The Gravy Train: baby-friendly foods

why gravy?

Gravy train: an idiomatic expression referring to any lucrative endeavor; for emphasis, one can say the gravy train has biscuit wheels.

While I lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2009-2011, I was an international lady of leisure. I ate, cooked, and laughed my way through Southeast Asia. Along the way, the hubby and I started a family with our first little eater, whom we call The Gravy Baby. In September 2011 we returned to the U.S., settling ourselves in Charleston, SC. Now it's time for fried, bacon-wrapped fun in the Deep South.
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Tuesday, December 06, 2011

gravy baby gourmet: israeli couscous with matsutake mushrooms

Above: the Gravy Baby's lunch on Saturday; don't worry, I transferred it to a toddler-safe plastic plate before serving

The Gravy Baby is going through a growth spurt right now, which basically means that he eats everything in sight and more of it, immediately, right this second. If those cooking competitions on TV want to really turn up the pressure on their contestants, I think they should try putting a screaming toddler in the room and making them come up with a meal that will calm the kid down.

I made this couscous in about 15 minutes for lunch on Saturday, during just one of those epic meltdowns. I keep a stock of Israeli couscous made by Near East on hand for just such occasions; their boxes are small and easy to make in 10-12 minutes. Instead of boiling in water according to the package directions, I use a little low-sodium chicken stock to impart some extra flavor into the couscous. While the couscous cooks, I dice up whatever vegetables we have on hand to add to the couscous once it's done. On this particular day, I happened to have some young broccolini and matsutake mushrooms, courtesy of my Aunt Jenny's mushroom guy and some eager Fed'exing on my aunt's part. Along with some diced tomatoes and a splash of lemon juice and olive oil, the Gravy Baby gobbled this lunch right up: