Israeli Couscous with Asparagus and Fresh Mushrooms

Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian is so great for browsing. When I have a particular vegetable to use, I can always find several possible dishes in it that each have different cultural influences. Last week I was a lucky winner of the Foodie Blogroll bi-weekly giveaway, and I was offered a product from FromTheFarm.com. I chose the hen of the woods, or maitake, mushrooms which were over-nighted in a cooler. I did feel some carbon guilt about receiving that package from Florida, but considering that a lot of my vegetables get trucked in from California, I tried not to dwell on it for too long (and a trip to the farmers’ market the next day made me feel better).

I wanted to use the hen of the woods mushrooms in a vegetarian dish, and Jaffrey’s Israeli couscous sounded perfect. I make several variations of pasta with sauteed vegetables, but for this dish, I followed along with the instructions to try a different approach. Something I make pretty regularly for weeknight meals is broccoli with penne. For that, I blanch broccoli and then saute it with sliced garlic, a lot of extra virgin olive oil, and black pepper. When the penne is added to that, it receives some butter, and it’s served with a snowy cap of shredded parmigiano reggiano. Delicious, yes, but there’s lots of oil and butter. For this couscous dish, Jaffrey suggested sauteing garlic and shallot in some olive oil and then adding the mushrooms and then the chopped asparagus. This cooked briefly before a half cup of stock and a quarter cup of vermouth were added. The saute pan was covered, and it was left for a couple of minutes. Then, almost-fully-cooked couscous was added, it was stirred to combine, and then parmigiano reggiano and parsley were incorporated.

The result was a lighter dish in which the stock and vermouth were absorbed by the pasta pearls. The parts of this simple dish worked together exactly correctly. The vegetables were left crisp tender and fresh tasting, and the flavor of the maitakes was superb. The amount of vermouth used was enough to add another layer of flavor but not enough to leave it boozy. The vermouth and stock together was just the right amount of liquid for the couscous to absorb without making the dish like soup. I added a bit more garlic than what was listed, I usually do that, and combined with the shallot, it was fantastic. This would work nicely with orzo and other vegetable combinations too. Now I have one more delicious, and lighter, way of preparing pasta and vegetables.

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Stuffed Squash Blossoms and Fritto Misto di Verdura

One of my exciting finds at the farmers’ market was squash blossoms. I did my best to copy the delicious version I enjoyed at Sassi.

I drained the ricotta in a sieve while chopping the other ingredients. To 15 oz. of ricotta, I added one minced garlic clove, 1 T rinsed and drained capers, 1 finely diced cubanelle, 2 T shredded parmigiana reggiano, and salt and pepper. This mixture was ever so carefully stuffed into 15 or so squash blossoms. The blossoms held together much better than I expected. Pulling the petals back and spooning in the filling, then squeezing it evenly to distribute while placing the petals back where they belong, all went well. Once filled, they were dipped into batter and fried for about three minutes. I used the following recipe for a tempura batter:

1 large egg yolk
1 c ice water
1 c ap flour
2 T cornstarch

-in a medium bowl set into an ice water bath, whisk yolk with ice water; add flour and cornstarch and whisk to combine; a few remaining lumps in the batter are fine

Since I was set up to fry, and there was plenty of batter, I reached for some asparagus and orange bell pepper strips as well. They were dipped into the batter, the excess was allowed to drip away, then dunked in the hot oil for two to three minutes, rescued to paper towels to drain, and sprinkled with course sea salt.

As we munched on the fried goodness, Kurt said “mmffghoodvegtblz mmmhhhgg.” He was chewing at the time, but I believe what he was trying to convey was that this is a superb way to eat vegetables. The squash blossoms were almost as delicous as those at Sassi, and the only change I might make next time would be to leave out the parmigiana. I think a simpler flavor combination would be nice. The amount of garlic and capers was just right. Barely perceptible garlic, and just a caper or two per blossom. The asparagus and pepper strips were fantastic, but what's not to like?

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