More Scallop Stuff (Scallops Sautéed with Mushrooms)

And since yesterday’s scallop recipe was so well received, here’s another. 

Big, fleshy scallops that have not been brined, essentially selling you salty water instead of seafood, are best for any sauté dish.  This preparation plays on the texture and sweetness in scallops, pairing them with earthy mushrooms and rich cream.  Scallops are sautéed in a combination of oil and butter, so that you get the butter flavor and are able to hold the high heat necessary to properly sear them.  The “mushroom flour” provides concentrated flavor and is something that I may have invented or at least I don’t remember who I stole it from. 

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Scallops Sautéed with Mushrooms (serves 4)

16 large, dry scallops

1/2 cup flour

2 oz. dried shitake mushrooms, stemmed (easily available at Asian markets)

1 tbs. salad oil

1 tbs. unsalted butter

8 oz. shitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

1 tsp. shallots, finely chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 pt. heavy cream

salt and freshly ground white pepper

To make the mushroom flour:

Powder the dried shitake mushrooms by chopping them in a food processor.  Shake out the large pieces in a wire strainer and combine the shitake powder with the flour.  Store tightly covered in a cool place.

To make the sauté:

Heat a large sauté pan on the top of the stove on high.  Dredge the scallops in the mushroom flour, shaking off any excess.  Add the oil and butter.  Heat the pan until the butter turns a hazelnut color, then sear the scallops.  Season with salt and pepper.  When the scallops have sear, turn them with tongs and sear the other side.  Lower the temperature slightly and cook the scallops until they have firmed, but have not toughened.  Remove the scallops and hold them in a warm place.

In the pan where you sautéed the scallops, sauté the shallots and shitake mushrooms for just a minute, deglaze the pan with the wine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Reduce by half.  Add the cream.  Reduce to a coating consistency.  Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

On warmed plates, spread the mushroom cream sauce evenly them place 4 scallops on each plate.  Serve immediately.

Make Pasta, But Do It Right (spaghetti with fennel and Italian sausage)

Pasta is easy.  It really is however there are a few unbreakable rules.  The first is that you have to understand the noodle that you are using.  Generally, pasta has a neutral, pleasant grain flavor.  The flavors derived from carrot, spinach or squid ink are also understated.  Those ingredients are mostly there to contribute orange, green or black color.  I’ve never been a big fan of multicolor pasta, although there was a chef in Lambertville who served white and black angel hair with his zebra chops.  That seemed to be more of a laugh than a culinary breakthrough.

Shape matters.  Those ridges on your penne will hold the sauce.  That’s why rigatoni should be baked with sauce and messy cheeses (always plural), because it is smooth on the outside and will not sauce well.  Size is also important.  You should match the size of the flavoring ingredients with the size of the pasta.  That’s why bowties, farfalle, makes such great salad when combined with celery, red onion, pepperoncini, provolone and big hunks of salami.

Since it is such a simple thing to prepare, if it is not done correctly, the dish will be a complete disaster.  It’s rare that I will cop out and tell you to follow the manufacturer’s advice, but with pasta, their cooking directions are usually right on.  Again, you won’t hear me recommending avoidance of store brands often.  Name brand pasta, in my experience at least, tends to cook up more evenly and taste better than store brand.  It also only costs a quarter more, so this might not be a place to count pennies.

Pasta’s greatest contribution to a dish, much like tofu, is that it has a subtle, delicate taste and will soak up the flavors of whatever it is paired with.  That’s why tomato sauce and any of the cream sauces work so well with noodles.  Additionally, something simple like olive oil, garlic and basil, all strong flavors, elevate pasta to greatness.  I lived on that in college.

Today’s recipe is designed to show off a few things.  Pasta that is hot when combined with the sauce will soak it up more readily that cold noodles.  You’ll be making the sauce as the pasta boils.  Don’t worry.  It is a simple process.  We’ll also play with flavor, doing a spin on Carbonara, the classic egg yolk, onion, garlic and bacon sauce by instead using a whole egg, fennel, garlic and Italian sausage.  Using the same technique, while making a few substitutions creates a new dish that I hope you’ll like.

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Spaghetti with Fennel and Italian Sausage (serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a main course)

½ pound spaghetti

4 oz. Italian sausage, hot or sweet

2 eggs

1 c. fresh fennel, thinly sliced

1 c. heavy cream

½ c. Locatelli or Parmesean cheese, grate your own*

1 clove garlic, chopped

salt and black pepper

Following the directions on the package, boil a large pot of salted water and cook the spaghetti al dente, so that is cooked through, but still firm.  Begin making the sauce when the spaghetti goes in the pot.

Remove the sausage from its casing and brown it on a high heat in a large sauté pan.  Drain 2/3 of the grease from the pan.  Break the egg into the pan.  Scramble it, add the garlic and fennel.  Sauté these aromatics until the fennel has wilted.  Pour in the cream and 2/3 of the grated cheese.  Reduce the sauce by half.

By this time, the spaghetti will be properly cooked.  Drain it, then immediately add it to the sauce.  Stir it together, blending the sauce and the spaghetti.  Plate immediately, topping with the remainder of the grated cheese.

*Yes, grate you own.  Read the packaging on the pregrated stuff.  Unless you think that eating “powdered cellulose,” sawdust, is a good thing, you should take the 30 seconds it’ll take to grate up some cheese.