Couscous with Goat Cheese and Fruit Topping

This was done in a pie plate because I thought it would present well.  But it could just as easily be done in any container that you wish to use.  Most any fortified wine would work in place of the Marsala.  Or white wine.  Or apple juice.  Maybe chicken broth.  Also you could use feta or any other crumbly cheese for the goat cheese.  I planned on this to be served at room temperature since it was for a potluck, but it might be bit better if still warmed.

Cut up dried apricots and mix with enough raisins to cover the pie plate.  Melt butter in a sauce pan.  Add the dried fruit and cook over low heat until starting to brown.  Pour in a bit of Marsala to deglaze the pan.  Cook until it thickens and take the pan off the heat.  Prepare a couple of cups of couscous as per instructions.  Let cool.  Stir in a couple of ounces of crumbled goat cheese into the couscous.  Put the mixture into the pie plate and smooth.  Cover with the dried fruit.  Serve!

Molasses Beef with Couscous

Sprinkle flour over a pile of beef stew meat.  I was cooking for a potluck, so used around 5 lbs, but you could easily scale this back.  Put meat into a dutch oven.  Mix together a can of beef broth, about a cup of molasses, minced garlic, ginger puree, pepper.  Pour over meat.  Pour in red wine until meat is covered.  OK, you could have mixed the wine into the bowl with the other stuff, but this is the way I happened to do it.  The main two things are to have a flavorful liquid and to cover the meat completely.    Bring to a boil then move to the lowest heat available.  I started with a lid, but it was still cooking pretty hard, I ended up moving the lid off the pot a bit.  Let cook for three or so hours.  Remove from heat and lose the lid.  Stir in couscous and let sit.  I put in around a cup and a half.  After about ten minutes the couscous should be ready.  Stir everything together and serve.

Note:
To do this by the book, after flouring the meat, you really should brown it in the dutch oven in batches and the deglaze the pot with the wine before dumping the meat back in.  It also would have been easier to just put it in a slow cooker and let it set for 4-6 hours on low.  But I had just under 4 hours to make this and get out the door.  This version is perfectly fine and got several compliments.