Spanish Scallop Salad

Every year for my lovely sister-in-law's birthday I cook a feast for her and her family at their home on Long Beach Island. This summer I decided to make it a themed buffet of Spanish tapas! It gave me the opportunity to use authentic Spanish ingredients I bought at Despaña in Soho, as well as local island seafood, and produce from my garden. (I made about 12 different tapas for the party and plan to feature all of them in the coming months here on the blog. It was a huge success and we have already agreed on a middle eastern buffet for next summer.) I had planned to do some kind of marinated seafood salad, originally thinking of using Calamari, but when I got to our favorite local fish market and the sign said: "local scallops" I could not resist. Enjoy, and know you can use any kind of seafood you want for this dish.



Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs scallops, calamari(rinse, dry and cut into rings), or shrimp (peeled and deveined)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon aged sherry vinegar
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 small red onion, cut in half, then into very thin slices
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives
2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 ribs of celery, finely sliced
1 cup loose packed flat leaf parsley, leaves only
1/4 cup cilantro leaves (optional)

Procedure
Clean the scallops and cut them in half if large and dry them (you cannot sauté them if they are wet). Sauté scallops in a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until the surface shows some small cracks, then remove from pan. If using shrimp or calamari, lightly poach them in some water, white wine, lemon juice, and herbs of your choice and then quickly cool them.

Whisk together the lime, vinegar, oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir in onions and let sit 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the cooled seafood, olives, tomato, celery and parsley. Toss with dressing and refrigerate 1 hour before serving to allow flavors to combine. If you want extra heat, add some Aleppo pepper to the mix.

Ponzu Sauce and a yummy Scallop recipe

Excellent Ingredient of the Week
Ponzu is a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine. It is tart, with a thin, watery consistency and a light yellow color. Ponzu is made by simmering mirin, rice vinegar, katsuobushi flakes, and seaweed (konbu) over medium heat. The liquid is then cooled, strained to remove the katsuobushi flakes, and finally the juice of one or more of the following citrus fruits is added: yuzu, sudachi, daidai, kabosu, or lemon. Commercial ponzu is generally sold in glass bottles, which may have some sediment.

Ponzu is traditionally used as a dressing for tataki (lightly grilled, then chopped meat or fish), and also as a dip for shabu shabu or sashimi. You can buy it any a number of local markets. Commercial Ponzu is not nearly as good as homemade, so here is a recipe from Mark Bittman for a homemade version.

Ponzu Sauce

Ingredients
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, more to taste
1/3 cup fresh lime juice, more to taste
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 cup good-quality soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (or 1/4 cup sake and 1 tablespoon sugar)
1 3-inch piece kelp (konbu)
1/2 cup (about 1/4 ounce) dried bonito flakes (fish flakes)
Pinch cayenne

Procedure
In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Let sit for at least 2 hours or overnight. Strain. Just before using, you might add a small squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice. Covered and refrigerated, ponzu will keep for at least several days.

So what can you do with it?

• A few shakes of ponzu in the last few minutes of cooking will punch up the flavors in a stew or a stir-fry sauce.
  
• In a marinade for flank steak or pork.
  
• It's great in salad dressing — a ponzu-based vinaigrette goes particularly well with salads of hearty greens, like raw kale and radicchio salads
  
• As a dipping sauce — Ponzu makes a great variation on our standard dipping sauce for steamed dumplings.
  
• Add it to meatloaf, meatballs, and veggie burgers.

Seared Scallop Salad with Ponzu Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 cup Ponzu sauce
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
 Kernels from 3 ears corn
6 oz. baby tatsoi or baby spinach
6 scallions, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds
1/4 bunch cilantro, leaves only
16 sea scallops
1 tsp. fennel seeds, toasted and ground with a mortar and pestle or a clean coffee grinder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper  

Procedure
Heat 1 tbsp. of the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn, and sauté until lightly golden, about 5 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl. Add tatsoi, scallions, and cilantro leaves to the bowl, and toss with 8 tbsp. of the ponzu sauce. Divide salad among four plates.

Pat scallops dry with paper towels, then rub with remaining 2 tbsp. oil, and season with ground fennel and salt and pepper to taste. Heat the same medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops, and sear (working in two batches, if necessary, to avoid crowding the skillet) until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Arrange scallops around salad, 4 per plate, then drizzle salad with remaining ponzu sauce.

Coquilles Saint Jacques

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
This is such a classic! It's not hard to prepare, you can prep it the night before and broil when the guests arrive. Scallops are the classic choice, but you can use small shrimp if you like.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups water
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pound very fresh scallops
8 ounces mushrooms, washed and chopped
6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup Panko
1 cup Gruyère cheese, grated

Procedure
Heat the water, wine, onion, and lemon juice to a boil in a saucepan. Add the scallops, cover, and simmer on very low heat until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove the scallops with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the mushrooms to the scallop poaching liquid and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid and mushrooms separately. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and whisk in the flour. Do not let it get dark. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of the scallop liquid and mix until blended. Over very low heat, blend the flour mixture into the scallop liquid. Add the cream and simmer and stir until blended and thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the scallops and mushrooms, and stir.

Fill 6 scallop shells or shallow 6-inch ramekins almost to the top with the scallop mixture. Dust the top lightly with bread crumbs and sprinkle with the grated cheese. (If you're not ready to serve the scallops, cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate.) Preheat the broiler. Broil the scallops until the mixture bubbles and the cheese melts and turns golden brown.

Seared Scallops and Pears with Lemon Vodka Sauce

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
There are all kinds of recipes which just make sense in the autumn. It's fun to make new dishes and I found this recipe which is very easy and at the same time quite exotic.

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 t unsalted butter
8 ounces large sea scallops
2 large ripe pears (Anjou are my favorites), peeled cored seeded and sliced
8 ounces fresh fettuccine or 4 ounces dry
Grated zest and juice on one lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons vodka
1 tablespoon chopped chives
salt and pepper to taste
mores chives and lemon zest for garnish

Procedure
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 of butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the scallops and sauté 2 minutes on either side. Remove from pan and set aside, cover and keep warm. Add another tablespoon each of butter and oil get the pan hot and sauté the pear slices 2-3 minutes on either side til golden brown, remove from pan.

At the same time this is going on, boil 4 quarts of salted water and cook the fettuccine til al dente and then drain. Now make the sauce. Mix the lemon juice and zest and set aside. Combine the cream and the vodka in a small sauce pan and boil for 3 minutes, watch out — it loves to boil over! Now add the lemon juice and zest and the mixture will thicken. Add the chives next. Toss the hot pasta with the sauce and divide on 2 plates, Top with scallops and salt and pepper, then arrange pear slices beautifully on the plate. Garnish with extra chives and lemon zest. Eat and be merry!

Black Garlic with Scallops

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I found this recipe and had to try it. Produced in Korea and California, black garlic is the “it” food of the moment and it's amazing. I bought some of this new wonder food from my local gourmet food purveyor, but you can also find it on the Internet. Frankly I love eating the cloves all by themselves. It’s sweet and creamy and supposedly has amazing health benefits, but I really can’t vouch for that. You know, just because it's on the Internet does not mean it's true! Even if you don’t have black garlic, this is a simple recipe for scallops. Just substitute the black garlic with regular garlic. But keep in mind that it will be way sharper in flavor and scent and could eliminate the possibility of getting lucky later in the evening.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, divided
16 extra-large dry-packed scallops, diver scallops, patted very dry (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves black garlic, thinly sliced
1-2 teaspoons finely minced jalapeño pepper
1/2 cup white wine
2 teaspoons good balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Procedure
Heat a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons of the butter over high heat. Season the scallops with salt and pepper, and when the butter is bubbling, gently lay the scallops in the pan, not touching. Sear the scallops and cook for 4 minutes, turning once. They should have a lovely golden brown color on both sides. Transfer to a platter.

To the same hot pan on high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the garlic slices and the jalapeño pepper and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the white wine and the balsamic vinegar into the pan. Let simmer for 1 minute, season with salt and pepper and add the fresh parsley. Pour over scallops.
Serves 4.

Coquille Saint Jacques

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Okay, this is definitely not health food, not diet food, and not something you should have for breakfast. But if you want to make a dazzling first course (which, if you play your cards right, could lead to sex), I recommend the classic Coquille Saint Jacques. It is very rich, so keep the portions small and the lights low. This recipe serves 6.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds bay scallops
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 sprig parsley
8 peppercorns
Salt to taste
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine
7 tablespoons room temp. butter
3 tablespoons A.P. flour
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Cayenne pepper
Parmesan cheese

Procedure
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine scallops thyme, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, salt, water, and wine in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer exactly 2 minutes. Now remove the bay leaf, parsley, and thyme. Drain liquid and save. Let the scallops cool. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan and stir in flour with a whisk. Now add the reserved scallop liquid. Continue to whisk (or use a hand held electric mixer) in the remaining butter a little at a time and then add the egg yolks, lemon juice, and a pinch of cayenne. Spoon a little of the mixture into your scallop shells or ramekins. Then top with scallops and then add the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and starting to brown. Serve immediately, have some wine, and sit down and rest. After the first bite you will be a star!