Upside-Down Pear

Israeli couscous is a larger-sized couscous that looks a little bit like pearl barley. It is toasted, which some people think gives it a nutty flavor; to me, it tastes faintly sweet more than nutty. It makes a great summer salad, but I like to serve it warm in all seasons. This recipe is particularly good as a bed for an entree or vegetable in a rich sauce: it has enough flavor to stand up to a sauce, but not so much that it will clash.

Israeli couscous with cinnamon & bay

• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup Israeli couscous
• 1 cup chicken broth or stock
• 1 cinnamon* stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• extra-virgin olive oil
• salt (if using unsalted broth or stock)

Over medium-high heat, sautee the chopped onion in the olive oil. When it turns translucent, add chicken broth, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and parsley. When the broth starts to bubble, add the couscous, turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 9 minutes. Remove from heat, but leave cover on for another minute. Fluff with a fork, remove cinnamon and bay leaf, and serve.

* For this recipe, use cassia, not true cinnamon. What’s the difference? Cassia is the regular cinnamon easily found in most US grocery stores; it has hard dark reddish-brown sticks. True cinnamon is much harder to find and its sticks are soft, light-colored, and flaky. A lot of people only know what true cinnamon tastes like from eating cinnamon candy or gum. Why am I bothering to clarify? Because I often use true cinnamon, and if I look at this recipe in a year I want to know which I used!

We’ve used a microwave cart, our old kitchen table, and the big wooden cutting board across the stove burners to cobble together a workspace for the next few weeks. We have a microwave, a toaster, an electric kettle, an espresso machine, and an electric skillet.

As I was making tonight’s dinner (watercress salad with goat cheese, pancetta, and potatoes), I realized that aside from a lack of running water and access to all my pots & pans, this makeshift kitchen is very similar to the original kitchen.

Which I suppose is why we’re redoing the kitchen…

It’s Carnival. I’m 7 months pregnant. And Monday, demolition starts on our old kitchen, to make way for the new one. Our new water heater gets installed Monday, as well.

The dumpster will fit in the driveway. I’m frantically clearing the basement and the dining room to make way for the things that will need to go there or move for the kitchen. I’m also trying to do the Alumni Thing.

Good luck to us!

I’ve queued up a few posts for the Time Of No Kitchen. Let’s hope everything comes out intact on the other side.