Scallops and Sake Garlic Butter Sauce.

Every one of those words is delicious!

Sometimes cooking is about coincidences.  This is one of those times.  The following things happened in rapid succession;

1. Our Cilantro plant went ape-shit and doubled in size.
2. Chef Steps put out two videos on scallops (here and here).
3. I checked out a new fish monger in Fullerton.
4. I impulse-purchased a bottle of Bride of the Fox daiginjo sake at BevMo.

So I wound up buying 7 giant scallops (about a pound) at the new fish company and set out to make a great scallop dish.  Any gratin style dish was out of contention because I wasn't going to hide the flavor of the scallop, not at these prices anyhow.  I just wanted a simple pan sauce. I thought deglaze, garlic herb and butter.  Deglazing with sake is awesome.  I also squeezed in a tablespoon or two of lemon juice.  As for herbs, scallops wont stand up to anything resinous or woody so most chefs use parsley.  I used fresh cilantro.

You'll need;

• 4 Fresh U10 or bigger scallops.
• 3 oz good sake
• 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
• juice from 1/4 lemon (about 1Tbsp)
• 1 mounded Tbsp minced cilantro
• 3 Tbsp (1.5oz) softened butter

Get your MIP on.  Put the garlic in the press, cut the lemon, open the sake and mince the cilantro.  You want to move fast on the sauce.

Season one side of your scallops with salt and pepper and get the pan good and hot.  Add enough olive or grapeseed oil to coat the bottom of your pan.  It should be near smoking.

 
Put the seasoned side of the scallops down and sear for 2 minutes.  I shake the pan once to make sure that there is a bit of oil under each scallop.  Season the exposed side. 

Flip the scallops and sear the other side for 1 to 2 minutes depending on thickness.  Since mine were 7/pound I went 2 min on the second side. 

Clean off a small plate and get the scallops out of the pan.

Reduce the heat and deglaze with the sake then lemon juice.

Add in the garlic and cilantro.

Scrape up all the goodness.

Turn off the heat and add the butter.

Swirl until melted.

Plate the scallops and spoon over some sauce.

Save the remaining sauce for veggies and/or rice WITH YOUR MEAL.  This stuff doesn't keep.  Scallop juice -- need I say more?

Here is the sauce over salmon and fingerings. 

Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

Lobsta Mac is Back! (use Jumbo Shrimp)

Lobster Mac and Cheese should be illegal.  It is really good.  Unfortunately at some restaurants it is sooo rich that it is more of an entree than a side dish.  If you're gonna have it more than once a year we should dial back a bit on the heavy cream.  Here is a very useful Mac and Cheese recipe that just happens to have lobster in it.

Update time!  I made this with shrimp last night and it was better than the lobster!  I used a pound and a half of quick frozen shrimp (16-20 size) and after thawing and peeling chopped them fairly finely (5-7 pieces per shrimp).  Better taste, better shellfish distribution.  Since it is hard to get good lobster at a supermarket . . .


You'll need;

• 1 lb jumbo shrimp (thawed, shelled, and chopped)
• 12 to 16oz elbow macaroni (I used a full pound in the pics)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp Coleman's powdered mustard
• 2-3 cups milk (I use 2, wifey prefers 3)
• 1/2  to 3/4onion (chopped)
• 1 bay leaf
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 1.5 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1 egg
• 16 oz shredded cheddar
• 4 to 6 oz shredded gruyere
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp buttter
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Get your pasta water on, chop the onion and lobster, preheat the oven to 350F and measure out the rest of your ingredients.  Scramble the egg in a little ramekin.

Boil the macaroni for one minute less than the package says.  7 minutes should do it.

In a big skillet or stock pot melt the 4 Tbsp butter and whisk in the flour and mustard over med heat.  You are making a roux. It has to cook for a few minutes in order to taste right.

Add in the onion, milk, bay leaf, salt, pepper, nutmeg and Old Bay.  Simmer 10 minutes.

7

Fish out the bay leaf.  Temper in the egg by spooning a little of the hot mixture into the ramekin and stirring it in.  Do that 3 times and then dump the tempered egg into the pan.  Add 12oz of the cheese (that's 2/3 for you fraction fans) and stir until it melts a bit.

Fold in the macaroni and the shrimp.  That's right, the lobster goes in raw.  It will cook enough in the casserole dish.  We don't want expensive shoe leather here. If you are worried about the pasta fitting in the pan you could put it into the baking dish, put the lobster into the mixture and then pour the mixture over the pasta in the baking dish.  I don't do it this way because I am particular about even distribution of the sauce/cheese/shellfish.

Transfer into a 9x13 baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.

Use a small pan to melt the 3 Tbsp butter and dump in the panko.  Stir to coat and then spread the panko over the top of the casserole.

Bake at 350F for 30 min.

In the last 2 minutes you could switch over to the broiler if the crumbs are not browned to your liking.

At the end of the bake/broil, remove the dish from the oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes.  It will be too hot to handle for at least that amount of time.

Leftovers can be fried up in a skillet to reheat.

Pomodoro Sauce

The simplest of the sauces.

I've been going through an Italian phase lately.  In fact, I'm roaring up to some research on the ultimate Alfredo sauce.  Lipitor here we come.

This sauce, however, is the simplest and the healthiest.  Pomodoro sauce is just tomato sauce.  The taste is light and fresh.  The flavor features tomatoes but you should get the herb and garlic in the background. Pomodoro screams summer.  It almost doesn't need a recipe, but here goes.

You'll need;

• 1 can (28 oz) San Marzano tomatoes (crushed ahead of time)
• 1-2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 5-8 basil leaves (washed and chopped)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

Try to get the San Marzanos from Italy.  The ones in the pic are from Jersey.

Put the olive oil in a skillet over med heat.

Add the garlic and chase it around for a minute in order to flavor the oil. Don't brown the garlic, just release the flavor.

Pour in the tomatoes (carefully) and stir.

Turn the temperature down if the tomatoes begin to bubble violently.  A low simmer is the desired state.

Add some salt and pepper.  Maybe 1/4 tsp each to begin with.

After 10 minutes add the basil and start stirring.  This is both to distribute the basil and to incorporate the oil to the tomatoes.

After another 10 minutes turn off the heat.  Taste for salt.  Fish out the garlic if it is a chunk and you didn't smash it into bits. You are done!  If you are eating this right away you should boil your pasta during the last 10 minutes and then add the pasta directly to the skillet.  I think angel hair or spagettini works best with this sauce.