Couscous from Millau

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Couscous from Millau
Millau (France), March 2016	printable version

After a scenic drive through the Auvergne we arrive in the town of Millau with its famous bridge. We spent a few nights in this town in a little old bungalow and of course our stomachs must be filled here. In the local supermarket, our attention goes to the famous blue cheese: Bleu Auvergne. Bleu d'Auvergne is a relatively young blue cheese, developed in the mid 19th century. The cheese comes from the French region Auvergne. The story goes that the cheese was accidentally discovered by a farmer who was making cheese and also had some old rye bread with fungus on it. After some experiments he used the fungus to make cheese with it. The fungus that is now used for the cheese nowadays is a penicillium roqueforti strain. The fungus is grown especially for cheese making. This is the ingredient we decided to use to make a Couscous dish.

Arrival at the famous bridge of Millau

Ingredients (main course for two persons) 200 ml couscous 300 ml of boiling water 600g carrots (peeled and diced) 2 large onions (chopped) 2 large cloves garlic (chopped) 9 dried apricots (violence) 30g flaked almonds 75 grams Bleu Auvergne (or eg Roquefort) 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence black pepper 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1.5 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon honey

The ingredients for the Couscous from Millau

Preparation 1. Put 200ml couscous in a bowl and pour 300 ml of boiling water over it. Cover the bowl and let the couscous grains swell in 10 minutes. All the water will disappear. 2. Heat in a frying pan sunflower oil, and fry the carrots, onions, garlic along with the cumin, half a teaspoon of herbs de Provence and black pepper over medium heat for several minutes. Then add 100 millilitres of boiling water and let the carrots in about 12 minutes stew until they are all dente. Stir occasionally. The following steps can be done while the carrots are simmering: 3. Cut the apricots into strips. 4. Roast the almonds in a dry frying pan (no oil). Let them cool down on a plate. 5. Mix a dressing of olive oil, honey and half a tablespoon of herbs de Provence. 6. Crumble the Bleu Auvergne cheese 7. When the Couscous is ready, and all the water is gone, it can be stirred loose with a fork. Once the carrots are al dente, take the pan from the fire and mix the couscous through it. Afterwards, stir also the apricot strips, the almonds and dressing through it. Divide the couscous mixture among the plates and sprinkle the Bleu Auvergne cheese over it. Bon appétit!

Ivonne cooking in the basic kitchen of our little bungalow in Millau

Roasting the almond flakes

The end result: Couscous from Millau

A street in Millau

Us in front of the Bridge of Millau