Judith Audu's Blog: Playing with recipes (Vegetable Couscous and Honey Glazed Chicken Wings)

Thursday, 6 September 2012

Playing with recipes (Vegetable Couscous and Honey Glazed Chicken Wings)

Before you say anything i am not a couscous fan like most of you, i think i have had it once in my life and i said i would never touch it again because it was so tasteless and i couldn't find any reason to touch it again, whenever i hear people talk about it i ask myself why anyone would eat that not until my partner asked for it and i refused talking about it but as time went on i decided to give it a try one more time before i write it off finally from my list of foods.
Went to the supermarket with my friend and saw it and grumblingly picked it up from the shelf and she asked what it was and i said something you wouldn't want to eat and she said that must be why i have never heard of it...lol.
Here i am now sharing my couscous recipe because i mixed together probably 7 different recipes to arrive at my excellent, delicious, yummy, flavorful, colorful, and best couscous i have seen and eaten, plus i got double thumbs up for this meal...wink.

Ingredients

couscous
honey
lemon zest
chicken wings
olive oil
butter
lime juice
oyster sauce
sesame oil
soy sauce
curry powder
mushrooms (chopped)
tomatoes (chopped)
green pepper (chopped)
carrot (chopped)
paprika
cumin powder
ground coriander
onion (chopped)
yellow bell pepper (chopped)
basil, dill and parsley leaves (chopped)
black pepper
chicken stock
ginger and garlic paste
rosemary
salt
red bell pepper (chopped)

Method

1. Prepare the wings by cutting to 3 portions at the joint (drummette, mid joint and end tip). Boil your chicken season to your taste, add a bit of honey while boiling it. when it is ready take out of the pot and set aside.
2. Turn on your oven to 170c. Make a marinade for the chicken, mix together in a bowl honey, oyster sauce, soy sauce, ginger and garlic, onion powder, sesame oil, half lime juice, little salt, little sugar and cayenne pepper.
3. Place chicken in an oven proof pan with foil-lined tray beneath. Bake, uncovered for 15 minutes, turn over every 5 minutes. basting with remaining marinade and turning the sides.
4. Pour the amount of couscous you want in a bowl, pour in about olive oil, lemon zest, the juice from the remaining half lime, add your basil, parsley, dill and a very little salt because the chicken stock already have salt. Use a fork to fluff the couscous until it is properly mixed, it will look sandy. Set aside.
5. Put a pan large enough to hold all your vegetables. Melt butter on it. Stir in the onion, ginger, garlic, cumin powder, paprika, ground coriander, rosemary and mushroom and sauté for about 2 minutes then add the tomatoes, green pepper, yellow ball pepper, red bell pepper and carrots.Taste and adjust spices if need be, pepper and salt to taste.
6. Share the vegetable sauce into two parts, pour half into the dry couscous and fluff with a fork again. The remaining half put back on fire and add a cup of chicken stock and stir for a minute. Set aside.
7. Bring the remaining chicken stock to a boil. Stir in the dry couscous and shake the pot for a minute. Turn off the heat and cover the pot tightly for about 5 minutes.
8. Open it and make sure the couscous have absorbed all the liquid. Use a fork to fluff it and make sure it is not forming any balls, actually the olive oil we added to the dry couscous earlier will prevent it from sticking together.
9. Your couscous is ready to be served with your remaining vegetables and your chicken. Enjoy

Note
I noticed from the numerous researched i carried out that you can actually almost put in whatever you like, you can always personalize the dish, whatever you have in the house or any vegetables you like can serve. So feel free to experiment, just make sure it taste good and eatable at the end of the day...lol
The chicken can be marinaded and baked directly without boiling it first it would take about 45 minutes on low heat to cook and remember to turn the sides and pour more marinade.