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.

Leftovers and Transgression (dal patties with sautéed zucchini and mushrooms)

There is a shocking secret at the Farrell house. 

It is something that, in most folk’s opinion, shames us, makes us less in their eyes, sinful, people to be apart, shunned for what we are.  We accept an idea that is wrong to many, dangerous to most.   It has caused us to raise our children in an aberrant way.   We have chosen to set ourselves outside of society.   

You see, we do not own a microwave oven.  I’ve been militant about this.  My kids were underprivileged when they went to college.  Although they could pop popcorn on the top of the stove with real butter, not one of them knew the setting on a mic that would make the magic happen.  Oh, the humanity!

I know that’s hard to believe.  How could you get by, feed yourself properly without a microwave?  Actually, it is quite easy, but like everything worthwhile in this world, you need to think differently, about your health and your food.  Think for a moment about how you use your microwave.  My guess is that it is almost always used to reheat leftovers. 

Around our house, it is rare that something would be simply warmed up and served again.  Instead, we make something different.  For example, almost any cooked vegetable can be chopped up and cooked in an omelette.  Roast chicken can mixed with onions, celery, dried cranberries and mayonnaise to make chicken salad.  Bones can be cleaned of meat and used for stock.  Anything, well practically anything makes a good taco or enchilada.  Besides, those rays can’t be good for you.

A while back, I posted a recipe for curried turkey legs and a red lentil dal.  If you made that one, and you should, you probably had extra dal left over at the end of dinner.  You could do what everyone else, bang it in the microwave, spray it down with radiation and call yourself Chef of the Airwaves.  Or, with little extra effort, you could try the following recipe and make interesting food.  This would also be great with leftover rice pilaf or beans.

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Fried Dal Patties with Sautéed Zucchini and Mushrooms (serves four)

1# dal, cooked and cooled

1 ½ c. bread crumbs

2 tbs. olive oil

2 medium zucchini, sliced into thin rounds

8 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tbs. parsley, chopped

½ c. heavy cream (optional)

salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  With your hands, form 2 oz. patties of dal ½ inch thick.  Roll them in breadcrumbs and set aside.

In a sauté pan large enough to hold 8 dal patties, heat 1 tbs. of olive oil.  Sauté the dal patties for two minutes, turn then bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes, until they are well browned and warmed through.

While the dal is baking, heat the remainder of the olive oil in a large sauté pan.  Working quickly, sauté the garlic for just a moment, until its aroma is released, but before it browns.  Add the zucchini and mushrooms, season with salt and black pepper.  Continue on high heat, keeping the vegetables moving so that they do not stick.

When the zucchini and mushrooms are cooked through, pour in the cream and reduce it by 1/3, until it has thickened to a coating consistency.  Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, stir in the chopped parsley.  Remove the dal patties from the oven.

Spoon ¼ of the zucchini and mushroom sauce onto each plate and top with 2 of the dal patties.  Serve immediately.

If you are counting calories, leave out the cream.  Also, if you are trying to eliminate bread from your diet, it is perfectly acceptable to eliminate the bread crumbs.  Instead you should roll the dal in potato starch.  That will not hold the patty together as well as bread crumbs, so you should turn the patties carefully.

Happy Holidaze (sausage, spinach stuffed mushrooms)

Just a quick note today and two stuffed mushroom recipes that we’ll be serving any minute.  Over here at Fresh Fun Foods we are moving into the modern age.  This time, the recipes will have pictures.  Be kind, there are no food stylists involved yet.  Maybe someday when the Food Network writes me that big check…
 

We have a problem at our house, ok numerous problems, but today’s issue involves my misguided vegetarian son.  Actually I admire the kid, however since I know that bacon even improves ice cream, we’ll never see eye-to-eye on tasty little animals.  When I plan a meal, I have to consider what Pat will eat, so there always has to be a vegetarian offering.  Big mushrooms were on sale this morning.  It is simple to make a vegetarian and a meat-gorged version of stuffed mushrooms.  Recipes follow for an Italian sausage and a spinach and feta cheese version. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Jolly Diwali and joy to you for any other holidaze that make you happy.

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Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

15 large mushrooms, stems removed

8 oz. Italian sausage, sweet or hot

4 oz. grated parmesan cheese

2 oz. bread crumbs

2 eggs

salt and black pepper

2 tbs. olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Mix the sausage, bread crumbs, eggs, 3 oz. parmesan cheese, salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl.  Divide the stuffing evenly and place each bit in a mushroom cap. 

Put the remaining cheese in a small bowl.  Roll the stuffed mushrooms in the cheese , evenly coating the sausage.  Place the stuffed mushrooms on a baking dish, drizzle the tops with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes at 400°.

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

10 oz. fresh spinach, washed

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

2 tbs. red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 oz. Ouzo

2 oz. bread crumbs

2 eggs

salt and black pepper

3 tbs. olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°.

In a large pot, heat 1 oz of olive oil.  Sauté the onion and garlic until transparent add the spinach and sweat out the water, cooking for only another two minutes.  Add the ouzo and cook for one more minute.  The transfer the vegetables to a small mixing bowl.

Mix the spinach mixture with the cheese, bread crumbs and the eggs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stuff the mushroom caps.  Place the stuffed mushrooms on a baking dish, drizzle the tops with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes at 400°.

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Mushroom washed and stemmed

Onions, garlic sautéed in olive oil

Sausage stuffing (left), spinach stuffing (right)

Coating the sausage with cheese

Before baking

After only 15 minutes in the oven