Vernon WadeThere are lots of cooks out there who actually know what they are doing. I pretty much taught myself to cook, out of necessity. I haven’t a clue most of the time, but I do love to eat. 

I have made everything posted here. If I can do it, you certainly can. Someday, if there is enough interest, I will gather all these recipes into a cookbook. In the meantime, in the spirit of dashes, dollops and three-fingered pinches, I present them here for you to try. Let me know what you think.

Baked Couscous

I’ve made this dish stove top at home and in the Dutch oven while camping. A savory couscous galette, it is an easy, flexible recipe. You can use any mushrooms, or none at all. The same with the meat: use whatever you have, or no meat at all. I’ve made this with cheddar, Mexican melting cheese and Swiss. The cheese, along with the eggs, helps hold this together and adds crsipness to the crust, but there is no reason you can’t substitute your favorite cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

  • 2 cups couscous
  •  1/2# ground lamb or sausage
  • 1 cup chopped chanterelles or boletes
  • 2-3 sliced shallots
  • 2 cups shredded cheese – I used half cheddar and half queso asadero (mozzarello would be a good substitute)
  • 2-3 eggs
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • olive oil

 

Bring a deep cast iron skillet up to heat. Add chopped mushrooms ( if using dried mushrooms, add them later). Cook mushrooms until they release their moisture, stirring or turning to prevent sticking or burning.
Add olive oil and stir in ground lamb, browninng the meat.
Stir in sliced shallots and cook until they soften and begin to transluce.
Add two pats of butter. stir in couscous. Cook over Med-high heat for two minutes, stirring or turning to prevent scorching.
Remove from heat and add broth. Let the broth be absorbed, leaving it stand unmolested for about five minutes.
Stir and fluff the coucous for an additonal 4-5 minutes.
Stir in seasoning, eggs and cheese.
Cook on stove top over med-high heat for five or ten minutes to form a crust on the bottom. Take care to avoid scorching. If using a Dutch oven, place coals underneath, none on top.
Dot surface with remaining butter and place under broiler, near to the heat for five or ten minutes, until golden crust forms.  If using a Dutch oven, cover  and move all the coals from underneath to the lid only for 25 minutes +/-. If needed, add enough coals to aproximate 425f.
Turn out onto large plate and cut into wedges to serve. If you prefer, don’t bother turning it out; serve wedges directly from skillet or Dutch oven.
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