Tunisian Addiction

The last few weeks I've been getting really, really excited about food with the fresh produce and such coming back to the Farmer's Market. I had my very first salad of the season this last weekend with mixed spicy greens, pea shoots, handmade croutons, walnuts, and currents all drizzled over with a raspberry vinaigrette. No real recipe for this one, simply great ingredients tossed together in a big bowl and happily consumed. One thing in my fridge that sometimes gets forgotten about (and tragically so) is the jar of Tunisian harissa paste that lives toward the back. I made a squash soup that was liberally laced with it back in October that was delicious. But then the jar got pushed to the back of my fridge and largely forgotten about for a while. Then I got inspired by a couscous salad at work. And I was off into the kitchen to see what I could do to replicate deliciousness.

Salad:
2 cups couscous (you really want the larger Tunisian style, or Israeli will do in a pinch), cooked and cooled
1 cup black olives, pitted and halved (do not use "California black olives" from the supermarket for this, I recommend a pitted kalamata or sahli olive)
1 bunch scallions, chopped
3 med ripe tomatoes, diced (you can use canned, just make sure to drain well)
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 carrot, grated
1 lemon, zest

Dressing:
Harissa paste
lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt
couscous water

In a large bowl mix cooked couscous (the larger style is actually more like a pasta, cook accordingly and reserve about a 1/3 cup of the cooking liquid for the dressing), scallions, olives, tomatoes, most of the parsley, and carrot. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of parsley for serving.
In a smaller bowl, mix the dressing ingredients. I haven't given exact measurements for any of the dressing because I just kind of winged it, tasting as I went along. I started with about a tablespoon of the harissa and added the juice of one lemon (I only had one, more might be nice). I added the olive oil and reserved couscous water until I had a consistency I was happy with and what looked like about a cup of dressing total. Salt to taste.
Pour the dressing over the couscous and veg mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle reserved parsley and lemon zest over the top when you serve. This is a pretty versatile salad, I had it warm, room temp, and cool and it was excellent all ways.

I am using the last jar of tomato sauce that I made this summer for dinner tonight. I am now waiting (probably not so patiently) for tomatoes to come back into season.

Sloppy Jalopy

Everyone should have an easy dinner now and then to fall back on. I actually tend to use the easy ones on my days off of work, so that I have more time to get things done around the house or out in the world. I can't unfortunately take all the credit, but the original recipe is posted in a private forum, and I've heavily modified to make use of ingredients I generally have on hand. If you don't like things really spicy, cut the paprika by half, an omit the jalapenos all together. You could also replace the jalapenos with sweet bell peppers (I'm not a fan of the sweet, so I don't use them almost ever). Pair this with a great onion roll or kaiser roll from a local bakery if you can get them (I used the New Yorker rolls from Zingerman's Deli). I also pulled a package of corn on the cob that I froze last summer from our CSA and heated that up for along side. Expect around 15 minutes for prep (including browning the meat).

Venison Joe:

3 lb ground venison, cooked
2 c. onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 1/2 c. ketchup (about 16-18 oz)
1/2 c. water
3 med. jalapenos, minced
1/2 T. horseradish
4 T. brown sugar
4 T. mustard
4 T. cider vinegar
4 T. worcestershire
4 T. spicy paprika (if you can't find spicy, use chili powder instead, but don't just use the bland red powder most grocery stores stock as "paprika")

Put all ingredients in crock pot, stir and forget about it (6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high).

A few final notes: the sauce is rather liquid when it first goes in, but cooks down to a great thick consistency. If you are pressed for time or don't want to use the crockpot, omit the water in the recipe to achieve similar results and mix together in a regular sauce pot on the stove. Add the venison, and cook for 10 minutes or so until everything is heated through.
Alternately if you are going to be gone longer then 8 hours, add more water to the sauce so that it does not burn. Another 1/4 cup should give you about 2 to 3 more hours.

Green Beans Even Kids Love

Tonight's dinner was so typical of the dinners that happen around here on weeknights. Meat, potatoes, and something green. I have a pretty all purpose way of cooking the something green, but tonight it was green beans and turned out kind of awesome. So when you read this keep in mind that the "green" part of this is pretty flexible. I like it with beans or mixed greens (collards & mustard usually), but you could use it with a range of vegetables as long as they have a little heft to them. This is not what you want to do with your delicate greens. Save those for the salads and such people!

Green Beans for Everyone

2# fresh green beans - trimmed and cut to about 1" lenght (you can use frozen here if you are in a hurry)
8oz bacon - diced
1 medium onion - chopped

In a large skillet (I use my wok so there is enough room for everything) cook the bacon until it has given up most of it's fat and is starting to crisp up. Add the onion and cook until slightly soft. Add the beans, stir to coat with the bacon fat and saute until the beans are slightly soft and warmed through. Be careful not to overcook, if they start to turn "army green" they are close to being over done. Take out of the pan with a slotted spoon so you leave most of the fat in the pan (you can pour this into a container and put in the fridge for later use). Serve warm.