the petite pig

seared sea scallops with meyer-lemon tarragon cream

while i know a lot of people that love scallops, i know very few people that have ever prepared them at home. many consider scallops purely a restaurant treat, something that only fancy chefs can cook up. and because we don't make them at home, we're quite willing to pay a heavy pricetag to enjoy them while dining out. i used to be one of those people. i would pay $25.00 for an entree of scallops and was so often disappointed when the waiter would bring my dish out with just three scallops on an otherwise barren plate. even though i knew i'd definitely have to make a stop for a second dinner on my way home, the silky, sweet meat of a scallop was always too good to pass up.

however two years ago, i signed up for a seafood cooking class with my friend heather and i was astounded to learn just how easy it is to make perfectly seared scallops. with simply some quality scallops, salt & pepper, oil and a frying pan, anyone could make this restaurant-style fare at home. in this recipe, i've used one of my favorite ingredients of the season, meyer lemons, to make a creamy sauce infused with licorice-y tarragon to help cut some of the tartness.  it will definitely impress your guests, and you might even be asked, "where did you learn to make such delicious scallops? you must have worked at a restaurant?"

seared scallops with meyer lemon-tarragon cream

serves 4 as an appetizer

for the sauce:
1 tbs. of unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, diced
zest of one meyer lemon
1 tbs. of fresh tarragon leaves
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbs. of meyer lemon juice
salt

for the scallops:
1 lb. of large, dry sea scallops* (10-12 per lbs.)
alt and pepper
2 tbs. of olive oil

for the sauce:
melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, shallot, zest and tarragon and saute for about 2 minutes. add the white wine and turn the heat up so the sauce comes to a boil. boil until the wine reduces by half. now pour in the cream and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. finally add the lemon juice and season with salt to taste. before serving, strain sauce through a sieve.

for the scallops:
it's important to make sure that the scallops are dry before cooking. i usually place my scallops between two sheets of paper towel to absorb any residual moisture. while scallops often come with the adductor muscle that once connected it to its shell removed, sometimes the fishmonger misses a few. the muscle is usually just a small flap on the side of the scallop and is easily peeled off (picture below courtesy of cooking light).

 

once the scallops are prepared for cooking, sprinkle both sides with some salt and pepper. heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. add 1 tbs. of oil and spread to coat the pan. once the oil is hot, add half the scallops. we'll cook our scallops in two batches as it's important not to crowd the pan. when too many scallops are cooked, the heat of the pan is reduced and the scallops end up releasing their moisture. this prevents them from searing and browning, which is exactly what we don't want to happen.

sear scallops for 1 and a half minutes on both sides, which will keep the center still a bit rare. clean the pan and repeat for the second batch.

serve 2-3 per guest and drizzle with meyer lemon-tarragon cream sauce.

*dry scallops are definitely preferred over wet sea scallops. wet scallops are treated with a solution called STP (sodium tripolyphosphate), which helps the scallop retain moisture and also allows your fishmonger to rip you off a bit, since you're now paying for the added water weight. additionally, the extra moisture makes it more difficult to brown.

vietnamese salad with poached shrimp

while my mom always tried incredibly hard to please her two kids by cooking some western meals every so often, i always thought she was way more successful in the kitchen when she stuck with what she knew.  not to say that i didn't enjoy my spaghetti with ketchup growing up but my mother's homemade vietnamese food was many, many levels above noodles dressed in heinz. her pho (translated: beef noodle soup), bun bo hue (spicy pig's feet noodle soup. yes, i said pig's feet), cha gio (spring rolls) and freshly made nuoc nam (sweet & sour fish sauce) were all to die for. even with the plethora of cheap vietnamese restaurants in san francisco, i still request all of those dishes from her when i go home to maryland.

sadly, i've only learned to make a few of them but one of her traditional dishes that i have adapted is her vietnamese chicken salad. traditionally made with cabbage, carrots, mint and tender slices of dark chicken, i've westernized this dish a bit. in addition to the thin slices of napa cabbage and julienned carrots, i've added a greater spectrum of flavors and colors. red peppers add a punch of red and sweetness and purple radicchio contributes a bit of bitterness to balance the other flavors out. i've swapped the chicken for poached shrimp to fancy-pants it up a bit. and of course, it's still dressed in my mother's nuoc nam, a recipe i'll never mess with, for it's exactly perfect as it is. serve this vietnamese salad as a side to your next asian themed meal, pack it on a picnic or even consider it for an entree by adding a few more shrimp to hearty it up a bit. the colors and flavors will satisfy any appetite.

vietnamese salad with poached shrimp
serves 4-6 as a side

for the nuoc nam dressing:

1 cup water

½ cup sugar

3 tbs. fish sauce

2 tbs. fresh squeezed lime juice

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 tsp. chili-garlic sauce

for the salad:

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

salt

½ hed of napa cabbage

½ head of radicchio

2 large carrots, peeled and julienne

1 red pepper, julienne

½ cup of loosely packed mint leaves, chiffonade

to make the nuoc nam:
bring 1 cup of water to boil in a small saucepan.  stir in sugar and lower heat to medium.  we are essentially making a simple syrup by using the heat to evaporate the water thereby making a thicker sugar & water mixture, aka syrup.  heat until the water has been reduced by one half.  take off the heat and let cool.

when the mixture has cooled add the other ingredients.  nuoc nam can easily be tailored to taste and you'll get better each time you make it.  add more fish sauce for savoriness or more lime juice for tartness or more chili-garlic sauce for more heat.  mix everything together and set aside.

to make the salad:
fill up a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil.  salt heavily and add shrimp.  lower heat to medium and cook shrimp for about 5 minutes until pink.  drain and let cool.

toss together all other ingredients.  add shrimp and dress with nuoc nam.

steel cut oatmeal with dried figs, the perfect morning "push"

admit it.  we've all been on the john in the morning and needed a little morning "push," which can come in many, many forms depending on well, your digestive system.  for some of us, the morning cup of joe is all one needs to clear it all out; for others it's a bowl of fiber-filled oatmeal.  i've never been a coffee drinker nor an oatmeal fan until my friend joyce introduced me to steel cut oats over one of our weekly girls breakfast get-togethers.  i don't know how i could have gone all these years without knowing that such goodness existed.  no amount of doctoring with brown sugar, cinnamon, fruit or nuts could ever hide the mushy texture of a bowl of oatmeal made out of rolled oats for me.  but steel cut oats takes care of that problem, providing just the right bite and also for me, just the right "push."

since my introduction to steel cut oats, i've been making a big batch every weekend switching up the fruit every week.  this recipe for steel cut oatmeal with dried figs satisfies my fig craving long after the end of fig season.  mixing in some juice with the water lends an even more natural sweetness to this morning treat.  to mix it up, feel free to cook in bananas, apples or pears instead or top with some fresh berries.  for an even extra "push," stir in some ground up flax seeds and i guarantee you'll be rushing to the toilet by 9. 

steel cut oatmeal with dried figs
serves 4

3 cups of water
2 cups of 100% apple juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup of steel cut oats
1 cup dried figs, rough chopped
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
brown sugar to taste
1/2 cup walnuts, rough chopped
real maple syrup for drizzling

bring water and juice to boil in a medium sized saucepan.  add salt and 1 cup of steel cut oats and lower heat to a simmer.  cook for about 25 minutes, stirring often, letting the oats slowly soak in all the liquids.   add 1 cup dried figs and simmer for another 5 minutes, which will soften and reconstitute the dried fruit.  season with cinnamon and brown sugar and add in walnuts.  drizzle with real maple syrup and serve warm for the perfect hot breakfast.   

granola & yogurt: the new breakfast of champions

i've never been known to enjoy a healthy breakfast.  given my options, i'm the one that always orders the least healthy option on the menu, with an extra serving of sausage on the side please.  it takes all the strength i can gather in the morning to step away from the tater tots in the cafeteria in the morning.  i can just hear them calling to me, "we were your childhood favorite.  we might be lubricated with grease but how can you resist that deep fried crunchiness?  pour on some ketchup for an extra sugar kick in the morning.  you know you can't resist . . . " 

but as much as i love some greasy morning goodness, even i can't quite eat the way i used to.  luckily, i've been caught by the yogurt craze that has gotten so many addicted to the healthy treat.  and what better to compliment the creaminess and tanginess of fresh yogurt than some sweet crunchy granola?  when i started looking for my perfect granola, i found that all the packaged stuff just wasn't that great.  they were packed with too much sugar or too chunky or too bland or too hard to chew.  so i decided to make my own instead.  this basic homemade granola is incredibly simple to make and provides the perfect flavor and texture balance to some fresh yogurt.  so good that you'll forget that you're actually eating something healthy.

and of course, feel free to layer in any of your favorite granola ingredients such as coconut, cashews, craisins, raisins, pumpkins seeds, some bacon bits . . . ugh, i guess the greasy breakfast lover in me isn't completely dead.

the simplest granola
(makes 4 cups)

3 cups rolled oats
4 tbs. canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup slivered almonds

preheat oven to 250 degrees. 

toss all ingredients together.  spread out onto a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

serve with fresh yogurt and choice of fruit (i pureed up some frozen raspberries here).  and as i'm still a newbie to the healthy yogurt world, i'm still trying out all different brands.  let me know what some of your favorites are.