Cous cous! What’s that about, eh? It’s a carb that’s not really been on my radar. Pasta, noodles and rice are more my thing, but cous cous has eluded me. But when I was sent a selection of that jolly chef and TV personality Ainsley Harriott’s new range of cous cous to try, I was happy to give it a whirl.
Cous cous is more often than not, an accompaniment: my task was to come up with a main accompaniment for the accompaniment! And forgive me for saying that it was a match made in heaven.
Serves 2-4
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 red pepper, chopped into thick chunks
2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
2 garlic cloves 1 red chilli, deseeded
1 lemongrass stalk, hard woody layer removed
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
100ml coconut milk (either from a tin, or creamed and mixed to a paste with water)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 pack Ainsley Harriott’s Aromatic Thai-Style Cous Cous
1. Put all the ingredients except the chicken, red pepper and cous cous into a food processor and whiz to a thick paste. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Chop the chicken thighs into meaty chunks and marinate in the Thai paste.
3. Soak 8-10 wooden skewers in cold water for 10 mins. Shake the excess marinade off the chicken and thread onto the skewers.
4. Preheat a grill to 180C/Gas 4 and put the skewers on a rack. Lay the pepper chunks on the rack, too. Meanwhile, transfer the leftover marinade to a small saucepan and gently cook for approx. 5 mins.
6. Make the Ainsley Harriott Cous Cous by putting it into a bowl and adding 160ml boiling water. Leave to stand for five mins, then fluff up with a fork.
7. Serve with the chicken and peppers, with the coconut marinade sauce drizzled over.
• Not a sponsored post. I bought the ingredients for the chicken and came up with the recipe.
I love cous cous. Never tried Ainsley’s, but I might give it a go.
Will never forget cooking a fabulous Moroccan lamb dish for Mr G before we got married. It had apricots and orange juice in it, as well as a number of aromatic spices.
He sat down, saw the lamb, and tipped a ton of mint sauce onto it!!! Typical Northern man. I could have cried.
During the hot summer months, my husband and I do a lot of our family dinners out on the backyard barbecue grill. One of our favorite things to make are homemade kabobs because they are easy, and they use up the fresh vegetables from our garden.