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Couscous with Dried Apricots, Currants, and Pistachios
So, in celebration of the Annual Pistachio Conference last week and getting a new ranch named after me (kinda neat), I decided to bust out with the pistachio recipes. For the chicken, I used this recipe, with minor changes (as usual). I didn't use dill at all because I don't care much for it and it always gets stuck in your teeth anyway. For the mustard cream sauce, I didn't use wine, but just started off by cooking the shallots in a bit of olive oil until they softened a bit. Also, last week I turned all my heavy whipping cream into whipped cream for my pavlova, so I just used the leftover whipped cream I had set aside from that, which I think saved some time since you have to wait for the sauce to thicken anyway. Seven minutes was not enough time in the oven... I think I put it in for 25 minutes. Anyway, the chicken was pretty amazing (I was a bit worried because I couldn't tell if I was hearing cries of terror or joy coming from the kitchen, but it was apparently the latter... and my mom won't stop asking me for the recipe).
The couscous was so-so. I used pearled couscous because I like the texture and prefer it to the kind that looks like wet sand. The other kind is better with a tagine rather than as a side dish anyway. I accidentally doubled the apricot because I was distracted (it was hot so I opened the kitchen door and one of those giant mosquito-looking things* was floating around and slamming itself against every light in the kitchen... anyway, I was only making half the recipe because I wasn't planning on feeding the entire block, so I should have used 1/2 cup apricots). I didn't have cinnamon sticks so I just used ground cinnamon.
Now, you might say, "Why, AzPie, it's all very well that these two recipes both have pistachios in them, but they don't seem to mesh very well flavor-wise," to which I'll respond, "You know, you're absolutely right, they don't," feigning the concern of someone who gives an iota of a fuck.
Eat up. Both recipes are healthy and nutritious and delicious.
Bon appetit.
*More on bugs: I googled "mosquito eater" to see what those bugs are even called, and apparently they're called crane flies. I won't post a pic. Those things should not be seen up close. Also, I had to go out in the yard to pick mint and rosemary, and I noticed something I haven't paid attention to since grade school. I was barefoot because I couldn't find any flipflops around, and had to daintily and fearfully prance around some bees that, for whatever reason, were just chillaxing on the ground. This is a really irritating thing bees do sometimes, typically when they're not feeling so alive anymore. The problem for people like me who are terrified of experiencing a bee sting for the first time is that you can never be quite sure what's going on (eg., if the bee is going to suddenly decide to take flight right as you're passing by-- they always kind of look ready to go or like they're deciding what to do). Anyway, yeah, it reminded me of grade school when bees would do that not-flying-but-just-lingering-dangerously-close thing, typically in the pool ("It's still alive! No look! It's swimming! Drown it! Or maybe just get it over to the filter thingee! No no the other direction! Here, let's try to get it on this leaf and then we can just--NO! STOP PUSHING IT TOWARDS ME!")
Anyway... yeah, I'm so exhausted that I don't even know what on earth I'm writing anymore or why. Night night.
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