#mesfouf

Chicory is one of the least popular ingredients in my family and it’s true that a lot of us will find its bitterness a bit unpleasant. But I like it and I’m not willing to ban it from my kitchen. Quite the contrary. Today I tried hard to reconcile everybody with it and it worked!

In my quest to counterbalance the bitter taste of the chicory I turned to the Northern African Mesfouf, a sweet and nutty couscous. I love including nuts to my dishes and I added some extra spices to make it sparkle on the palate. Then I thought it was missing some salt to complete the ideal flavour spectrum you can find in one dish. Nothing better than cheese to add a savoury flavour to your meal. I’m French and I was facing a lot of options but the Cypriot halloumi was in my opinion the best choice. 

So there it is, a little bit of everything from everywhere in one plate. We do say that variety is the key to a good diet. Here we have a variety of ingredients, tastes, textures, colours, scents and origins - and with a little bit of art, we found a lovely way to use our chicory.

Ingredients (for 2)

4 chicories 125 gm medium couscous

2 bird’s eye chilies 

50 gm raisins

1 tsp spices (cumin, ginger, cardamon, nutmeg)

Salt, pepper

1 tbsp chopped coriander 

150 gm nuts (almond, hazelnut, pistachio, pecan, pine nut, peanut - whole, crushed, flaked; pick your favourite and make a mix of everything)

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp honey

1 block of halloumi

2 tbsp olive oil

Method 

Clean the chicory and cut a hole at the base to get rid of the bitter part of it. Set aside.

Drain and slice the halloumi - 1/2 cm thick approximately. Set aside.

Take the seeds out of the bird’s eye chillies and chop finely.

In a large bowl place the couscous, spices, chopped coriander and bird’s eye chilies, then cover with boiling water. There should be water all the way to the surface of the couscous but no more. Cover the bowl with a lid and leave to rest for 10 minutes. 

Sprinkle a frying pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil and place on medium heat. Arrange the slices of halloumi in the pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side until they take a nice golden colour and crispy looking texture. 

In the same frying pan melt 1 tbsp of butter and add the chicories when the butter starts bubbling. Leave for a couple of minutes on medium heat, flipping sides until the chicories are completely golden brown. Add a tbsp of honey and stir gently to caramelise them all around. Take out of the saucepan and set aside - but leave the frying pan on medium heat.

Melt another tbsp of butter in the frying pan and add the nuts. Cook gently for a minute then add 2 tbsp of honey. Stir until all the nuts are caramelised. Turn the heat off, then take the nuts out of the frying pan and set aside. 

Open the lid of the couscous bowl and add 1 tbsp of butter to the mixture. Stir with a fork until the couscous has absorbed all the butter. Then stir in the nuts. 

Place all the ingredients in your plates and serve immediately.