Scallops with White Grapes

I know I tend to blather on about food often, I suppose that is what a nerdy foodie blog is all about isn't it?  I try new ideas and some old favorites and occasionally come up with something great.  Now I will do my best not to sprain my wrist trying to pat my back but this really turned out well...  Actually frickin awesome!  I picked up white grapes at the market the other day for $ .57 per pound! Great price so I brought them home and put them in the fridge for about 4 days until I realized that they were going to rot before we ate any of them.  So I did what anybody normal person would do and bought some sea scallops, about half a pound of them to round out a dish.

Yes ladies and gentlemen I went out and spent $8.99 to get fresh scallops so that I wouldn't have to throw away the $ .57 worth of grapes that I had in the fridge.  Luckily it was well worth it, this dish was perfect!  The ingredients:
1/2 pound of sea scallops
3 TBS butter divided
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup white grapes cut in half
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
juice from 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Start by heating half of your butter in a very hot skillet, when it starts to brown put your scallops in and cook for about 3 minutes per side.  When they are done put then on a small plate and tent with foil while you cook the rest of your ingredients.  In the same skillet add the rest of your butter, onions, and garlic then grapes and saute on a hot burner for about 5 minutes until the grapes get that beautiful brownish color at the edges.  Then add the parsley, salt, pepper and lime juice.  When this is done place your scallops on a plate them add the sauce.

This one turned out so great! the delicate texture of the sea scallops worked perfectly with the light sweet flavor of the grapes and the garlic well how could you go wrong?

Crab Cakes

Sometimes I just get an idea, and I just can't make it stop.  For some reason I got the idea of making crab cakes in my head and was fixated, maybe an episode of Spongebob, whatever started it I couldn't stop thinking about them.   I was at the store a few days later (the one I go to whenever I am not looking for suburban white guy favorites) and found frozen crab claws on sale for 2.79 a pound so I bought a couple of pounds of them and got to work.  First I dropped the claws into a large saucepan of salted water and boiled for about 7 minutes.  I chilled them then started getting the meat.

I did learn a couple of things:

1. When you can't find your crab cracker a small saucepan, swung like a mallet, works well but there is some splatter.

2. The cats simply love anyone who is using a saucepan to smash crab claws, the flying bits of splatter are especially interesting.

3. If a cat and an adult human are jumping towards the same LARGE piece of splattering crab the cat wins.

After I cleaned the claws I pulled the meat apart then added the rest of the ingredients:

3/4 pound of smashed crab claw meat

1/2 cup toasted breadcrumbs

2 TBS coarsely chopped parsley

2 TBS coarsely chopped cilantro

2 TBS mustard

2 TBS Mayo

1 egg

Juice from 1 lime

sprinkle of chipotle chile powder (you know how hot you like it)

As I say so often... Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the ingredients together then scoop it out in about 2 oz balls and flatten them... roll them in more toasted breadcrumbs (so I guess you need about 2 cups in total) then put them on a plate and chill for at least 2 hours.  Somewhere in this time take a make a dipping sauce, mine was:

2 TBS mayo

1 TBS heavy cream

side note... when these are the first two ingredients you just can't go wrong!

2 tsp capers chopped up

grated zest from one lime

juice from the same lime

mix together

When you are ready to go heat up some oil (about 1/4 inch deep) in a pan over medium heat and put the crab cakes in for about 4 minutes on each side

I made this dish when my mom and my 11 year old daughter came for the weekend (miss El was staying with grandma for a few days).  If you follow this blog you know that her last visit wasn't a lot of fun for me (if you don't follow I had emergency surgery on her second day of that visit).  We had dinner between time spent in the new pool  reminding me of how much we all love her and how cool she is as a daughter and big sister. The verdict regarding the crab cakes:

2 "Yuck!" (one involved spit)
1 "Can I have some ice cream?"
1 "The crab is yummy the sauce is weird"
2 "I'll take yours too!"

I am one of the last group there, I love the flaky crabby goodness and the simplicity of these.  Plus a sauce made with mayo and heavy cream!  Take them for what they are, I am always happy to see this!

Mussels in White Wine

I mentioned in my last post that my mom and my in-laws were coming to visit us last weekend.  Kris and I started discussing the menus a couple of weeks ago... Ok that is a lie Kris made one suggestion, the Tenderloin in red wind reduction that I made for Thanksgiving, I blathered on about menu ideas for about 12 days in a row.

"Do your parents like clams?"

"My parents like everything."

"How about grilled asparagus?"

"My parents like everything"

"Say, what if I made Key Lime Pie?"

"My parents like everything."

Kris has always had enough restraint to not ask if I am stupid or deaf.  Thank heavens for that, if she actually pointed out what a dork I am as often as I act like one it might get to me.  Anyway after the 174th time I asked her what would be good for dinner (answer Beef Tenderloin in Red Wine Reduction and whatever else you want) I put together the menu for Parents visit on Saturday, it was:

Beef Tenderloin in Red Wine Reduction (see I listen)

Fresh Mussels Steamed  in White Wine and Garlic

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

Sauteed  Snap peas

Key Lime pie (post to follow)

I actually decided to get the mussels while I was at the store waiting for the butcher to find me the Beef Tenderloin, I was going back and forth on what to get for a seafood dish.  These guys seemed so nice sitting there on their bed of crushed ice.  I picked up 2 pounds for us, it was plenty for 4 adults... the kiddos were not trying. 

Steamed Mussels in White Wine:

2 TBS butter

2 Cloves Garlic minced

1 Small onion chopped

1 Cup of Chopped Mushrooms (I used Baby Bellas)

2 Pounds Fresh Mussels washed,

1 Cup White wine

1/2 Cup Chicken Broth

Juice from one lemon

2-3 sticks of Thyme

Soak the Mussels in fresh water for about 20 minutes pick out any that are dead and discard, if they are open tap on the shell to check... if it closes it is still alive if not...  Pull off any attached beards and discard, then wash the shells off good.  In a heavy pan, I used my mom's old iron skillet, melt the butter add the Garlic, Onions and Mushrooms saute until tender add the Mussels then the Wine, Wine, Chicken Broth, Thyme, squeeze the lemon on top, throw it in for good measure, cover and steam/boil for about 5-6 minutes.  Discard any mussels that do not open (they may not have been alive when you started cooking).  Scoop them out with a slotted spoon then put them all into a serving dish let the liquid cook for another 2-3 minutes then poor on top of the mussels and serve.  I served this with sliced  baguettes toasted.

Quick note I know that I have said to discard a couple of times I think I threw away 3 in the cleaning process, if you get them from a good place you shouldn't have to get rid of many of them.

Potato Crusted Salmon

I got this idea in my head a few weeks a go and have been trying to get the recipe right... this time I got it.  Potato crusted Salmon just seems right, it is filling and comforting at the same time it is a little different.  There are a few steps to this dish but it is worth it.  Really, this one is a nice touch when you want to show off a little.  I used a lot of suggestions from the Food Network website to get this dish, this is what worked best for me.

Ingredients for 2:

The Salmon

5-6 oz salmon Fillet skin removed

1 Large Red Potato shredded with the skin on,

1 Shallot Minced

1 clove Garlic minced

Salt and Pepper

1 TBS Flour

3/4 cup Heavy Cream

1 egg

Olive oil

The Sauce

Juice from 1 Lemon

3 TBS White Wine

3 TBS Heavy Cream

2 TBS Butter

Pinch Turmeric

Pinch Salt

Stick if Fresh Rosmary

Start with the Sauce, this couldn't be easier, mix everything together in a small sauce pan and put over low heat while you do everything else. Stir often taste a little more often, you are the one cooking you get some extra.   While the Sauce is going at a VERY low simmer shred the Potato add the Garlic, Shallot, Salt and Pepper and set aside.  In a small bowl mix the Heavy Cream and Egg, dredge the Salmon through the flour then the Egg Cream stuff then the Potatoes.  The Potato part is a little more like making a snowball than breading fish like you may be used to, pack it on then put onto a hot skillet with a little bit of Olive Oil.  This cooks over medium high heat for about 3-4 minutes on a side.

I served this on a bed of wilted spinach so while your fish is cooking put most of a bunch of cleaned and trimmed Spinach in a pan with Olive Oil and Garlic, you will want to cook this for about 2-3 minutes the leaves will be wilted, but still whole.

Sugar Cane Skewered Shrimp

This is a simple recipe but very nice, I had a Sugar Cane Baton from a previous shopping trip and wanted to make Sugar Cane Skewered Shrimp. Yesterday on my way home from work I picked up the best shrimp ever for $7.99 per pound! I wanted raw Shrimp for this dish, what I found was called "Easy Peel Shrimp" Sounded good enough I figured I would go home and peel then devain these guys and be ready to go. This shrimp was shell on but the vein was removed! it is such a tedious job to devein them. All I had to do was peel the shells off (I set those aside) then put the shrimp in some marinade.

for the marinade I used:

2 coves of minced Garlic

1 cup of Orange Juice

1 TBS Honey

1 TBS Chopped Cilantro

a splash of rice wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

I put the peeled shrimp into the marinade, covered it and set it in the refrigerator while I got the other ingredients ready. First I made a simple fish stock in a small sauce pan with:

2 Cups of Water

The shells from about 12 shrimp

1/2 an onion

2 cloves garlic (coarsely chopped)

1/4 cup of carrot (coarsely chopped)

1 cup of V-8 Juice

1/2 tsp Salt

I let this cook on low heat for about an hour and a half then pored it through a strainer into a bowl. I put the liquid into the refrigerator until I was ready for it. When it was time to cook I put 1/2 cup rice into a sauce pan and sauteed it in Olive Oil and a clove of minced Garlic once it was completely coated with oil and hot I added one cup of the strained fish stock, turned the heat to low and covered the pan for about 20 minutes.

I cut my Sugar Cane into Skewers about 6 inches long and a little smaller that 1/4 inch thick. It cut into strips very easily, I just ran the knife from top to bottom then I cut a Pineapple into chunks. Then I skewered the shrimp and pineapple alternating, when the Rice was about 10 minutes from done I put the skewered shrimp in the grill and cooked it on a cooler spot for about 10 minutes turning once.

This was a cool dish for a couple of reasons, it just sounds cool to cook on a sugar cane skewer (or am I just a food nerd?) and you do get a little bit of a sweet flavor left inside your shrimp so it is like marinating from the inside too.