Spicy Orange-Basil Scallops

I had gone out to lunch with a neighbor and as we headed back to the house, we passed the Agri-Center. And there was the Paradise Seafood Truck. We pulled in and each of us picked up some seafood.

One of the things I was excited to see was fresh jumbo head-on shrimp, and I’ll tell you about that on another day. But I also picked up a pound of scallops, lovely large scallops. Unprocessed, too.

You’ve had the scallop lecture from me at least once before, but just to remind you, most of what you buy frozen in bags at the supermarket or price clubs will state "containing a solution of…" which means they are pumped up with water and chemicals to keep the water in. By the time the water has cooked away, and the scallops start to brown, they are overdone and tough. I think that may be why some folks don’t think they like scallops.

I had a lot of oranges and limes, so I thought I would try to turn them into something a bit spicy. For spice, I like Chipotle Tabasco. I love the smoky flavor it lends, and that it’s not nearly as hot as regular Tabasco. I use it a lot.

The basil in my herb pots out back had already filled out, so I used that too. With rice pilaf and a green salad, I had a quick and yummy dinner.

SOUTHWESTERN CITRUS AND SPICE SCALLOPS

2 large oranges
2 large limes
2 tbsp chipotle Tabasco (or to taste)
3 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1 lb sea scallops, patted dry
3 tbsp olive oil
3 plump garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp (packed) fresh basil leaves, slivered
Additional basil, for garnish

Rinse off the oranges and limes and dry well. With a grater or microplane remove the zest from one orange and one lime and put into a small heavy saucepan. Squeeze the juice from all the fruit and add to the pan. Over medium-low heat, simmer to reduce by about half or a little more. Let cool slightly and whisk in the butter. Set aside.

In a bowl mix the flour, cumin, coriander and salt. Remove and reserve one tablespoon of the flour mixture. Toss the scallops in the flour mixture to coat well.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet large enough to hold the scallops in one layer. Add the garlic and cook until just barely golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the scallops two or three at a time. Cook the first side until a rich golden brown, then turn to lightly brown the bottom. As they brown, remove and place on a clean plate.

Return the garlic to the pan and add the slivered basil. Sprinkle with the reserved tablespoon of seasoned flour and stir a couple of times. Add the reduced orange mixture and bring to a simmer, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Return the scallops to the pan and simmer just long enough to heat through.

Serve immediately, garnished with fresh basil. Serves 4.

Easy Tasty Salmon

We are getting down to the wire on moving to our new house. I've been sorting through all kinds of interesting "stuff." It’s amazing how much you can accumulate when you’ve been in a house for 25 years and have lots of spare closet and attic space.

So I’ve been working on dinners that don’t make a mess, or at least not much of one. Today’s recipe was serendipity: salmon filets that looked good at the market, with no real recipe in mind. To me, salmon and asparagus together seem to make a very spring-ish combination, so I picked up a bundle. Adding steamed and buttered new potatoes enhances the seasonal feel to the meal.

I cooked the salmon "en papillote," a French technique. I used the traditional parchment paper for the packets, but you can quite nicely use foil, sealed well around the edges.
Add a salad of your choosing and you have a great dinner....and all you have to wash are the dishes.

SALMON AND ASPARAGUS EN PAPILLOTE

2 6- to 8-ounce salmon filets, skin on
1/3 cup thick creamy Caesar dressing
8 stalks asparagus
A few sprigs fresh thyme (see note)
2 slices of lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut two 12" square pieces of foil. Spray the dull side with cooking spray, or brush with oil. To one side of the center, put one filet on each, skin side down. Brush the tops with half the Caesar dressing. Trim the asparagus spears to about the same length as the salmon filets and arrange four on top of each. Brush with remaining dressing, top with lemon and thyme sprigs and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the foil over and crimp the edges to seal all the way around. Place on a baking sheet. At this point you can put into the fridge for a few hours if you like. Take them out about 20 minutes before cooking.

Bake for 20 minutes. You can cut the packages open and move the salmon to a plate if you like, but I really like the burst of aromatic steam when you leave it in the packet to open at the table. Use a spatula to transfer to the plate. Serves two but can easily be multiplied to serve as many as you like.

A Nostalgic Recipe...

 

My sister is a hopeless addict to garage sales. A few weeks ago we were both at home in Louisville at the same time, and she convinced me to go along with her to several. At one of them, there was a stack of old menus. Among them was one from the Fig Tree Restaurant, one of my favorite places to eat in the 70's in Louisville. Long gone now, it was an early innovator in both menu style and individual dishes. It had a set menu that changed each night. You could substitute a steak for the main course, but otherwise, you got what they were serving that night. Knowing what I know now about the food business, it was an incredibly ambitious undertaking.

One of my favorite dishes at the Fig Tree was a shrimp dish. I don't recall their name for it, and it wasn't on the menu I brought home, but I've made my version of this many times over the years. Recently I made it again for friends, who all pronounced it a worthy recipe to share with you.

The reduction is similar to that for béarnaise sauce, and includes chervil. This isn't the most common of herbs. In my opinion, it is under-rated and under-used. It makes a good addition to salad dressings, and is particularly nice in almost any potato salad recipe. Added to butter with lemon, it can be drizzled over grilled fish or chicken.

A suggestion: for herbs and spices you're not sure you're going to want to use over and over, go to Penzey's, on Poplar near Kirby Parkway. They sell almost everything in small packages. If you don't have chervil, you can leave it out of this recipe and it will still be very good.

I make it in individual baking dishes, but you can just as easily make it in one shallow casserole. I like to serve it on a bed of rice with mushrooms, with tomatoes topped with garlic breadcrumbs and baked. If you serve it with rice, you might want to double the sauce ingredients so you will have some to pass at the table.

FIG TREE SHRIMP

To start:
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried chervil
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 shallot, very finely minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To finish:
1/4 cup butter
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Minced parsley for garnish

Combine all the "to start" ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer until reduced by about half. In another pan, melt the butter with the clove of garlic in it. Remove the smashed garlic clove and add the wine reduction.

Preheat the oven to 350. Place the shrimp in one layer in a shallow baking dish. Pour the butter-herb mixture over the top and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the shrimp is just done.

Salmon Burgers for the Big Game

Well, the holidays are over but the football bowl games aren’t. That’s not something that really meant much to me in the past but now I have a new husband who first likes to watch football, and secondly loves as much as I do to have folks come and share various landmark experiences with us. Not that, in my mind, football is a landmark experience, but then I’m not a guy.

Some things are pretty well a given at these gatherings. Rotel-cheese dip with tortilla chips. Chicken wings. Little cocktail wienies in some sort of sauce. Finger sandwiches. Celery stuffed with pimiento cheese. You know what I mean.

But at some point the host has to come up with some real food. Usually it’s burgers on the grill, or something bought from the BBQ joint down the road.

Here’s what we’re going to have for the big game on New Year’s Day: salmon burgers. Easy, tasty and good for you (don’t tell the guys about that part). I do them with fresh salmon from the supermarket but it’s easy enough to substitute canned if you pick through and toss skin and bones. You’ll need one large can of salmon.

And you know how I am about doing things ahead. So make them completely ahead, stash covered in the fridge, and reheat on a baking sheet in the oven when you’re ready to serve.
I will use bell peppers and arugula as the garnish, but there’s no reason you can’t use lettuce and tomato, and you’ll still have a great burger.

How cute would these be if you made them into mini-burgers and used Sister Shubert rolls from the supermarket freezer. Salmon sliders!

FOOTBALL PARTY SALMON BURGERS

1 lb fresh salmon, skin, bones removed, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beathen
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup onion, finely minced
¼ cup white raisins, finely minced
1 tbsp dried dill weed
Finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 c Vegetable oil
SAUCE:
½ cup mayonnaise
Finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp finely minced cilantro
TO FINISH:
6 Kaiser rolls
One each red and yellow bell peppers, cut into rings
Arugula or fresh spinach

Combine the salmon, egg, 3/4 of bread crumbs, mayonnaise, onion, raisins, dill, lemon zest and juice, and cumin. Form into 6 patties and coat in the remaining crumbs. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Fry the burgers, turning once, until golden, about 8 minutes total. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients. At serving time, place a layer of greens on the bottom of the roll. Top with the warm salmon burger, then with the pepper rings and drizzle generously with the sauce. Serve at once.

Have I lost my restaurant picking touch?

For our first dinner in San Francisco, we took a chance at Fisherman's Wharf. I mean where else would you expect fine seafood? Most of the places looked very touristy (What else would you expect from a tourist destination?). Unfortunately I listened to the advice of a non-resident and we went to Sabella & LaTorre. About the only good thing about it was the attentive service. All meals came with either clam chowder or shrimp salad. We both chose the salad, and it came as you see, topped with a scoop of tiny mushy bay shrimp, half a cherry tomato and a couple of juliennes of pickled beets.On the good side, I asked for Italian dressing and got an obviously house-made vinaigrette with light herbs and a very good quality red wine vinegar.

Tom ordered "Garlic Shrimp and Crab." It came steamed, and while it looked fairly appetizing, it had been steamed way too long. Both the texture and the taste suffered as a result.

Mine, however, was a the totally big-time major disappointment. I got the special "Seafood Express." It was billed as "Sauteed Crablegs, Prawns and Scallops." I asked what it was sauteed in and the server said "garlic butter sauce." That sounded okay to me, so I went with it. You may not be able to see from the picture, but it came in an umpleasant viscous sauce that tasted neither of butter nor garlic. And there was no taste of seafood in any of the components. Both our meals were $29.95. I've gotten better seafood for way less at Captain D's in Memphis!

Smack them crabs and eat 'em!

I don't know how the experience has escaped me for so long, but I had my first experience with whole steamed crabs...I finally did. We were in D.C. for a family emergency, but on our last night managed to get out to the Quarterdeck in Arlington, VA. Boy! Did we have good crabs. What you see is what was ordered for four: two dozen. When we reserved, we asked for jumbo sized but they had already been spoken for, as had the large size. These mediums were pretty good sized, so I can only imagine what the jumbo ones would be. For the uninitiated, they pour them on the brown-paper covered table, and all you have is drawn butter, vinegar, a wooden mallet apiece and a giant heap of paper towels.

The bottom picture is what was left after we'd done all the damage we could: three crabs remaining unsmacked (thank goodness we didn't get the jumbos, right?) and the last of several buckets of crab shells and claws hauled away by the waiter. What I'm not showing is the white tee shirt I had on. And for a very good reason: it was covered with little crab splashes from top to bottom.

Can't wait to do it again!

A really good fish dish!

It started with leftover corn on the cob. We'd been part of a pot-luck cook-out and I'd made it the way I always do nowadays. I mixed the juice and finely grated zest of a lime into a stick of room temperature butter, slathered it on the shucked corn and wrapped it in foil. It takes about 20 minutes to cook on a hot grill, turning often, or in a 400-degree oven, on a baking sheet. Try it, and you'll never boil corn on the cob again.

I had four ears left over. I was going to my friends' house, Laretha and Bryce Randolph, to cook together and thought I'd like to try a version of a dish I'd read about in a restaurant trade magazine. At the farmers' market I picked up some lady peas and red bell peppers and we were set to go.
I used a spice rub Laretha had made for the fish, and a succotash to go under it. A bacon sauce on top made it what all at the table pronounced one of the best dishes we'd ever cooked together.

I know it looks long, but trust me, it's well worth it. I used golden tilefish, similar in taste and texture to the sadly overfished and expensive Chilean sea bass, but halibut or grouper would work well. You can made the rub any time, and you'll probably find lots of other things to use it on. You can make the succotash and bacon sauce earlier in the day and reheat at serving time. Then all you would have to do is sear the fish and you're good to go.

FISH WITH SUCCOTASH AND BACON SAUCE

For the rub:
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
3/4 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

For the sauce:
4 ounces good smoked bacon, 1/4" strips
1 cup onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp unsulphured molasses
1 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken stock

For the succotash:
3/4 lb lady peas or lima beans
1 slice bacon, minced
2 tbsp butter
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1 or 2 jalapeño peppers, minced (see note)
4 cups corn cut off the cob, cooked or fresh
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or 2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup heavy cream

To finish:
2 lbs firm-fleshed fish filet, cut into 6 servings
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Combine all the ingredients for the rub. Keep in an airtight jar at room temperature.

In a skillet, cook the bacon for the sauce until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. In the remaining fat, cook the onion and garlic until tender. Add the molasses and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and cook until almost evaporated. Add the chicken stock and simmer briefly. Add the bacon and set aside.

Cook the lady peas with the minced bacon in water to barely cover, for about 20 minutes or until just tender. In a skillet over medium heat cook the bell pepper, onion and carrot until tender. Add the corn and stir to combine. Add the lady peas with their cooking liquid and the thyme. Simmer until the liquid is reduced slightly. Add the cream and simmer briefly. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.

Sprinkle the rub over the fish. In a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil and cook the fish until well-browned and just barely done.
Serve the fish on a bed of succotash. Drizzle the sauce with the bacon over the top and serve immediately. Serves six.

NOTE: One jalapeño pepper with the seeds removed will give a nice zing. Leaving the seeds in makes the dish hotter. Use your own taste in hotness as a guide.

Now I'm a Chef?

What a treat! To have one of Mantia's favorite recipes featured in the September issue of Memphis Magazine!

















Now I'm pretty sure you can't read the recipe from this page but the photographer took almost an hour to shoot the final plated dish, and what a lovely job he did. So I wanted to show it off. You'll find the recipe below.

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine or cider vinegar
1 tbsp whole coriander seed, crushed
1 tsp whole cumin seeds, crushed
1 pinch ground cloves
1 tsp mixed peppercorns, crushed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 or 2 jalapeño peppers, minced (see note below)
1/2 cup each seedless black, red and white grapes, cut in half

In a non-reactive saucepan, combine the sugars, spices and salt and bring to a boil. Add the ginger and jalapeño peppers and simmer a minute or two. Remove from the heat, and add the grapes at once. Stir well and let set at room temperature for about an hour. This makes about 2 cups of salsa and is good with almost anything you grill, especially fish or poultry. It keeps very well in the fridge.

NOTE: For the mildest amount of heat, use one pepper and remove the seeds and inside veins. For or heat use all of one pepper. For those with asbestos tongues, use all of two peppers.

Super scallops!

I am originally from Louisville, KY, and recently have been making frequent trips back on family business. My sister lives in Knoxville, so we try to plan our trips home so that at least one evening we can go out to dinner and catch up with each other.

Louisville is a fabulous restaurant town, and we’ve had our favorite restaurants that we sort of rotate among.

It took Memphis friends Kelly Robinson and Michael Hughes to turn me on to L & N Wine Bar and Bistro. A few weeks ago, my sister and I tracked it down and went for dinner.

We had a wonderful meal, composed of several “small plates.” We accompanied it with wines well chosen by our server from their list of over 100 wines by the glass.

My favorite dish was the scallops. The menu description was “seared diver scallops, basil gnocchi, tomato butter sauce, balsamic reduction.” I liked it so much that I went back alone a few days later to have it again.

You probably know the next part of the story: I had to try to do it myself. My first effort was quite felicitous. I made a sort of beurre rouge sauce with red wine, shallots and diced fresh tomatoes, made the gnocchi myself, and put it all together. It was delicious. But it was a whole lot of cooking time.

I knew that if I wanted to share it with you, I was going to have to make some revisions. So I gave it another shot, and this time it was still quite tasty, with a lot less work. And most of it can be done ahead.

I used purchased plain gnocchi and added a drizzle of basil oil to compensate. I used canned tomatoes, but there is no reason you couldn’t use really good, red ripe tomatoes from the farmers’ market this time of year. Peeled, seeded and diced, they would only take a few minutes of extra cooking for the sauce.

If you remember from earlier scallop recipes I’ve shared, “dry” (unprocessed) scallops are essential to any recipe that calls for browning them. I used U-10 sized (under 10 to a pound).
With a green salad, this has everything you need for a wonderful, but quick and easy, dinner for friends.

ALMOST L & N SCALLOPS

Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 can (16 ounces) diced tomatoes

Basil Oil:
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves

Balsamic reduction:
1 cup balsamic vinegar, simmered to reduce by half

To finish:
1 1/2 lbs U-10 dry scallops
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 package (16 ounces) potato gnocchi
Fresh basil or parsley, for garnish

Make the sauce: In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, stir a couple of times, then add the onion. Cook until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the tomato paste in the red wine and add to the onion. Add the tomatoes and their juices, bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times. Salt to taste. Set aside.

For the oil: In a blender or food processor, puree the basil in the oil. Set aside.

When ready to serve, bring a big pot of well-salted water to a brisk boil. Drop in the gnocchi. Cook for about 1 minute after they rise to the top of the water, usually about 3 to 4 minutes in all.

Pat the scallops dry. In a heavy skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the scallops and brown well, 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once.

Divide the gnocchi among 6 plates. Ladle on most of the sauce (reheated if made ahead). Place the scallops on top and add the rest of the sauce. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the top. Drizzle the basil oil around the edges and serve immediately. Serves 6.

NOTE: The picture is from the L&N Wine Bar and Bistro website. They topped theirs with crispy threads of deep-fried leek. Pretty , isn't it?

A Paella Party for the Masses!

When it comes to learning new styles of cuisine, Larry and Mimmye Goode go all out. When they first got a time-share apartment in the New Orleans French Quarter, they went to classes to master the art of gumbo, oyster-artichoke soup and other Creole specialties.

A friend in New York introduced them to Thai food years before Thai was cool in Memphis. They sought out Thai restaurants in New York and New Orleans, and I was with them in London when, one chilly, night, we wandered through the rain and mist looking for a highly recommended Thai restaurant. Then they made several trips to Thailand, taking cooking classes in Chiang Mai.

In another phase, a brush with Indonesian food took them to Ubud, in Bali, for classes in the guest house of a prominent cookbook writer; they’re going back there later this year.

So it came as little surprise to their friends when, after reading that the best paella in Spain is prepared over a wood, fire, Larry dug a pit in the side yard of their East Memphis home, lined it with stone, put a grate on it and invited everyone to help.


Over the years this has become an annual affair. The guests, this year numbering more than 30, bring an appetizer or dessert and a bottle of wine, and mingle while the paella cooks.

There are stories: the year it rained and umbrellas were held over the fire pit until the paella was done; the year the firemen came after a neighbor saw the smoke and called them.

Two kinds of paella are made, one of all seafood to accommodate the non-meat eaters in the crowd, and another of the traditional sort, with chicken, shrimp, shellfish and chorizo.

Why not give it a try? You probably aren’t going to dig a hole in your yard, but you can use a gas or charcoal grill; toss on some wood chips for a good smoky flavor. It can also be prepared on top of the stove with excellent results.

If you’d like to include the seafood paella, just follow the directions, leaving out the chicken and chorizo, and using seafood stock as your liquid.

Get all your prep work done ahead, invite a few friends, who’ll supply the appetizers and desserts, and make your paella when they get there. Who knows? You might start your own tradition!

PAELLA VALENCIANA

3 tbsp good fruity olive oil
1 small chicken, bone-in, cut into serving pieces
2-3 cloves garlic (more can’t hurt), minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb paella, arborio or carnaroli rice (see note)
6-8 cups chicken stock
1 tsp (loosely packed) saffron threads
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 lb each fresh mussels and fresh clams, scrubbed
4 oz sweet Spanish chorizo sausage, or pepperoni, thinly sliced
1 10-oz package frozen peas, thawed
1 red bell pepper, in julienne strips
1 yellow bell pepper, in julienne strips

In a paella pan or heavy 12” skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the chicken without crowding, turning a couple of times, until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Remove to a plate and reserve. Add the garlic, stir a couple of times, then add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and lightly browned. Add the rice and stir until coated with the onion/garlic/oil mixture. Nestle the chicken pieces in the rice.
Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil, add the saffron and reduce the heat to simmer.
If you’re using a grill, preheat it and put the pan over the hottest part. Add the stock by ladlefuls, waiting until most of it is absorbed before adding more. After about 10 minutes, add the chorizo and shrimp, pushing down into the rice mixture. Gently mix in the peas. Then put in the clams and mussels, hinge side down. Continue adding stock until the rice is almost tender. Scatter the peppers on top and cook until the shell fish are open (discard any that don’t) and the rice is tender but still firm in the center. The consistency of the paella should be very moist but not soupy. You can serve this immediately, but often in Spain it is served almost at room temperature. Serves 10-12.

NOTE: These specialty short grain rices are available in gourmet markets and some supermarkets.