My Family Table, A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking by Chef John Besh has received several very positive reviews, so I picked up a copy. The first recipe I made from it is this Couscous with Spicy Chicken, and it was very good, especially the couscous. This recipe calls for cooked chicken, so it is a good way to use up leftovers or you can cook the chicken ahead of time. The chicken is tossed in a spice blend and reheated. The couscous includes cabbage, carrots, scallions and turmeric.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Check your dry spices to make sure they don’t contain colour or anti-caking chemicals. If you don’t have homemade stock on hand (and who does, really?) use an all-natural stock such as Imagine brand. Make sure the butter does not contain colour—I use Gay Lea Unsalted Butter, which has a single ingredient: cream. It is easy to make harissa from scratch—the recipe is below.

Grind spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle

Toss cooked chicken with spices and oil

Saute vegetables for couscous

Fluff couscous to remove lumps

Couscous with spicy chicken

Ingredients:

For the spice blend and chicken

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp cinnamon

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 roast chicken, cooked and cut into pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

For the couscous

2 tbsp vegetable oil

½ head cabbage, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 cups couscous

1 tsp turmeric

Salt

2 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp butter

Freshly ground black pepper

Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh mint, chopped

Harissa (optional)

Harissa

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 chipotle in adobo, minced, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground caraway

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the spice blend, toast the ginger, fennel, coriander, red pepper and cinnamon in a small skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Besh urges you to stop and smell the toasting spices. Put the spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and process to a fine powder.

Salt and pepper the chicken and toss in with the olive oil and spice blend in a large bowl. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until it is hot. Remember, you are just reheating the chicken; it should be already cooked through.

For the couscous, in a medium saucepan combine the oil, cabbage, carrots, green onions and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add the couscous with the turmeric and a pinch of salt. Stir to make sure all the grains are coated with oil, then add the broth.

Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat, and cover. Let stand until the couscous is tender and the water is absorbed, 5-7 minutes. Fluff with a fork to make sure there are no lumps, then add the butter and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and add the mint.

Mound the couscous in a bowl and top with the spiced chicken. Serve with harissa and drizzles of olive oil. Serves 4-6.

From My Family Table by John Besh