Tag Archives: cooking

Scallops Lime and Vine

24 May

I have been a fan of Food52.com for a few months now.  Basically they are crowd-sourcing recipes from their users and will make a published cookbook out of it after a year of subsmissions (52 weeks… ya know).  They have 2 specific categories each week that they request submissions for.  I haven’t really had a great recipe to submit, but when “Your Best Scallops Recipe” came up, I realized that not only was this one of my favorite foods, but I also had some in my fridge at that moment.  I spent the next few hours contemplating exactly what was submission worthy and I decided to go out on a limb.

I had a drink at a local restaurant a few days earlier that combined grapes and lime.  The combination was PERFECT and I thought it would be a great citris to cut through the butteriness of the scallop.  It was like a twist on sweet and sour.  So I set to making up something that was simple yet different.

First, I cooked down some grapes with sugar.

Then I mashed it all up and squeezed out the delicious juices and added lime and ginger.

I then let this cook down until it was reduced to a thick sauce.

As it was reducing, I browned up some scallops.


I also tried my hand at some food styling and photography… I’m not pleased with the results, but this blog includes my less than stellar accomplishments as well, so here ya go:


We made some delicious rainbow swiss chard to go with the main dish.

So did I win?  Not even close! I wasn’t even selected as a runner up.  Poo!  My submission is here: http://www.food52.com/recipes/4067_scallops_lime_and_vine

I think it deserved an honorable mention at least, but I guess I’m biased.  I recommend this recipe highly, however, and definitely at least make the sauce! You can put it over chicken, pork, duck or it would even be great over ice cream!

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RECIPE
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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Grapes- Seedless, Red or Black
  • 2 tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 Lime, Juiced
  • 1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
  • 1 pound Dry Sea Scallops
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 tablespoon Butter
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Put grapes and sugar in a sauce pan and heat over a medium flame
  2. Allow to cook until grapes are softened and juice begins to seep out (About 10 minutes)
  3. Use a potato masher to smush grapes in pot
  4. Add the lime juice and ginger, stir to combine
  5. Allow to continue cooking for about 10 more minutes until juices have reduced
  6. While the sauce reduces, in the last 5 minutes, sear scallops by heating olive oil and butter in a pan until the butter stops bubbling. Place scallops in hot pan and sear for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown (be sure to space scallops out so they sear and don’t steam). Remove from heat
  7. Salt and pepper grape and lime sauce to taste
  8. Drizzle sauce over scallops and serve immediately

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Jewish “Soul” Food

25 Sep

The first time I ever cooked something (baking doesn’t count) that made someone say “Wow! This is good! What on earth is this and how do you make it?” was when I made Kasha Varnishkas for my roommate, Kim, in college.  Now I think I managed to screw that one up by adding about 6 cloves are garlic (I learned), but I think Kim saw the hope.  She has since begun cooking this dish for herself (and her husband) and it makes me proud to hear.  I have actually been trying to make it lately, however, the grocery store near my apartment doesn’t carry Kasha (boo!)  When Kim heard of this problem, she sent me a surprise package of Kasha all the way from the Pittsburgh suburbs.  Thanks Kim!  It arrived on Monday morning and I cooked it Monday night.

Now I don’t make kasha in the way that Jewish delis make kasha.  This was the first recipe I ever really experimented with.  Rather than follow the directions on the box, I decided first to add garlic.  Then the next round I added onions.  Then next time it was mushrooms.  It was slowly getting there.  Then I did an experiment that revolutionized kasha (to me and the family anyway).  I added cream of mushroom soup.  V’oila!  Sara’s Kasha was born.

The pictures look pretty bland, but it’s delicious.  I like it alone as a meal, but some people would probably prefer it as a side dish.  Added benefit: Kasha is pretty healthy! It’s a whole grain (buckwheat), low in fat, and gluten free.  You can add other veggies into the browning process or grilled chicken, but I like it pretty basic.  Maybe it’s nostalgia…


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Recipe:
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Kasha Varnishkas:

Ingredients:

  • Varnishkas, I believe, is just bow-tie pasta.  So buy a box and cook it up!
  • Kasha (Wolf’s brand is good and the only kind I’ve ever seen in normal grocery stores, and I prefer the large grain, though fine is good too)
  • Egg (check recipe on the box… some require egg and some don’t)
  • Butter
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Olive Oil
  • 1/2 cup of fresh mushrooms or 1 small can of mushrooms
  • 1 can of 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup

Directions:

  1. Cook Kasha per the recipe on the box (about 10 minutes)
  2. Cook Pasta per recipe on the box (start pasta pending how long it takes to cook)
  3. While the Kasha is cooking, brown onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil. 
  4. Toss in mushrooms and cream of mushroom soup into the onion and garlic towards end of cooking time for Kasha, just to warm
  5. When kasha is done, fold in soup mixture
  6. Toss with pasta and serve (I recommend with salt)

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An excuse to use adorable poachers

19 Sep

So upon a shopping spree at Broadway Panhandler (thank you Lori for turning me onto this store!) I found these adorable egg poachers.  They’re cracked egg shaped silicone bowls that you float in boiling water to perfectly poach an egg.  I was looking for a good excuse to use them, so a night without dinner plans proved perfect. 

I heated up soba (buckwheat) noodles and some frozen veggie assortment that had sat in the freezer since who knows when.  Added some Purdue Italian Marinated Chicken “Short Cuts” (they are fabulous and easy!) and topped with the poached egg and a splash of basil olive oil. 

The meal was good but not great.  Would have been much better with fresh veggies, this brand of soba noodles were bland, and I slightly over poached the egg. Will know for next time!

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