SAVORY SCALLOPS

 

                                                    Savory scallops

           Scallops, unlike other bivalves like clams and oysters, are harvested in winter months. So, from early December to March, we may expect those delicious plump bites of seafood to appear in stores and on our dinner plates. Scallops may be considered a luxury food because of their price is driven by methods of harvesting, often by hand and each bivalve yields only a small edible muscle.

Scallops are a valuable seafood harvest for Maine, the coastal waters being home to bay scallops, with trawlers and deep-sea divers bringing up the larger sea scallops to our tables. The home cook needs to look for ‘dry’ scallops that are natural and will give a flavorful texture when cooked. Cheaper ‘wet’ scallops may appear plumper at the store but are treated with artificial preservatives that make scallops difficult to sear quickly and often add ‘off’ flavors. Overcooking scallops makes them tough!

          The following recipes all use ‘dry’ scallops, can be used with both bay and sea scallops, but very large scallops may need to be cut in half before cooking. 

                                                  Scallops Grenoblaise

          This recipe was adapted from an old issue of Food and Wine and retains the strange title of a city in France notable for its leading scientific research Centre and surrounding Alps. Serves two.

          Peel the outer skin and pith from a lemon. Cut between membranes, remove the segments and cut them in ¼ inch pieces. Squeeze any remaining juice on the pieces and set aside.

          Sprinkle 12 large scallops with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a nonstick skillet on medium heat and sear scallops for 3 minutes, turn and cook until barely opaque for another 2 minutes. Transfer to a shallow bowl and cover to keep warm.

          Melt 2 tbsp. butter in the same pan on medium high heat, add 2 tbsp. drained chopped capers and 1-2 tbsp. chopped mild chilies. Cook until fragrant for 1-2 minutes, stir in lemon segments and 2 tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley, ¼ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. lemon pepper. Cook to heat and pour sauce over scallops. Serve on wide pasta with steamed snow peas for added color.

                                              Scallops with pine nuts

          Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Generously butter 4 shallow ramekins. Divide 1 lb. scallops among the dishes. Serves four.

          In a small skillet melt 1tbsp, butter and cook 4 finely chopped scallions on medium heat for 2 minutes with stirring. Melt 3 more tbsp. butter and add 2 tbsp. pine nuts, 1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill, 1/3 cup fine breadcrumbs and 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice. Mix all well and spread over the scallops in the ramekins. Bake for 10 minutes until bubbling at edges. Serve with lemon slices and a side of pasta, rice or just crusty French bread.

          For dessert, here is an interesting apple pie with cranberries, that would grace any holiday table.

                                             Dutch apple-cranberry pie

          Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare the streusel topping by blending ½ cup plus 1 tbsp. flour, ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. nutmeg and ¼ cup brown sugar, packed. Blend in with a pastry cutter or 2 knives ¼ cup butter until it forms small crumbles, then stir in ¼ cup Grapenuts.

          Lin a 9-inch pie pan with one ready made rolled pie crust. Fit it well in bottom and flute on the edges of the pan. Blend ¼ cup sugar with 1 tbsp. flour and sprinkle over the bottom crust. Wash, pare, quarter and thinly slice 2 apples over the sugar, sprinkle with ½ cup dried cranberries and another layer of 2-3 sliced apples, making sure the pie mounds a bit in the middle. Sprinkle all with ½ cup sugar and the streusel mix. Bake 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Remove pie to a rack to cool for 2-3 hrs. and serve.

          Scallops may be pricey, but winter is a good time to savor these delightful morsels at their best. “All good things come in small packages!”

 (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day:” and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)

 

 

QUICK MEALS TO THE RESCUE

                                    Quick meals to the rescue

           Our warm fall and late November Thanksgiving have conspired to shock me with the sneaky approach of December and its holiday activities. It is not a case of ignoring the calendar on my refrigerator. It is rather a refusal to rush any holiday before its time that now finds me facing decorating, shopping, writing cards, Christmas baking and entertaining crammed into just three weeks. It is difficult not to leave everyday meals to become an afterthought to all these other activities, allowing our nutrition to suffer under stress.

          One solution is to prepare something nourishing that can be served for multiple meals and the other is to find recipes that combine a number of ingredients and are quickly cooked. Nourishing soups are wonderful for both lunch and dinner and made in a large quantity can be quickly reheated as needed. Mild Portuguese sausage linguica and Swiss chard give my soup additional flavor.

 

                                     Lentil-Swiss chard and linguica soup

          In a large pot heat 2 tbsp. olive oil to shimmering and stir in 2 oz. prosciutto sliced in ¼ inch strips. Fry to crisp with occasional stirring and set on paper towels to drain. This will make an elegant garnish for the finished soup.

          Stir in 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped stalk of celery in the same oil plus 1 diced parsnip and 1 carrot. Cook vegetables with stirring for about 8 minutes without browning.  Add 3 chopped garlic cloves, 1 large bay leaf, 1 tsp. thyme, 2 tsp. smoked paprika and cook until fragrant for 1 minute. Add 1 cup red wine, 6 cups chicken broth, 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with basil, 1 ½ cups rinsed French lentils and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and cook for 45 minutes.

          Remove from heat, discard bay leaf and after cooling, purée 1/3 of the soup in the blender and return to the rest in the pot to boil. Add 3 cups of washed and torn chard leaves. Remove casings from 2 linguica sausages, dice and add to the soup. Cook for 3 or more minutes until the chard is soft. Serve hot garnished with some of the crisped prosciutto.

          Quickly browned meat in an interesting sauce, served over rice or pasta makes for an easy and quick supper. The next recipe is for chicken but could be used as well for leftover turkey’s second act, without the necessity to brown the meat. 

 

                              Chicken velouté with artichokes and sundried tomatoes

          Cut up, depending on size, 1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts in ½ inch strips, stir fry to brown in 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter in a large pan and set aside. You should have at least 2 cups of cooked chicken. Add 1 tbsp. butter to the same pan and sauté 2 sliced large shallots for 4 minutes. Stir in 2 tbsp. flour and ¼ tsp. ground cloves to make a roux, slowly add 2 cups chicken broth to make the sauce. When sauce is thickened, stir in 2 oz shredded Gruyère cheese and ¼ cup shredded Parmesan and ¼ cup sundried tomatoes cut in thin strips. Simmer for 2 minutes. Drain 1 can of artichoke hearts. Stir artichokes and the chicken in the sauce and heat for 2 minutes. Stir in 3 tbsp. heavy cream and when heated serve on pasta.

           Desert can still be a part of a quick meal. Instant pudding mixes that require only 2 cups of milk and 2 minutes of whisking can present an appetizing choice when garnished with fruit or nuts as found with a pistachio pudding with grape and pistachio nut topping.

          “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye …” sings the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland and the holiday season may sometimes seem just like that. Instead of being overwhelmed and distracted by tasks at hand, one could try to take a deep breath and appreciate the joy of the season imbued in those same tasks done with love.

 (I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day:” and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)