Sunday Scallops

One of my favorite pastimes is cooking for friends and bringing people together to enjoy food. Sharing a meal is such a great way to connect and brighten your day. Who can really be in a bad mood surrounded by delicious food? I think it'd be pretty difficult.

I made dinner for some friends last weekend and was quite proud how seamless everything was. Cooking doesn't need to be stressful. It can be easy if you're organized and prepared. I started my prep the day before with a little bit of work the night of and was able to enjoy the meal with my friends rather than spend the entire time in the kitchen. It turned out to be a great dinner.

A cheese platter is one of my favorite ways to start a meal. Add some pears, fig bread and truffle lavender honey and you've got a gorgeous spread with minimal effort.

Seared scallops with corn coulis, roasted spring onions, Berkshire bacon lardons and garnished with green apple. I loved all the flavors and was surprised how light the entire dish was.

Chocolate chip cookie sandwiches. Can't go wrong with these guys!

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Night Scallops

I generally try to make something healthy for dinner on Monday nights in efforts to detox my body after the weekend. I also like to plan out my dinners in advance so at the gym earlier, I was salivating over the scallops I was envisioning in my head.

Borrowing from a couple different scallop dishes I've seen, I decided to make pan seared scallops over arugula salad and babaganoush with a tzatziki sauce. If I really had the time, energy and kitchen space to make babaganoush from scratch, I would have, but for a Monday night, Sonny & Joe's would do. I pan seared the scallops in extra virgin olive oil, butter and finished with a touch of lemon juice. I've been obsessed with yogurt based sauces and really wanted to taste how scallops paired with Greek yogurt. I made my own tzatziki with lowfat Fage, diced cucumber, dill, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Maybe I was just starving, but I really enjoyed this dish. It was healthy, light, flavorful and really darn tasty. I can't wait to try it again with variations on the yogurt sauce.

Crustaceans, Mollusks, Cephalopods, oh My!

Today's lesson was a biology flashback...I learned all about shellfish...lobster, mussels, scallops, oysters and clams. I'm pretty familiar with eating/cooking shellfish except for lobster. I've never prepared my own lobster. It was pretty scary for me to work with a live, moving, thing on my cutting board. To top it off, instead of simply boiling the entire lobster, the recipe called for breaking it into pieces. Yes, I killed a lobster with my bare hands. I ripped off the claws, then the tail, then chopped up the midsection. I have to admit I did grit my teeth and look away a few times. Lobsters don't die instantly so there was still some movement even after I ripped it apart.

But it was worth it! This is lobster a l'americane which is poached lobster with a sauce made from it's shell and some aromatics. It was pretty yummy, but how can you really go wrong with lobster??

This is Moules a La Mariniere or steamed mussels with white wine, shallots and parsley. Pretty easy dish to make.

This is Coquilles Saint-Jacques, Coulis au Persil....seared scallops with parsley coulis....nothing too unfamiliar. The scallop shell holds julienned cooked leeks.

The day ended with an oyster/clam shucking lesson, which also meant a refreshing afternoon snack!