Scallop Mango Salad

I've been in a bit of a slump, I must confess.  Not that I haven't been cooking, mind you: I just haven't been cooking exciting stuff.

I blame my wife, of course.

Her schedule has been a bit crazy as of late, which means getting home around 9:00.  Couple that with getting up at 5:30 in the morning to work out, and we're a little pressed for time. So it's all been about variations on a theme (or repeats).  And spaghetti. Lots of spaghetti.

Now, slowly, her schedule is evening out, and I'm getting back into the swing of things. Still couldn't shake the noodle thing, though...

Scallop Mango Salad

What You Need

1 lb. scallops (about 1/2 dollar-sized), room temperature

1 tsp. butter

1 tsp. minced ginger

3/4 cups shitake mushrooms, quartered

3 campari tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, diced

1 mango, chopped

1/8 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 shallot, sliced thin

1 1/2 cups chenin blanc

2 tsp. green curry powder.

2 tbsp. plain yogurt

1 tsp. milk

Rice noodles

Salt to taste

What To Do With It

Prep everything ahead of time; this goes quickly once you get started.

Start boiling your water for the rice noodles.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the ginger and gently sautee to awaken the ginger (about 5 minutes).  Then, add the mushrooms and sautee until they begin to soften. Remove and set aside.

While you're sauteeing the mushrooms, begin prepping your dressing by mixing together the yogurt, milk and curry powder, along with a pinch of salt.

About the time the mushrooms come up, your water should be boiling, so add the noodles. At the same time, pour the wine into the same pan you used for the ginger & mushrooms, and turn the heat to high. Once the wine is boiling, drop in the scallops and poach for 1 minute per side. DON'T OVER-COOK.

Remove the scallops and reduce the remaining broth to about 1/3. Rinse your rice noodles under cold water for about 30 seconds.

Once the broth is reduced, add 1-2 tsp of it to the yogurt. Combine everything except the noodles in a bowl and toss.

Put some noodles on a plate, then top with the salad and add a pinch of kosher salt to each plate.

Serve with a sweetish wine. We used a gewurtz, although a  prosecco would also work.

Scallops Peruano

Almost 20 years ago, I had fresh scallops in Peru. They were served on the half shell with the roe still intact. At the time, I didn't appreciate just how good they were.

For my 40th birthday, my wife ordered me fresh scallops from a local seafood market (in Texas, you can only get scallops in the shell by special order). The picture to the left shows how they arrived (minus the wine), of course.

Now, I recall the scallops in Peru as being baked, with only parmesan cheese. But that just seemed a little naked.

So, we added a little wine and some italian parsley, then baked. We were cooking for 12, so our cooking times were a bit off (probably cooked them about 1 minute to long). Nonetheless, WOW. Super fresh, a hint of sea, and all around delicious!

Scallops Peruano

What you need:

Scallops, still in the shell

Dry white wine (sauvignon blanc works well)

Argentinian parmesan cheese (it's not as hard as parmigiano-reggiano, and melts well)

Italian parsley

What to do with it:

Wash the scallop. It will be open slightly (like a soft-shelled clam), so don't worry.

Hold the scallop with the shallow side up, and cut away the shell from the scallop. Repeat for the bottom half.

You now should have the scallop detached. There's a sheath around the scallop that holds all that excess stuff to the scallop. Cut that off, and throw away everything except the roe (orange or slightly pink, depending on the sex of your scallop). Place the scallop and the roe in the deep shell, sprinkle on a bit of parsley (very little), grind on a twist of sea salt, sprinkle on some grated parmesan, and add about 1 tbsp. wine (add it on the side of the scallop, not on top).

Bake at 450 degrees for 4-6 minutes, depending on how many you have. Err on the side of not enough time (you can always put in for another minute).

Ours came packed in seaweed, so we put that down on the plate for serving. We also served with Rombauer Chardonnay. Any "oaked" chardonnay should do, however.

Oh, and I got a new digital camera. Nice, eh?

Scallops with White Wine Court Bouillon and Linguini

I've mentioned before that I like scallops. I could eat pan-seared scallops all day long.

My problem is finding ways to cook them that are (i) different and (ii) healthy (yes, we're still on that *&@%^ diet chez moi).

Well, tonight we forgot to plan anything for dinner, so Jenn & I stopped by our crack dealer on the way home to see what we might find. What we found were the colossal sea scallops for $6.00 off per pound. Of course, we bought some. But what to do with them? Big thunderstorms coming through, so definitely no bacon-wrapped scallops on the grill.

A while back I heard a recipe on NPR for clam sauce to put over linguini that I thought would work quite well for scallops. In fact, I was correct.

Oh, and I learned a new term: court bouillon. It's a fancy way of saying "a liquid with herbs and wine in which you poach food."

Scallops with White Wine Court Bouillon and Linguini

What you need:

(I cook for two)

Linguini
About 1/2 to 2/3 pound of scallops (depends on how hungry you are). And these are the big sea scallops, not bay scallops. Smaller scallops will reduce your cooking time a lot.
1/2 cup oaky chardonnay (something with a nice, buttery finish)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 scallion , thinly sliced (just until you get to the green part)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/8 tsp tarragon, finely chopped
1/2 lemon
1 tsp white wine vinegar
about 2 tsp butter
salt & pepper to taste

What to do with it:

While your water comes to a boil, prep your ingredients & give your scallops a good washing (once if you like them a little strong, more if you don't).

Drop in about 1 tbsp of your parsley, the garlic, tarragon, lemon, vinegar, white wine, a couple pinches of salt and some pepper and cook over medium-high heat in a large, flat pan for about 5 minutes to get the flavors mixed throughout. Check it to make certain that you've got enough salt. If your water isn't boiling, reduce to simmer. (Don't forget to crank the heat back up to medium-high just before you put your scallops in)

Otherwise, once the water boils, throw in your linguini & your scallops (pasta in the water, scallops in the court bouillon, obviously). You're going to cook the both about seven minutes. Turn the scallops over once.

At the seven-minute mark, drain your linguini and remove your scallops and place in the oven on warm.

Add the butter to your court bouillon and reduce on medium-high until the sauce thickens a bit.

Dish up some pasta, quarter (or half) the scallops and place on top. Ladle on some of your sauce, and sprinkle the rest of the parsley on top. You can also add a LITTLE bit of fresh parmesean cheese or anoter grated hard cheese.

Serve with a chardonnay, preferably the one you used to cook the sauce.

Scallop Soup

Most of the time when I go to the store to pick something up for dinner, I have no idea what is going to end up on the table. I like to browse around, see what catches my eye, and come up with something on the spot. It's fun. It also turns a shopping trip into an odyssey, as I criss-cross the store trying to find the "right" ingredients as I figure out what they will be.

This past weekend, our friend, Chris, asked if he and I could cook together. So while our wives sat on the back porch drinking wine, we engaged in the manly activity of providing food for the table and spent about an hour rummaging around at my crack dealer, Central Market. We decided on making lamb chops, calamari, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus and mixed seafood with home made marinara over linguini But since I'd never made the seafood pasta dish, the lamb chops and asparagus were not going to provide a lot of food, and I'm still struggling with getting calamari cooked just right, I figured that it wouldn't hurt to cook one thing that I knew would taste good. Most importantly, it's easy for all but about three minutes, and then you just have to pay attention.

I particularly like this dish because I really like scallops, but I struggled for several years to find ways to cook them so that they didn't get ruined in the process.

Scallop Soup

What You Need:

Three large sea scallops per person.
1 to 1 1/2 cups of sauvignon blanc. Clos du Bois works.
2 roma tomatoes
1/4 to 1/3 cup oregano. Less if it's fresh
1/3 cup plain yogurt
Salt & Pepper

What To Do with It:

This recipe assumes enough food for 3-4 people. You'll need to increase everything except the scallops if you're cooking for more.

Slice the tomatoes, skin & all, about 3 mm thick.

Put equal parts wine and water into a wide pan. Something in the neighborhood of 10-12 inches.
Add your tomatoes, some salt & petter and oregano & cook on medium heat. Dried oregano will take longer, so you'll have to add some water along the way.

Once you've been cooking for about 20 minutes, your tomatoes should begin to fall apart. Mash them a bit with a wooden spoon to help the process along.

Mix your yogurt with just a little bit less cold water. Stir until it's smooth (this will help your yogurt not be clumpy when it hits the wine). Add to your liquid and continue cooking until your tomatoes are no longer recognizeable as such.

At this point, you should have about 1/2 inch liquid in your pan. Drop in your scallops QUICKLY. Scallops cook in a hurry, so you don't want to tarry.

After about 1 1/2 minutes, turn them over. Once they begin to split on top, they're done (about 3 minutes total, maybe more depending on how many you throw in). Put your scallops in bowls and pour the broth over them.

Drink with the wine you used to cook 'em.