Party Poussins With Festive Couscous Recipes

Steps:

• This is one of those recipes that is easier to follow than to write: that's to say, there are many bowls involved, which might make this look troublesome and fiddly, but the actual process involved is almost insultingly simple.
• Now, I know that it is not strictly right to indicate that you cook couscous by pouring boiling water over it. In an ideal world, I accept, one should soak the grains in cold water before steaming them over hot, but I take the shortcut, and repeatedly and I apologize to those whom I thereby offend.
• Put the couscous into a heatproof bowl, with 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt), 1/4 teaspoon of the paprika, and all the grated ginger. Give everything a bit of a mix before adding the hot boiled water. Cover the bowl, either with plastic wrap or a plate, and set aside.
• Into another bowl, put the finely chopped onion.
• In a wide, shallow dish, big enough to take the salmon fillets later, zest the lemon into the dish.
• Squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl with the onions.
• Add the remaining salt and the paprika to the bowl with the lemon zest and stir in 1 tablespoon garlic flavored oil.
• Halve the cherry or grape tomatoes and put them into yet another bowl. Stir in the remaining teaspoon of garlic flavored oil and set aside.
• Heat a large frying pan for the salmon fillets. While the pan is getting hot, add the fillets to the dish with the lemon zest and coat both sides with the mixture.
• Put the fillets in the hot pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. The fillets should be juicy and have a vivid coral color in the middle, so do check as you cook.
• Meanwhile, uncover and fluff the couscous, which should have absorbed all the water. Add the tomatoes with lemony onion mixture and stir with a fork.
• Add nearly all of the cilantro to the couscous, and stir it through, then taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed.
• Spoon some couscous onto each plate and arrange a salmon fillet alongside. Sprinkle with a little more cilantro as you hand out each plate.

Steps:

• Mix 3 tablespoons of the oil with the paprika, 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Rub inside surfaces of hens with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, then smear them, inside and out, with the spice paste. Set aside 1 hour.
• Sauté onions in remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat until golden. Stir in raisins and remaining cumin and cook until onions are lightly browned. Fold in cooked couscous and season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat grill or heat oven to 375 degrees. If grilling, sear hens on the skin side over medium heat, then turn them over, basting a couple of times with remaining lemon juice, until cooked through, about 35 minutes. If using oven, roast hen halves skin side up in a roasting pan until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes, basting a couple of times with remaining lemon juice.
• Reheat couscous, fold in cilantro, and mound on a platter. Arrange hen halves around couscous and serve hot or warm.