couscous anyone?

[lavender luv]

so.....
after a recent revamp of the storeroom, a lot of overstock was discovered...
anyone have any ideas for these products???

couscous(40 kg)
red/green thai curry paste(44lbs)
green peppercorns(20@175 gr)
refried beans(9@2.84litres)
cranberry sauce(15@2.45litres)
mango chutney(45@500ml)

i really need help with the couscous
thanks,
drowning in overstock

[coolJ]

Okay, to use up the couscous, the simplest thing would be just a pilaf. or you could take a boneless chicken breast, pound it out thin, use the couscous as a stuffing, then roll and tie the chicken and roast it, serve sliced on an angle, and maybe for something a little different, baste the chicken with some of the thai curry sauce and on the side, serve some of the mango chutney.
hope this helps.

[Suzanne]

Is it instant couscous (the kind you just mix with boiling water, let sit, fluff, and serve) or the real thing that you have to rehydrate, steam, fluff, steam, etc.?

Also, what kind of operation are you? If you serve breakfast, you could use it as a breakfast cereal, with plumped dried fruit and sweet spices mixed through.

You might also want to post this on the Cooking board; I'm sure you'll get LOTS of advice there!!!!!

[mike]

How much ???? LOL

peppercorns....sauce

refried beans....texmex special

cranberry & mango....subs n sandwiches ( not together) both greta with most fillings.

couscous...previous suggestions nice...give it to staff !!!!

cuury paste....soup ( need recipie...let me know)

good luck.

[cmj]

curry paste = thai fish cakes or a thai coconut broth

cous cous = morocan ( sp?) spiced lamb meat balls with cous cous and harrisa.

carn`t remember what else you said sorry.

[Chef Matisse]

WOW That's a lot of Curry Paste!

red/green thai curry paste(44lbs)

[spoonbread]

Green peppercorns you can puree and add to a port demi reduction, or on Grilled meats.
Mango chutney- just as is.... on top of fish or chicken. Or use in a marinade. One type I use pureed mango chutney, OJ,mushroom soy,a bit of sesame oil and emulsify with olive oil. Then I marinate quail with it.Or I just add pureed chutney to mayo and lemon juice, put on top of fish or use as a sandwich condiment.
Couscous- There are sooo many!
Curry paste- try a reduction of rice vinegar, wine and add coconut milk, add paste. There are so many applications with dairy that fit well with curry.

[lavender luv]

thanks so much for all the great suggestions! i have been plugging away and am finally making a dent in all that product. don't get me wrong, there is still lots left to go around. the curry pastes and couscous are still alive and kicking, a little of that stuff sure goes a long way!! made a great veg chili with refried beans and couscous added, luckily it sells well in the cafe, ran a saffron scented seafood soup with couscous with mixed reviews and putting couscous with anything i pretty much can without going overboard. as for the curry paste.... right now i'm working on a red thai chicken curry soup....red thai couscous anyone?

[CAsweetthing]

I know there has already been quite a bit posted about the couscous, but it's one of my favorite starches (tasty, flexible, quick...).

I frequently add sauteed onions and garlic and macerated cranberried or currants. Alternately, instead of the fruit, sun dried tomatoes.

I almost always serve it with quickly grilled chicken (maybe marinated in the mango chutney and curry paste) with some sauteed veggies on the side. Light and very flavorful.

Now that I think of it...

As a studying pastry chef... I can't help but wonder if you couldn't do a little experimentation with using the couscous in a sweet dish... maybe a variation on rice pudding or bread pudding... hmmmm, with currents (similar size, nice and bright flavor and color). I'm curious enough about this one to try it at home...

Also, what about a couscous cake (think shortcake) with fruit and whipped cream. Simple, seasonal and unique and would probably use up quite a bit of couscous.

Hopefully the pairing down is moving along!

[wett-chef]

Try serving the cous cous polenta style?

[Nick.Shu]

err,

howbout rehydrating the cous cous with a milk/cream (like a porridge). Mix toasted nuts and fruits through it, mold it in dariole molds and turn it out on to a plate and drizzle a rosewater/or citrus syrup around it.

voila - a reverse engineered version of baklava using your cous cous.

another thing i have done is made that as a roulade.

(gees 40k of cous cous will make 80kg finished product)

Maybe dilute some cranberry sauce in the water for the cous cous, make up the cous cous, add somemore sauce and stuff turkey breasts

(oh, 15*2.45 ltres? gees thats a lot.)

Thai red paste - easy beef/chicken/pork/seafood curry
thai green paste - hmm harsh stuff prolly just beef or chicken curries.

if you are using starches, just sub cous cous for whatever, rice etc.

Morrocan dishes - honey cinnamon chicken - cous cous and mango chutney
- Morrocan lamb stew - cous cous
(heh) "mango compote with currants and preserved lemons"

Thai green curry paste, refried beans, mince beef, tomato cumin etc - some sort of thai/texmex fusion (lol thexmex)