Name: Couscous Stuffing with Currants, Apricots, and Pistachios
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 6 (Makes about 3 cups, enough for 6 Cornish hens)
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 small onion, minced (1/2 cup); 2 medium cloves garlic, minced; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger; 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 cup plain couscous; 1 1/3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth; 1/4 cup dried apricots (8 to 9 whole), chopped fine; 3 tablespoons dried currants; 1/4 cup shelled pistachios, toasted and chopped; 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves; 1 teaspoon lemon juice from 1 small lemon

Why This Recipe Works

To make a flavorful stuffing for Cornish hens, we combined fluffy couscous with warm spices, dried fruit, and pistachios. Heating the stuffing before placing it inside the birds let it come up to the proper temperature more quickly during cooking, thereby keeping the breast meat from overcooking.

Before You Begin

Toasted slivered almonds can be substituted for the pistachios.

Instructions

Heat butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add onions, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric; sauté until onions soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add couscous; stir until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to simmer, remove from heat, cover, and let stand until couscous has fully rehydrated, about 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with fork; stir in dried fruit, nuts, parsley, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to microwave-safe bowl; set aside.