Curried Couscous

It's Barefoot Thursday!

Barefoot Bloggers are a group of bloggers that twice a month prepare a (almost always) delicious recipe from the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten. This weeks recipe was selected by Ellyn of Recipe Collector and Tester . She chose Curried Couscous from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook.

Well I'm going to be totally up front with you...I did not want to like this recipe. I have long turned my nose up at all things "curried"-and honestly only because of the smell; I just can't stand the smell of curry. But I made the recipe thinking Ina has never steered me wrong and why would I let my aberrant fear of curry stand in the way of a potentially delicious dinner?

Well..she did it again-it was a fabulous recipe. I made one omission and one addition (and one little tweak-for personal taste). The omission was the raisins/currants. I only like raisins if they are covered in chocolate and since I did not think that chocolate would be a good addition omission seemed the only option-my kids were grateful for that. (And speaking of my kids, they don't really care for nuts so while I did add the almonds to the final dish I photographed the dish before stirring them in!)

The addition was to take an entire rotisserie chicken, dice and toss in...it was delicious and made it a meal.

And now for the tweak...I am almost embarrassed about the tweak. In my heart I knew that Ina would know just the right amount of each ingredient, but when it came to adding in the curry my olfactory receptors seemed to take over and make me decrease the curry to 1/2 teaspoon...it was curried enough.

Curried Couscous

Copyright, 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

1 1/2 cups couscous

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup small-diced carrots

1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup dried currants or raisins

1/4 cup blanched sliced almonds

2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)

1/4 cup small-diced red onion

Directions:

Place the couscous in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the carrots, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, and the red onions, mix well and season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

(Sorry about this photo...it's been dark and rainy around here the last few days and so hard to get a bright shot!:))

Yogurt for Dessert

Yogurt is a food I had to teach myself to enjoy.

When I was pregnant and nursing my children, like any responsible mother-to-be, I wanted to make sure I was getting enough calcium so I decided to add yogurt to my diet. The initiation was a gradual one. I began with the whipped variety of yogurt-its light and fluffy texture made it seem more like flavored whipped cream than yogurt and certainly seemed more palatable to me. I cut the yogurt with fat free Cool Whip to lessen what I perceived as a sour "yogurty" taste and to make it more like a mousse. The amount of Cool Whip was then gradually reduced to none and after a time I was able to enjoy regular yogurt. Fast forward a few years and now I think yogurt is so tasty, I serve it for dessert.

While I now enjoy many varieties of yogurt, at the moment I am a big fan of Yoplait's Yo Plus Digestive Health yogurt. I like that it has some fiber in it as I am making a conscious effort to add more fiber to my diet.Yo Plus is a new yogurt in supermarkets that, according to Yoplait's web site, combines:

probiotics-active cultures to regulate the balance of
microorganisms in your digestive system and prebiotic cultures for a
healthy digestive system.
prebiotics- natural dietary fibers.

It does contain added sugar, but I am using it for dessert. Perhaps the 3 grams of fiber can make up for the added sugar-that's what I'll tell myself anyway.

Cherry season is in full swing, so I whipped up some Cherry-Almond Yogurt Parfaits. If the fat and calories from the whipped cream scare you, feel free to substitute some fat free Cool Whip, or if you would like to make the parfait for breakfast, just skip the cream completely.

Just a few cherry pitting pointers:

• You can use one of those cherry pitters that are out there but quite honestly they are a lot of work and don't seem to work all that well.
• I just quarter the cherry with the pit in and then pull apart and discard the pit.
• Or if you are really lazy (and sometimes I am) just halve the cherry, pull apart, eat the part with the pit in it (spitting out pit) and just halve the remaining half for your recipe...it will take you twice as long, but mmmm-mmm.

Cherry-Almond Yogurt Parfaits

1 cup chilled heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 pound fresh cherries, quartered, pits removed (your choice of method)

4 (4 ounce) containers cherry flavored yogurt (I used the Yoplait Yo Plus)

1/2 cup slice almonds

Beat the heavy cream and sugar using an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form; fold in the almond extract.

Divide 1/3 of the whipped cream between 4 parfait glasses. Add a layer of cherries followed by a layer of the yogurt, using half. Scatter a layer of sliced almonds. Repeat with a layer of whipped cream, cherries, yogurt and almonds. End with whipped cream followed by the remaining cherries. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

Almond (Paste) Joy

School is winding down for the kids and each week there seems to be yet another event that I have to bake for. This week it's the senior social at my daughter's school where they invite grandparents and local seniors in for a tour of the school, entertainment by the school band and light refreshments. I made a cookie that is among my favorites at the moment-Almond Thumbprints with Chocolate Drizzle. The cookies include almond paste, a favorite ingredient of mine...in fact, I probably should have included it in my must haves in the pantry.

Almond paste is found in the supermarket usually in the baked goods section and you usually have your choice of either the canned variety made by Solo or a boxed variety made by Odense.

A while back I remember seeing almond paste made by Betty Crocker, but I have not seen that in a very long time. The Odense paste comes in a 7 ounce package while the Solo brand offers an 8 ounce can-just be sure to check your recipe so you don't end up using the wrong amount.

Perhaps it's a brand loyalty thing but I usually use the Solo one simply because that's the one my mother always used and most of the recipes I seem to make with almond paste call for 8 ounces.

I grew up in New York and became accustomed to, if not spoiled by, a wide selection of bakeries. The highlight of every family party for my brother’s and I were the bakery fresh cookies brought by friends and family in cardboard boxes tied up gift style with blue and white striped string. The cookies were always buttery, flavorful and tender crisp. In Northern Connecticut, where I live now with my own family, bakeries are scarce. "Corner bakery shop" cookies are such a wonderful memory for me but for my children their only experience with bakery style cookies is whatever we can get from our local Stop and Shop or Shaws. So with childhood memories as an inspiration a melt in your mouth butter cookie base, a rich almond filling and a sweet chocolate drizzle became my version of “just as good as(if not better than) bakery” cookies.

Almond Thumbprints with Chocolate Drizzle

3/4 pound (3 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Filling:
1 (8 ounce) can almond paste
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ounce good quality semi-sweet chocolate

1. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the softened butter, sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the flour and the salt. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a large disc; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. While dough is chilling, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, break up the almond paste and combine with the confectioner’s sugar. Add the egg whites and vanilla, beating until combined; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Roll the cookie dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press a large indentation in the center of each cookie. Spoon or pipe a generous tablespoonful of the filling into each indentation.

5. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. Let cool for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering pot of water until smooth. Using a knife or a spoon drizzle the chocolate over the cooled cookies.

Yield: about 4 1/2 dozen cookies