Couscous and spinning.

I thought I would write out our recipe for Pesto Couscous which we adapted from a couple that we found online. Occasionally I get bored of cooking the same old stuff and decide to add to my repertoire and this has become a new favourite, especially with Tish, and it's cheap and good for you and quick to make. And I know my niece Nat is fond of pesto and thought she might like it too. (Sorry, no photos, we've eaten it all.)

To serve 4:

Take 1 onion, chopped fine, and fry in oil slowly until very soft, 5 minutes or so. Add 3 handfuls (or is that hands-full) of pine nuts and continue to fry for a few minutes. Then add a big blob of butter in the middle and add 8oz of couscous and stir and fry for a couple more minutes (pay attention to it so it doesn't stick or burn). Meanwhile make 1 pint of hot chicken stock (or veggie, or even just hot water would do, but stock is nicer). Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool for a minute or two (this is to prevent the stock super-boiling and spitting everywhere when you pour it in), and then pour in the stock, stir well, put the lid on and leave it. Put the timer on 10 minutes (trust me, this will be just right for it to absorb all the stock).

I serve this with bite sized chunks of fried chicken on the top, so this is when I chop and cook the chicken.

When the beeper goes off you will find the pine nuts have all risen to the top of the couscous. Do not panic. Now add 3/4 heaped desert spoonfuls of pesto, or to taste, (it could be varied interestingly with red pesto or something like that) and stir thoroughly. Serve and enjoy. Add green veg or salad if you want to make it more in line with current government nutritional guidelines:-).

Also my spindle arrived today and I spent the afternoon watching spinning videos on Youtube. Then M arrived home as I was starting, wanted a go and then didn't give me it back for ages. So the first little hank of homespun is hers. I did some more myself this evening, and it is all now soaking, to 'set the twist', so I post photos tomorrow.

Also we finally managed to have our January book club meeting last night, to discuss The History Man. We had a really good evening in The Talbot in Stow (the coffee shop man didn't want us any more as we didn't spend enough money on coffee). As usual we didn't talk for long about the book but I like just having the chance to talk to an interesting group of people. We are reading 'Dear Fatty' by Dawn French for next time, as there was a desire to try something funny for a change.