Inspired by Renoir: Roasted strawberry/arugula couscous + Greek lamb loukaniko

If you've never checked out Feasting On Art, you should do so immediately.  It really is one of the most inspired food blogs you'll find.  So when it's creator, Megan Fizell, posted a recipe contest, I was SO there.  The challenge?  To create a recipe inspired by Renoir's still life titled, very appropriately, Strawberries.  Creating recipes like this is the theme of Megan's blog and what makes it so wonderfully unique is her fantastic imagination.  I decided if I were to participate, I'd have to pull out all stops and leave caution at the door.  Thankfully, that's my favorite way to cook...

The inspiration: Renoir's Strawberries

I spent some time thinking about not just this painting, but the life of Renoir at the time of painting it, and the man himself.  This piece was done near the end of his career, a time when he abandoned elaborate design and focused on the simple and ruffled beauty of natural still lifes of roses and fruit.  There's a rustic and lush brightness in Strawberries.  Something in it makes me think of  a man that was content with his accomplishments and diving in to the simple pleasures within reach for us all, every day.

The PLC version of Strawberries

For me, the mention of Renoir recalls my Greek grandfather.  He loved the impressionists, as he loved good food.  He'd lived in Paris for years, worked in kitchens and as an apprentice tailor.  I remember him drawing shaky renditions of art he'd seen, then in his 80s, on scraps of paper and explained in frustrated broken English.  I also remember him bringing home loukaniko - a Greek sausage made with fennel seeds and orange rind.  So I thought making some for this would be perfect, made with ground lamb.  Seeing as I wanted to keep this simple, I wouldn't be going thru a full sausage-making process, however.  Just some simple patties seasoned the right way would do.

Of course, the loukaniko patties by themselves really don't show much Impressionist Era inspiration (brown lumps, not really art-worthy). I used couscous because it reminds me of the daubs of paint impressionists use, and of the pointillism works of the time.  I added the strawberries, roasted first to give them smokiness, and wild arugula to give it a nice peppery boost.  I used a Lebanese couscous I found at a grocer - it's the largest I've ever seen and I just couldn't pass it up.  Israeli couscous would work just as well, I'm sure, and be easier to find.

Recipe: Renoir's Roasted Strawberry and Arugula Couscous with Lamb Loukaniko 

What you need to get...

For the loukaniko patties...
1 pound ground lamb (other ground meats work as well)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
The zest of one orange
A splash of red wine (1 tablespoon or so)
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon fennel seeds

For the couscous...
2 cups cooked Israeli couscous
1/2 cup shallots, sliced
2 cups wild arugula
1 cup hulled and halved strawberries
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

On the side... Greek-style yogurt

What to do with it all...

For the loukaniko, combine all the ingredients and form patties or links depending on your preference
I recommend broiling or pan frying on high heat (or grilling if available) until desired done-ness.  Set aside, loosely covered in tin foil until ready to use.  Reserve meat juice and fat to cook shallots. 

For the couscous, cook shallots on low heat either in meat juices from loukaniko or olive oil until translucent (4 -6 minutes)
Meanwhile, scatter strawberries in a cookie sheet with a lip, or onto tin foil (create a lip to catch juices) and place under broiler on highest setting.  Watch strawberries carefully and remove as soon as there is some blackening.  The time varies widely based on your broiler.  Remove and set aside until plating your finished dish.
When shallots are translucent, add your cooked couscous, arugula, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Turn burner up to medium and toss.  Cook until heated thoroughly and arugula is slightly wilted (a couple of minutes).

Plate cous cous, top with loukaniko, strawberries and a dollop of yogurt!

Hello.

About Peas Love Carrots Author Mathea Tanner

Culinary pursuits were ever-present in the house that Mathea grew up in.  Born to a Greek-American mother and French-Irish father with roots in the American South, there was always an assortment of dishes from Apple pie to Tsaziki being made.

She is a Chicago-based freelance writer/photographer balancing her passions with her 9-to-5 as an assistant and studies at DePaul University.

Here is the very first introductory post to Peas Love Carrots from October 2009...

I've put this off long enough.  The "introduction" post.  I have recipes and pictures and a whole head full of what I hope are super cool things to fill a blog with...and it's all piling up behind the task of this very necessary first post.  For so long I've wanted to show you how incredibly freeing and fun the kitchen can be.  Thru my eyes.  Share the fretted-over recipes I've squirreled away into an obese file (ok, it's a Mac desktop file, but it can still be fat).  The neat restaurant and odd food fact articles.  Kitchen know-how I picked up from a truly quirky Greek-American cooking heritage. Kitchen disasters and proud fearless moments...and yet I still couldn't seem to get this started and had begun to come up with all kinds of excuses: 

1. My head hurts.
2. I'm not in a "writing" mood.
3. I was attacked by man in a Subway sandwich costume and am now temporarily food-traumatized.  

Ok, so that last one wasn't something that has actually happened to me, but I imagine it could have once as I stood waiting for an express bus in the South Loop and had a man so fed up with people not taking his coupon leaflets that he lost it and started screaming in people's faces "WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO LOOK AT ME???  I'M GIVING AWAY FREE FOOD FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!"  I could sort of see his point but still...I have never stopped imagining what would've happened had he started flailing those oversized Mickey Mouse-style mitts at everyone.

With all these excuses popping up day after day, I had to start to ask myself why I was so incredibly hesitant to write this first little piece.  It can't be shyness, can it?  There have been more times than I can count that people have come up to me and said "Mathea!  I remember the first time I met you - you were asking homeless people on the street to join us for breakfast/stealing restaurant silverware to give as gifts to the people you were dining with/wearing a bikini over your clothes at a bar and trying to get people to dance with you (no one would, oddly).  Though I'm often surprised at myself when I hear these things mentioned out of context, the theme is clear: I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself if it means keeping people entertained.  And if I can do it in person, doing it here on the faceless internet should not be an issue.

The answer came to me this morning as so many things occur to a person - as I was washing my hair in the shower.  I'm not sure what it is about the shower, but I get a lot of my best thinking done there or at some other point during my morning ablutions.  I don't think I'm alone in that because I've seen plenty of movies where a person stops mid-tooth brushing and stares in the mirror with that light bulb-over-the-head look and then runs off to rescue their kidnapped child or whatever armed with this brand new bathroom delivered epiphany.  Anybody else want to back me up on this?

Anyway, so there I was washing my hair...and I realized that this all had to do with me hating small talk at parties. The part where you say what you do for a living.  How long you've lived where you live.  Whether or not you've seen any good movies lately.  If this is something you are good at, or even enjoy, I admire you.  To me this is agonizingly painful.  A necessary evil, maybe, but I find myself wishing there was a fast forward button on the conversation so we can get to the part where we've been friends for 5 years and are laughing over "Remember whens".  Or in this case, the part where I'm cooking in my kitchen and sharing tips while I wear a bikini over my apron.  I'll bet 10 to 1 you'd remember the cooking tips way better this way, too!
   

So then I thought, why not do that?  Why not jump into the blog as if I've been writing it for 5 years?  After all, it's my blog and I can do whatever I want. Truth be told, some would say I'm late to the trend anyway, so it'll be my little way of playing catch up with the other food bloggers. As soon as this occurred to me, my anxiety miraculously disappeared, and I headed over to the computer to type.

So I'll start this post with "Hello", and end it with "Do you remember when you and I made those amazing peas and carrots together and then we practiced our Muppet Swedish Chef impersonations?  No?  Well, let me share the recipe to refresh your memory..."


- Mae