding few hundred years, the rich and powerful families of the West competed to serve up the most exotic banquets, and because of this chefs and their collection of recipes were at a premium. Notwithstanding that, it was during the nineteenth century that fine cooking and recipe collections reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to assembling, testing, and publishing recipes to help cooks of their time. By the arrival of the 1900s, cookery books were highly popular mostly due to higher levels of literacy, increased leisure time and having more disposable income. Like it or not, the introduction of television gave us TV cooks and the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing everyone to search through thousands of recipes just like those on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Algerian Couscous recipe.
