Tag Archives: tapas

Recipes

Experimental Recipe – Scallops Poached in Champagne

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Pretty much the entire month of October was taken up by preparations for a little gaming convention this past weekend, so I have been busy painting little soldiers instead of cooking and blogging…

Tuesday was my first full day off since then and I decided to have some fun with some scallops. Because I am a bit of a planner I wrote out a menu for the night’s festivities, something to give me a foundation to build upon.

menu plan on whiteboard

At least one Twitter follower thought it was “meticulous”. It’s just the way I do things.

Gathering the Mise

  • Scallops, preferably large dry sea scallops
  • Champagne, I used Freixenet
  • Radicchio
  • Arugula
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Juice of 1/2 Lemon
  • Green Onion Aioli
  • Red Onion
  • Green Onion
  • Artichoke Hearts
  • Red or Yellow Sweet Bell Pepper
  • Shallot
  • Paprika
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preparation

First I started to marinate the Red Bell Pepper, some Green Onion and Red Onion in the Lemon Juice with some fresh-ground Black Pepper and a Teaspoon of EVOO.

aromatics marinating in lemon juice(Do this part first so the vegetables have time to absorb that Lemony goodness)

Next I put about 1/4 cup of the Balsamic Vinegar with the sliced Shallot in a pan over medium heat to reduce a little.

Poaching the Scallops themselves only takes a short time, so we save that step for last. The next thing I did was start to assemble the salad ingredients on the plate. Since the Scallops and the Balsamic reduction were going to be sweet I wanted there to be some bitterness to contrast that flavor, with the acid of the Lemon juice bringing all of the pieces together.

bitter greans for poached scallop dishCut out a thin slice of the Radicchio, this will be the base of the salad. I also roughly chopped some more for a garnish, alongside Green Onions cut on a bias and the Artichoke Hearts (the kind that come in a jar, packed in oil – drain them but do not rinse). I also gave the plate a dusting of Paprika and a few drops of the EVOO.

When the Balsamic was where I like it I took it off the heat and put it in the fridge to chill. I put another sautee pan on the heat and poured in a cup or so of the Champagne, turning up the heat too.

Time to finish building the salad. Pile some of the Arugula atop the Radicchio slice, add the marinated vegetables:

set up the salad

Finally, add your Scallops to the boiling Champagne and cook them to your desired level of doneness. I like mine firm, perhaps a little underdone. Place the Scallops on top of your salad, then drizzle with the Balsamic Reduction and Green Onion Aioli.

And Voila!

Scallops Poached in Champagne with Bitter Greens

Essay

“Nobody is Cooking Anymore” – A Lament

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via Esquire:

“And the reason they look the same is that their creators all pretty much think the same. A protein is pared down with the loving skill of a sushi master (and frequently with the knife of one, too); it is then prepared in some diabolically clever way, and put into the center of a plate. Some vegetable, prepared with equal virtuosity, is plated with like meticulousness, on the same plate. Finally, some third ingredient, and possibly a fourth, is added on top, with or without tweezers. These items were either cooked or cured or grown separately, and they are put on the plate separately, and when I eat them, I eat them separately, unless I manage to spear two or three of them on the same fork tine. Sure, one dish might have a fermented carrot, and other locally milled grits; otherwise they differ no more than Hef’s girlfriends.”

Read more: Nobody Is Cooking Anymore – Josh Ozersky Cooking Essay – Esquire

Here in rural New Hampshire we don’t have much of this kind of “composition”, and it certainly almost never appears in my own cooking, except maybe little tapas things (and I have never used a tweezers on food!), like these Southwestern Marinated Shrimp:

shrimp salsa and avocadoIs this what Ozersky is decrying? It may look like the type of dishes that he is describing, but it is intentionally constructed to be precisely the type of dish he prefers – everything to be eaten together – a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

No, nothing has been “transformed”, though the ‘salsa-fied’ vegetables under the shrimp might disagree, but I believe it is a good example of cookery, as the distinct parts of the dish are designed to be eaten together:

  • small, one-bite shrimp
  • thin slices of avocado
  • fresh salsa
  • sour cream
  • with a tortilla chip to help you scoop it all onto your fork!

Further, I believe that this very blog will be an answering call to Ozersky’s cry for help, as it is dedicated to the proposition that people can and should be cooking high-quality food at home.

Please share your thoughts.