And now for something completely different - a recipe blog without measurements or highly structured instructions. But also, no irrelevant padding to make room for ad space, because this blog doesn’t serve ads (and never will). Just to put my money where my mouth is, I’ll start with the recipe, and then proceed to the yapping about it afterwards.

Chicken with Couscous and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• chicken thighs
• mushrooms
• garlic powder
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• onion
• dried rosemary
• crimini mushrooms
• pearled couscous
• parsley
• neutral oil
• water

Recommended cookware - a large pan with tall sides, such as a dutch oven or saute pan.

Other tools that might be useful - tongs for flipping, a spoon for stirring

Instructions

1-2 days before

1. In a mortar and pestle, grind kosher salt, black pepper, and dried rosemary to powder
2. Mix with garlic power and use to marinate chicken thighs for at least 24 hours
3. Don’t forget to put the rub under the skin!

75 minutes before

1. Finely dice your onion and slice mushrooms. Set aside, co-mingled or separate.
2. Finely mince parsley and set aside.

60 minutes before

1. Heat the oil until it shimmers (just short of its smokepoint)
2. Sear the chicken thighs skin side down on medium heat until substantial amounts of chicken fat have rendered from the pan
3. Flip the chicken thighs and sear until well browned, then remove from heat and set aside
4. Add mushrooms and onion and sautee until softened
5. Add couscous and sautee until all the liquid has been absorbed and its starting to stick (if not using a nonstick pan)
6. Add the seared chicken thighs back into the pan
7. Add about 90% of the water called for on the packaging for the couscous and bring back to a boil
8. Bring up to a boil, season with salt and pepper, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook according to couscous packaging
9. Uncover, stir, garnish with minced parsley.
10. Let sit for a while to cool and let the couscous absorb liquid. Stir briefly every now and then.

And now the yapping

Empiricism

There’s three things in this recipe that bring me delight.

First, it tastes great, and the leftovers taste even better the next day, especially once you fry up the couscous in the solidified remnants of chicken fat.

Second, it’s deeply chicken-centric. You render the fat from the chicken, cook the onions and mushroom in it, then you let the couscous toast in the oil. Its very simple, but I think that we often treat chicken as a neutral platform for other flavors. In this technique, you remember that chicken itself has a taste.

Third, as written, you can’t pull this recipe off without empiricism.

With the exception of baking, I think that cooking is more fun without a recipe, or too much structure.

Instead, think about what you’re seeing - observe the chicken as it goes through the process of browning. If you’re using stainless steel pans, wait and watch for the point where the browned skin easily comes free from the pan.

Listen to the mushrooms and onions fry in the pool of chicken fat, as it drives off the water in the vegetables. The popping and sizzling will sound different as the water evaporates.

The couscous then absorbs whatever water is left, and itself begins go brown in the remnants of the fat.

Judge the degree to which all the liquid has been absorbed by the couscous - at the same time, the chicken is finishing its carryover cooking, and the temperatures throughout the pan reach equilibrium and start to fall.

Variations

This is just the most basic version of the recipe - feel free to dress it up however you want, such as…

1. Blooming curry spices or curry spice in the chicken fat before adding the mushrooms and onions.
2. Adding sundried tomatoes or kalamata olives along with the couscous
3. Using rice or orzo instead of couscous
4. Using whole chicken pieces instead of just thighs (you can render ALOT of fat from the backbone!)
5. Rendering fat from smoked turkey tails in addition to the chicken

This is also a very forgiving dish if you want to get used to searing on stainless steel. Any mistakes you make ultimately get deglazed when you cook the couscous!

Cookware and Tools

When I make this dish, I usually use a 4qt All-Clad D5 Essential Pan. It’s basically an extra deep saute pan. I’ve had it for a while, and I like it because it’s more responsive than a dutch oven (especially a cast iron dutch oven) and it has a handle. Crucially, it also has a rolled lip for pouring, so it’s a pretty good all-rounder. I have the matching lid, too, and a tight fitting lid is quite important for this recipe because you want the couscous to steam a bit.

They also make a 6qt variant of the same piece - the 4qt is about the right size for four chicken thighs, so a larger pot would do to scale up.

The other tools that make this recipe work are a set of tongs for flipping the chicken (and removing it while you cook the mushrooms and onions) and a spoon for stirring the couscous. I don’t have any strong opinions about tongs (I have an oxo pair that I like, but also quite a few no-name ones), except that you should have a large number of them, in a variety of different sizes. I find I use tongs over 75% of the time I cook, so it really cramps the workflow to have to wash one when I need it.

When it comes to spoons, I’ve tried wooden spoons (too finicky), spoonulas (innovation without a reason), and metal spoons (uncomfortable to hold), but I’ve settled on the RSVP International Ela’s Favorite Spoon in White. It’s comfortable, dishwasher safe, and the color is important because it lets you judge the progress of caramelization or browning (using stainless-steel instead of black coated cookware has the same effect). I have four of them, and none of them have exhibited any staining.

This spoon is so good that I find myself preferring it over spatulas, except for turning. For that, I’ve yet to find a better turner than the Oxo Good Grips Nylon Flexible Turner.