Couscous with Chicken and Dried Cranberries (Couscous de poulet et canneberges séchées)

Cranberries are harvested at Manseau in the lower St. Lawrence. Most of the crop is made into juice, frozen, or dried; only a small percentage is sold fresh. Photo: Gordon Beck

If you run Quebec’s largest cranberry farm, you tend to explore the role of cranberries in cuisine. Marc and Marie Bieler of Atoka Cranberries in St. Louis de Blandford, a region with many cranberry bogs on the lower south shore of the St. Lawrence, have developed a variety of fresh cranberry recipes. Now that so much of the crop is dried for use as a snack or in baking, they have come up with interesting recipes using the dried fruit. They also flavour their dried cranberries with orange and cherry. This recipe is a meal-in-one.

Couscous with Chicken and Dried Cranberries

2015-03-17 15:55:28

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Ingredients

1. 1 pound (500 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fastened in rolls with toothpicks
2. Flour
3. Olive oil
4. 1 medium onion, finely chopped
5. 3 cloves garlic, crushed
6. 1/3 cup (75 mL) dried cranberries
7. 2 cups (500 mL) chicken broth
8. 1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cumin
9. 1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground coriander
10. Salt and freshly ground pepper
11. 2 cups (500 mL) frozen chopped mixed vegetables
12. 1 cup (250 mL) medium-size couscous
13. 4 tablespoons (60 mL) green parts of green onions, minced
14. ½ cup (125 mL) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

1. Dip chicken in flour. In a large, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat, heat enough oil to cover bottom of pan generously and brown chicken on all sides. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
2. In the same pan over medium heat, add a little more oil and cook onions and garlic just until softened but not browned. Add cranberries, ½ cup (125 mL) of the chicken bouillon, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and mixed vegetables, and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring often.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized saucepan, bring the remaining chicken broth to the boil and add the couscous. Remove from heat, stir, cover, and let stand 10 minutes.
4. Just before serving, stir green onions and parsley into couscous. Divide couscous among four wide, deep soup bowls or deep plates, add chicken and top with sauce.

By Marc and Marie Bieler of Atoka Cranberries in St. Louis de Blandford

Julian Armstrong https://www.julianarmstrong.com/