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Ah Friday! Sweet Friday! The promises that I’m finally going to kick my flip-flop up and relax. Yes…. Thankfully I don’t have to kick some high heels, flipies are my friend. LOL. Do you know what is my favorite thing to do on Fridays, drive the Pacific highway, Awwwwww…. how pretty is that, all the surfers in the water waiting for a wave, the sun shinning on the sand and the smell of the ocean. Nothing can bit that. It’s lovely…and on the way there is this amazing garden store overlooking the sea. Its pure awesomeness, moving to California was the best decision we ever made. I can’t say enough how happy we are, the weather so far is unbelievable nice. Not too hot, it feels like spring. We don’t even need air conditioner; the house is always with a nice breeze. Sometimes I even feel cold, I have to put a little cardigan. And my husband laugh hysterically when I tell him I’m cold. Yes… it is his mission in life to mock me. But I don’t hold against him. So Tonight I made this dish that totally says summer I put some candles outside in my balcony and we just had some peaceful lovely dinner sipping some wine. And talking about our day.
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Israeli Couscous with Bacon and Mussels
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of couscous
- 1 pound of mussels
- 3 slices of bacon chopped
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 2 garlic gloves minced
- 1 teaspoon of red chili flakes
- Cherry tomatoes
- ½ pond of calamari
- 2 tablespoons of parsley chopped
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- 2 cups of chicken stock
Directions:
Soak mussels in a large bowl with cold water, changing the water twice, this helps to remove any grits. Scrub the mussels well and pull out the beards. Heat a large pan and fry the bacon until crispy, remove then bacon from the pan and set aside. Add the calamari in the bacon fat toss calamari quickly around and cook only 2-3 minutes until done. Remove calamari and set aside. Add onions, garlic, and the chili flakes. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the tomatoes, parsley, and wine and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium allow to simmer for 2 minutes Cook mussels for 2 more minutes shaking the pan, then remove the open mussels and set aside discard any that didn’t open. Add the Israeli couscous and the chicken stock and return to a simmer, cook until tender. Return the mussels and any juice to the pan and heat through quickly seasoning with sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper. Serve with some more chopped parsley. Enjoy.
Garlic Bread:
Cut an italian or focaccia bread in half and spread liberally with butter then sprinkle some poppy seeds, sesame seed, salt and minced garlic.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks like the perfect summer meal to me! Gorgeous photos, too. Congrats on the Top 9!
Thanks Stella, I know…I can see some rabbi, telling me Burn girl, Burn….But we are not kosher here in this household….we eat plant of little piggies. LOL Move to CA? That would be just awesome, I wish all my cyber bffs could move closer.
Hey Anna,
I must admit I find the combination of Israeli cous cous with an non-kosher meat a bit awkward, however, I also must admit that this sounds absolutely wonderful! It looks it too (smile). Oh, and you always have the best looking tomatoes in your photos. I’d move to California just for that…
Thanks Zlamushka, I’m glad you liked, looking forward to your recipes too.
Thanks Chandani,
Hi Ana,
This is my first tiem at your blog and I am stunned. Love your pictures, your ideas, could browse here all day! thanks for your site, I am bookmarking this lovely couscous dish.
Congrats on the top 9! This dish looks gorgeous! I recently made both mussels and calamari on different days but wanted to cook them together next time. I’d love to try this out because it looks light and healthy! I think I’ll even add some extra crushed pepper because I love it spicy!
Anna, what a beautiful seafood dish…and Israeli couscous…I love it! Great pictures as well
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Anna congratulation on making it to top 9. The dish is a real winner. I was drooling the whole time when I read the ingredients and the pictures are simply the best. Hope mine one will be good looking like yours.
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Hi kristina, thank you, I was a bit scared to cook mussels myself, but once you try you see it’s actually no biggie. and here is the step for the mussels: Reduce heat to medium allow to simmer for 2 minutes Cook mussels for 2 more minutes shaking the pan, then remove the open mussels and set aside discard any that didn’t open. Add the Israeli couscous and the chicken stock and return to a simmer, cook until tender. Return the mussels and any juice to the pan and heat through quickly seasoning with sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper. Enjoy.
Minha mãe fazia feijão sem panela de pressão. Não sei como ela conseguia. Mas sei que é possível fazer!!!! Assim vc não tem perigo de cometer um genocídio!!!! hahahaha
Garota… sabe o que eu estava pensando, é você quem tira as fotos dessas delícias que estão no seu blog, né? Então… será que seria pedir muito para você dar uma dica pra mim??? No meu ap quase não bate sol e minhas fotos não estão muito legais… fico aguardando a resposta!!! Beijos
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the perfect summer plates, lovely flavors with seafood
sweetlife
congrats on your top nine..
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Everything in this dish looks so delicious! Beautiful pictures!
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Looks delicious. The mussels really do make the picture. I haven’t prepared mussels myself before, but I know that if I chicken out and omit them, my dish won’t be as beautiful as yours!
By the way, I don’t see in the recipe where you add the mussels to the pan. I might be missing it.
I feel like israeli couscous is so under-used which is a shame because I love the texture and taste. I think combining it with bacon and mussels should win over any skeptic.
Congrats on Top 9!
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What a good lookin’ dish! I love the addition of the bacon (as I always love the addition of bacon)… and, I’m with Dennis, that bread is calling!
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Did someone say bacon? I think we’re on the same wave length because I recently put down Israeli couscous on my shopping list. And how brilliant to pair with bacon AND mussels
I’ll have to give this a try, it really does have summer written all over it. xoxo
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Thanks Jeanette, I fixed the recipe, check it out.
To me, this looks like the perfect meal. I would be so happy if some set this beautiful plate down in front of me. Seafood, bacon, the wonderful texture of Israeli couscous – it has it all!
And when do you add the calamari?
So how much Israeli couscous does this recipe call for? I think you missed that ingredient?
This looks delicious! Gorgeous pictures.
So glad you are happy with your decision to move to Cali! You make it sound wonderful. I just tried Israeli couscous a couple weeks ago, believe it or not. Your meal is gorgeous!
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Wow, what a beautiful plate, everything on it looks so delicious, a meal like this would be wonderful on a summer evening!
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what a beautiful plate…those gorgeous mussels with the bits of calamari, and that perfect cous cous! this looks so very delicious!
that bread is just calling to me!
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This looks absolutely delicious! As you may know, there is an Italian (Sardinian) dish that is quite similar, made with a typically Sardinian pasta called fregula, that looks and tastes very much like Israeli couscous.
Now, the fact that you’re combining *Israeli* couscous with two ‘treif’ ingredients like bacon and mussels…
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Oh this looks so yum! What a combination of flavours! Great!!
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