As you may have noticed from reading this blog, I cannot help myself when it comes to recipes: I have to put in my 10 cents worth and adapt them. Sometimes I have an idea for a dish that is slightly different from the one that I am reading about, though I know that it will serve as an excellent base recipe to get me started, sometimes I find that my method is more efficient and less fussy and sometimes I need to substitute items because I don't have them in my pantry when it comes time to make the recipe. There is, of course, a more personal component involved in doing this. Following recipes exactly feels a little too much like school to me, whereas taking one and making it my own feels like a creative outlet.
If there were one person whose recipes I would not adapt out of principle and admiration, it would be those of Grace Parisi. She is a cookbook author and also writes for Food and Wine Magazine. She has a lovely blog as well (though I would like her to add some more current recipes). I love her approach to food. Her recipes are innovative and exciting and they make sense to me. When I decided to make Grace's couscous galette, I had every intention of following every single instruction slavishly. Then I found out that I had forgotten to buy grated cheese and L. put his foot down as to shallots so I had to adapt; this time against my will. I made up for the omissions by using homemade chicken stock, which I had just made from Sunday's roast chicken carcass.
Since I had decided to accompany the dish with a roasted vegetable medley, I used okra, lima beans and zucchini. A) that was what I had in the house and b) I thought that all the different greens would be pretty and springlike, especially in juxtaposition to the golden brown of the galette. Just use whatever vegetables are in season though. I also think that my version of this dish would taste delicious in the summer accompanied by a nice ratatouille and goat's cheese.
My adaptation turned this galette into a stellar side dish of sorts whereas I think that Grace's galette would be the star of the meal. For once I will have to admit that, though my adaptation was pretty damn good, I bet the much more gooey original linked below is even better. (Gasp!)
Recipe
3 Tbsps unsalted butter
2 cups couscous
2 cups chicken broth
3 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3 Tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
2 zucchini, sliced into coins
1 lb of whole okra (about 35 pods or 1/2-2 cups)
1 cup of shelled (or frozen) lima beans
Juice from one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 450.
Put the vegetables in one layer in a large oven-proof dish along with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Mix the vegetables in order to coat them with the oil and salt and pepper them liberally. Roast them until brown spots start to appear on the surface of the vegetables as the sugars in them start to caramelize. In my case this took about 30 minutes and I stirred them ever 10 minutes or so to ensure that all surfaces got their opportunity to brown a bit.
While the vegetables are cooking, proceed with the galette itself. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the couscous and stir until the grains are all coated with butter. Add the stock and a pinch of salt. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and cover, allow to cool for 5 minutes or so so that the couscous can soak up all the liquid.
Fluff the couscous and scrape it into a bowl. Let it cool for an additional few minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the eggs and the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the broiler. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the remaining oIl in a large nonstick ovenproof skillet. Spread the couscous mixture in the skillet and cook over medium high heat until golden on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Then, broil the galette about 8 inches from the broiler heat for about 5 minutes, until golden on top. Grace suggests inverting the galette onto a plate which was not possible for me as I do not own a nonstick pan that can be used in the oven. I used a regular skillet and had to do a little knife-work and prying around the edges to get the galette out but it came out cleanly and in one piece.
My galette, while delicious, is a little on the spartan side, a feeling that is only emphasised by the roasted vegetables. L. suggested accompanying it with some slices of Prosciutto which I think would be both delicious and pretty. I feel that a poached egg laid on top, so that the runny yolk could ooze into the vegetables, would be a great addition.
Since my version didn't have the richness that Grace's would because of the 2 cups of missing cheese (and because I discovered sliced sandwich cheddar in the fridge at the last minute), L. and I had seconds where I cut the leftover galette into slices and sandwiched some cheese in between 2 of them. I then heated the galette in the oven until the cheese melted, thereby coming up with a cross between a couscous grilled cheese sandwich and a couscous mac and cheese. This really worked (so much so that I got a taster's bite and L. inhaled the rest). You even get a rare second photo in this post just to show this exciting hybrid off.
Original recipe, here.
,