Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Chicken Tarragon Cous-Cous

chicken-cashew-couscous-1

This recipe was actually sent to me by one of my readers, in Australia. It's absolutely brilliant, and I'm really glad I tried it. It's perfect for hot days, as you can eat this cold (or heat it in the microwave if you prefer) and this makes a lot so you can easily prepare some lunches in advance. Pretty great for back-to-work! (And umm, of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, I changed a few minor things as always, but the main part is the same.) Another great point about this is that it gave me a chance to use up some of my tarragon - I have a huge plant that's really thriving in the garden.

Chicken Tarragon Cous-Cous
Serves 4-6

1 kilo chicken breasts
2 lemons, juiced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
500 ml chicken stock
500 ml cous-cous
6 tomatoes, diced
70 g bacon
1 leek, sliced
1 red bellpepper, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
200 g cashew nuts, natural - not roasted and salted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large bunch of tarragon, chopped
salt, pepper

Grate the ginger and cut the chicken into strips or large dice. Fry the chicken in one tbsp of olive oil and when it's browned a little, add the ginger and the juice from the lemons.

Bring the stock to a boil, and pour it over the cous-cous. Add the remaining spoonful of olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for five minutes. Then add the fried chicken and the tomatoes. (Or use the tomatoes to top each serving instead - this is useful if you plan to eat this for several days, since tomatoes tend to go a bit bland and watery in the fridge.)

Dice the bacon and fry until crispy. Add the leek, bellpepper, garlic and cashew nuts, and fry for three minutes. Add to the cous-cous. Stir in the tarragon, and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe in Swedish:
Cous-cous med kyckling och dragon

7 comments:

Jeanne said...

Yum! I adore couscous and this sounds like a quick and easy way to make not only a light supper but lunch for work the next day too. I also love the flavour of tarragon and I don't cook with it nearly enough. Thanks for the inspiration :)

african vanielje said...

your posts are just full of summer Anne, which is great as it is still raining here. I don't have any chicken but I think I'm going to try out this recipe with some pheasant and maybe some pomegranate instead of tomato. If you are wondering what else to do with your tarragon - a simple sauce of cream, lemon juice, caster sugar to taste, and of course tarragon, all liquidised till the cream thickens slightly. Makes a great salad dressing and accompaniment to fish.

Anonymous said...

This sounds absolutely delicious.

test it comm said...

That does look and sound good. I have not really done much with cous cous but now I am going to have to pick some up.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Sounds like a recipe I would want to make on these hot summer days. Very light and refreshing.

Christy said...

I am ashamed to admit I have never tried to make cous-cous. No reason in particular, just never done it. After seeing the recipe though I believe that must change!

Anonymous said...

looks delicious! Will definitely give this a go on my girlfriend and report back! :)

G