Gastronomic tours with Swiss Cheese

I tried out something new today. It's couscous based, but stir-fried in preparation. It came out fairly well, so I'm posting here.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup couscous
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1/4 cup sweet corn
• 1/4 cup assorted raisins
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 Tbsp basil leaves, chopped
• 2 Tbsp mint leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat the stock + 1Tbsp oil in a saucepan until it comes to a boil
2. Stir in the couscous, remove from heat, cover and keep aside
3. Heat a large skillet
4. Add 1 Tbsp oil
5. Add Chinese 5 spice and cumin seeds and fry for half a minute
6. Add in raisins, nuts, peas and corn and stir fry for 2 minutes
7. Mix in Couscous, mint and basil leaves
8. Stir fry until Couscous no longer sticks to your ladel (I use a wooden ladel)
9. Turn off the heat and continue to mix it for another 30 seconds

That's it. You can eat it on its own or with yogurt or as a side dish for a larger meal. For a spicier version, use Indian garam masala instead of Chinese 5 spice. It should serve 3 people as a side dish.

I haven't yet thought of a good name for this dish, so if you have any ideas, leave a comment.

Last night a bunch of my old classmates dropped in for the evening. To mark the occasion, I decided to try something new. This recipe was the outcome. It's based on the sweet & sour recipe that my parents used to make while we were young, but I've used different spices.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 tsp chinese 5 spice
• sweet red chilli sauce to taste (I used thai)
• hot chilli sauce to taste (I used maggi hot & sweet tomato chilli sauce)
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup Straw mushrooms
• 1/4 cup baby corn
• 1/4 cup bamboo shoots
• 1/4 cup baby carrots
• 1/4 cup brocolli florets
• 1/4 cup cauliflower florets
• 1/4 cup tofu cubes
• 1/4 cup sliced pears (either canned or fresh but stewed to soften them)

Method:

1. Preheat a large skillet on high
2. Add the 2 tbsp oil and heat for 1 minute
3. Reduce heat to medium
4. Add the chinese five spice and fry it for 1 minute
5. Increase heat to high, add the tofu and stir fry until well coated with the oil and spice
6. Add in carrots, brocolli and cauliflower and stir fry until tender but not soft
7. Add in the mushrooms, baby corn and bamboo shoots and stir fry until all vegetables are coated
8. Add in the pears and mix well
9. Sprinkle vinegar and lemon juice into the skillet and mix it up
10. Add sweet red chilli sauce - 3tbsp is the base line, increase or decrease depending on desired sweetness level
11. Add hot chilli sauce - 3tbsp is the base line, increase or decrease depending on desired heat level
12. Stir fry for an additional one or two minutes
13. Reduce heat to medium for 1 minute, then cover skillet and reduce heat to low for another two minutes

Serve with of rice noodles or steamed rice.

Variations:

For a non-vegetarian option, add in shrimp, thinly sliced chicken or cubes of pork. If using shrimp, add it in after the pears, if using chicken or pork, either pre-cook the meat and add it in after the pears, or add it in before the tofu and fry thoroughly for about 5 minutes.

Alternately, coat the shrimp, chicken or pork in a corn flour based batter and deep fry it before adding to the mix.