Queens day.....Kings day

Queen's Day in Holland was extra special this year due to the abdication of Queen Beatrix and crowining of her son Willem-Alexander. Out and about, flags were waving, people were wearing a substantial amount of orange clothing and generally celebrating with large amounts of alcohol.

However, while I participated in the celebrations (it was hard not to) I don't feel I fully embraced the day from a food point of view as for lunch, I resorted to making a simple dish from Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem. I felt that I should have tried a Dutch classic but in my ignorance of the whole Queen's day/King's day celebration I forgot that shops would be closed and therefore with no fresh food, I resorted to raiding store cupboards.

The dish I chose to make was Couscous with Tomato and Onion. It has 5 main ingredients - onion, tomato puree, tomatoes, couscous and stock - which I had readily to hand. After gently sauteing the onions in oil, you add the tomato paste and then two chopped tomatoes, cooking for a total of 15-20 minutes. In the meantime I soaked the couscous in Magi chicken Stock for 10 minutes. I know using a stock cube is a short-cut but I really think that the Magi cubes are superior to what I used before in the UK and add that bit of extra taste. Also, I remember that I am a cook, not a chef, and I am certainly not conceited enough to believe that conveniences such as stock cubes are inadequate. After everything is ready, the tomato sauce and couscous is combined and then butter is melted in a frying pan. The couscous mixture is added and pressed down to resemble a thick pancake. This is cooked until the base and sides are crispy. These parts were definitely the most tasty.

The book describes this simple recipe as comfort food and it really is. I would definitely make it again either as a light lunch on its own or as an accompaniment to grilled meats or fish and a middle eastern salad.

Enjoy.