WELL FED: COUSCOUS MARRAKECH

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I kind of love leftovers. The night after we had the lamb with the yogurt sauce I decided to repurpose it in the form of a open faced lamb sandwich with arugula, slices of fresh apricot, and slathered with more of the creamy yogurt sauce. Then the day after that I had the lamb again in an amazing salad of arugula, diced fresh apricot, figs, red onion, oil cured black olives, and chopped left-over grilled carrots which I tossed in a very simple lemony vinaigrette. Two days after that I had the salad again. And that was the end of the lamb.

But getting back to the sandwich, to go with it, I was going to have the rest of the couscous I had made, but there was something sort of unremarkable, despite the fact that it came from my latest cookbook acquisition, the beautifully photographed and written Bouchon, by Francophile Thomas Keller. Like most of the recipes in the book, the method he suggests for making couscous is a bit fussy, although I'm sure the results are delicious. Due to time constraints I used the method I normally use and just borrowed his ingredients and flavorings but clearly something got lost in the translation, because the resulting couscous was just sort of feh. It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. I decided to make a new batch using a different recipe.

I found this recipe on the Whole Foods website. I was struck by the interesting list of spices and ingredients, especially the idea of the cinnamon, figs, honey, and pistachios. So sexy.

INGREDIENTS
(For the salad)
2 cups water
5 dried black mission figs, diced
5 dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 cups couscous
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/3 cup pistachio nuts, chopped
1/4 cup either cilantro, chopped or a mixture of mint and parsley

(For the dressing)
Juice from 2 lemons
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon honey
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

METHOD
Place 2 cups of water in pot along with figs, apricots and raisins and heat to a boil.

While water is coming to a boil, place couscous in a bowl with the turmeric, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix the couscous until it is well coated with the olive oil.

After the water comes to a boil, remove the dried fruits and set aside. Add the water to the couscous and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow to steam for 15 minutes.

While couscous is steaming, prepare the dressing by combining the lemon juice, orange juice, olive oil, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, honey, salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined.

When the couscous is done, fluff with a fork. Add the dried fruits, red and yellow peppers, onion, and nuts, but not the herbs. The heat from the couscous will turn them a most unpleasant color. Pour in the dressing.

Gently mix together with a large serving spoon until all the ingredients and dressing are well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if need be. After the couscous has cooled a bit, you can add the herbs.

Heavens, this was outstanding, especially compaired to my lackluster version of the Bouchon couscous. It was fluffy and light, studded with pistachios, raisins, apricots, and figs and flecked with mint and parsley. The honey-citrus dressing soaks the little grains, keeping the salad very moist, and the combination of the cinnamon, ginger, and cumin imbues the whole salad with an exotically fragrant spice. The flavors are classically Moroccan, so naturally it goes well with the harissa lamb, but I can see it working really nicely with chicken as well.

Serves 6 to 8.