Cous Cous With Figs

Several nights ago I made an excellent lamb dish with cous cous. This being a blog, I will split the recipe up into its component parts. The easiest, and most usable in other recipies, is the cous cous itself. I prefer to toast cous cous with butter and add broth rather than water. Adding a dried fruit, such as figs or dates, adds to the flavor of this otherwise dull piece of durham wheat. The entire prep time for this cous cous is less than 10 minutes, and its well worth the minimal extra effort over just boiling the stuff.

INGREDIENTS

One cup dried cous cous
One cup of chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional unless you use "light" stock)
1/3 of a cup dried figs or other dried fruit, cut into pieces (I cut figs into quarters, but I'm lazy)

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

4 quart pot (give or take) with a very tight lid.
Wood spoon or other heat resistant spoon that won't scratch your pot.

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut up figs as described. Cut butter into chunks. Place butter and cous cous in pot, and put on a medium heat stove. Turn the cous cous, allowing the butter to melt around it. The idea is to let the cous cous "toast": the cous cous should NOT turn brown or anything. The cous cous should get minimally golden (underdoing it is better) and should absorb the butter. Add the fruit and mix around for a half minute or so. Add the stock (and salt). Turn mixture and cover and remove from heat as soon as it starts to boil. Let sit about 5 to 7 minutes or so. Remove cover of pot and fluff the cous cous with a fork. FLUFF WELL!