–
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.
–
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.