Peppered Sea Scallops with Spinach

Put Peppered Sea Scallops with Spinach down as a new favorite. I really like the combination of the Pepper Flavoring with the Spinach. Of course I always like Scallops. This recipe is a keeper! It also is very fast to make, always a plus. 

Peppered Sea Scallops with Spinach

New York Times

An easy but elegant full-flavored main course, this dish is best made in fall or winter, when sea scallops are in season. The generously peppered scallops lay on a bed of puréed spinach. The spinach leans on Indian flavors, run through with heady garam masala, turmeric and ginger. Substitute pan-seared fish or shrimp if scallops aren’t your thing. If desired, serve with steamed rice.

 

INGREDIENTS
Yield:4 servings, as a main course
 
FOR THE SPINACH
2       tablespoons butter or mild oil
½      teaspoon cumin seeds
1       small onion, finely diced
2       garlic cloves, grated
1       jalapeño, halved, seeds removed and thinly sliced
2       teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1teaspoon garam masala
½      teaspoon ground turmeric
6       ounces roughly chopped spinach leaves
Salt
Speck of ground cayenne
2       tablespoons dry white wine, plus 1 cup water for blending

 
FOR THE SCALLOPS
 
12     large sea scallops (about 1 pound), trimmed and patted dry
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
2       tablespoons mild oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
 
PREPARATION
 

Make the spinach: Put the butter in a wide skillet or wok over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and cook until fragrant and beginning to pop, about 1 minute. Add onion and cook until softened and barely browned, 3 minutes, then add garlic, jalapeño, ginger, garam masala and turmeric. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes more.

Add spinach, stir to coat well and turn up heat to medium high. Season with salt and cayenne. Add wine. Cook, stirring just until spinach is barely wilted. Remove pan from heat and set aside to cool.

Transfer spinach to a blender or food processor. Blend, adding enough water to make a medium-thick purée (add a little more for a thinner broth). Taste and adjust seasoning, then pour into small saucepan and set aside.

Cook the scallops: Season scallops on both sides with salt and generous amounts of coarse pepper. Set a wide, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl pan to coat. When oil is wavy, set scallops in pan without crowding. When they begin to sizzle, turn heat to medium. Don’t move scallops — they will need to cook undisturbed for at least 5 minutes.

Check the scallops: Using a metal spatula, turn one scallop over. It should be nicely browned. (If not, return it to the pan for another minute or so.) Turn over each scallop carefully and cook for about 2 minutes more, until sides look opaque. Turn off heat.

Reheat spinach purée over low heat, and spoon into 4 warmed shallow soup plates. Arrange a few scallops browned side up atop spinach on each plate. Sprinkle with lemon zest, shower with juice and serve.

Coconut-Poached Fish With Bok Choy New York Times

Coconut-Poached Fish With Bok Choy has potential. We liked it, however this recipe was a little too bland for us. If we make it again we will pump it up to be more assertive. When we poured the Coconut infused sauce over the Rice it made for a delicious treat. This is a dish that has potential, but isn't quite there yet.

This has been the summer of great Melons. We will chalk it up to a positive benefit of global warming. This was another great Melon. It was delicious topped with Prosciutto.

Coconut-Poached Fish With Bok Choy

New York Times

 

YIELD       4 servings

TIME         25 minutes

 

This one pot, Thai-influenced dish couldn’t be easier to assemble, and its beautiful presentation makes it look like you spent a lot longer on dinner than you actually did. The poaching liquid does double duty by gently cooking the fish and wilting the bok choy. If bok choy is unavailable, another sturdy green, like kale or Napa cabbage, can be substituted. Serve with steamed jasmine rice to soak up some of the fragrant coconut milk broth.

 

Ingredients

 

4        (6-ounce) cod fillets or other flaky white fish

Kosher salt

2        tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

1        large shallot, thinly sliced

2        garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1        (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

1        fresh Thai or Serrano chile, thinly sliced

2        (13 1/2-ounce) cans coconut milk

1-½   teaspoons fish sauce

1        teaspoon light brown sugar

About 7 ounces baby bok choy, ends trimmed and stalks separated

¼       cup roughly chopped cilantro, both leaves and tender stems

2        tablespoons thinly sliced scallion greens

Lime wedges (from 1 lime), for serving

Flaky salt (optional)

 

Preparation

 

1.   Season fish well with salt. In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, ginger and chile, and cook, stirring often until they become translucent, about 2 minutes. Season with salt.

2.   Add coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar, and whisk together until combined and sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer. Add cod fillets and turn the heat down to low. Cover and cook until cod is just cooked through and opaque, about 6 to 8 minutes. Carefully remove the fish and plate in bowls.

3.   Add bok choy to the coconut milk broth and turn heat to medium-low. Cook bok choy until leaves are wilted and stems are tender, about 1 to 2 minutes.

4.   Divide bok choy evenly alongside the fish and ladle the coconut milk broth over each portion. Top with cilantro, scallions and a good squeeze of lime, and serve with remaining wedges on the side. Garnish with flaky salt, if desired.

 

 

Porchetta Pork Chops

Porchetta Pork Chops is a great recipe. We first had a similar dish at ChiSpacca. This recipe is great. You can find it on our blog of: March 7, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe. The Fennel taste goes perfectly with the Chops and the outside of Pork Chop gets crisp. It's a good recipe!

We served it with Japanese Sweet Potatoes topped with Sour Cream and sautéed Fennel.  A great combo. My kind of meal!

Brown-Butter Orzo with Butternut Squash

Brown-Butter Orzo with Butternut Squash is an excellent recipe. The Orzo of course is very mild and an interesting Pasta that looks like Rice. The Brown-Butter and Squash kicks the flavor and texture up several notches. We have made this vegetarian pasta several times. It can be either a main course or a wonderful side dish.

Skillet-Braised Chicken with Greens and Olives

 

Skillet-Braised Chicken with Greens and Olives is an excellent recipe. We really like this recipe. The skin was super crispy. The Chicken was crisped in the oven. I liked this recipe very much.

Skillet-Braised Chicken with Greens and Olives
New York Times
 
Braising chicken and greens together in a skillet does wonderful things to both bird and vegetables. As the chicken cooks, the skin browns, crisps and renders savory fat, which suffuses the greens with flavor. The greens, in turn, make a soft, moist bed on which to cook the chicken, keeping the meat supremely tender. In the end, the silky greens make a rich, mineral contrast to the juicy meat, while lemon juice and olives add brightness and acidity to the mix, giving it a needed jolt. Serve this with crusty bread or mashed potatoes to catch all the juices.
 
INGREDIENTS
Yield:4 servings
 
2¼ to 2½ pounds bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
Fine sea salt or table salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼          teaspoon hot smoked paprika, plus more for serving (or use red-pepper flakes)
3           tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for serving
1           cup sliced shallots, about 2 to 3 (or use red onion)
3           garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 to 2    bunches sturdy greens, such as escarole, Swiss chard or kale, coarsely chopped (1 pound; about 10 to 12 cups)
1           cup coarsely chopped cilantro or parsley
1¼        cups chicken stock, plus more as needed
½          cup pitted coarsely chopped Castelvetrano olives
1           lemon, halved
Flaky salt, for serving (optional)
 
PREPARATION
 
1. Season chicken all over with ½ teaspoon salt, several grinds of black pepper and the paprika.

2. In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add shallots and a pinch of salt, and cook until pale golden brown all over, 5 to 7 minutes.

3.  Add chicken to the skillet and let sear until it browns lightly on both sides and the onions turn a shade or two darker, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, leaving the shallots in the pan.

4. Add garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Add chopped greens, cilantro and another ¼ teaspoon salt to the pan, and stir, tossing to coat in the residual chicken fat. It may seem like a lot of greens, but they will cook down. Cook until they have just started to wilt, about 2 minutes.

5. Add the chicken and any juices on the plate to the skillet with the greens. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to come halfway up the chicken. Bring liquid to a gentle simmer. Partly cover and allow the chicken to finish cooking through, 25 to 35 minutes. Add more stock as needed to keep the greens tender and moist.

6. Stir in olives and cook uncovered until they are warmed through, about 1 minute more. Squeeze one lemon half over everything, then taste greens, and add more salt or lemon juice if needed. Serve topped with flaky salt, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and more smoked paprika.

Steak and Kashmera Potatoes

Our great friend Kashmera cooks the greatest Potatoes! It is a traditional Indian way of cooking Potatoes. She cooked them for us. We greatly appreciate our private chef! With the Potatoes we made a Steak. We served it with Asparagus topped with Parmesan Cheese.

We stared with a Tomato, Burrata and Pesto Salad with Croutons. 

What a great meal. Thank you Kashmera!

Pasta with Scallops, Garlic, Grape Tomatoes, and Parsley

Pasta with Scallops, Garlic, Grape Tomatoes, and Parsley is my kind of dish! I love all of the ingredients! I highly recommend this dish, especially when Cherry Tomatoes are at their peak in late summer. You can find the recipe for this delicious dish on our blog of September 30, 2022. Click the date to get the recipe. We had eaten at ChiSpacca and had ordered Jimmy Nardellos Peppers (click the name to find how these peppers got their name and why they are the best peppers ever!). At any rate we brought the leftovers home and served it with the Pasta. God I loved this dinner!

Fresh Tomato, Basil And Prosciutto Pasta

Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't. This recipe for Fresh Tomato, Basil And Prosciutto Pasta should have been great, but we both thought it was bland. We added Red Pepper Flakes but it still missed the mark! Oh well.

We started with a Melon Salad with Prosciutto that was good. So the meal wasn't a total loss.

Fresh Tomato, Basil And Prosciutto Pasta 

New York Times

This summertime pasta of lightly sizzled garlic and tomatoes with torn basil is satisfyingly easy and delicious. It’s also a reminder that with really great ingredients, not a lot of cooking is necessary to create a stand-out meal. Melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto and dollops of ricotta add a little richness to contrast with all the freshness, leaving you with a colorful main that doesn’t really need much else, but a sprinkle of crushed red-pepper flakes or a few thin rings of jalapeño or sweet red pepper could be welcome additions.
 
INGREDIENTS

Yield:4 servings
12        ounces spaghetti
Salt and pepper
6          garlic cloves
1½       pounds ripe tomatoes (any variety)
⅓         cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1½       cups fresh basil leaves
3 to 4   ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, preferably at room temperature
½         cup fresh ricotta, preferably at room temperature
 
PREPARATION
 
1.  Cook pasta according to package instructions in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente, then drain.

2.  While the pasta is cooking, thinly slice the garlic and cut the tomatoes into large bite-size pieces (¾- to 1-inch chunks, wedges or slices, or just halves of cherry tomatoes, if using).

3.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium. After 2 minutes, add the garlic and let sizzle for about 1 minute without browning, then add the tomatoes and use tongs to toss in the garlic oil. Season with salt and cook, tossing gently, until tomatoes are warmed through and have started to release their juices but are still intact, about 3 minutes. Turn off heat.

4. Add the pasta to the warm tomatoes, then tear the basil into pieces and toss together with the pasta, tomatoes and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

5. To serve, transfer warm pasta onto plates, tear the prosciutto into pieces and drape them over top. Dollop on the ricotta, season with salt and pepper and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Roasted Chicken with Figs and Rosemary

Roasted Chicken with Figs and Rosemary is a riff on the recipe we often make of Chicken and Figs. You can get that recipe on our blog of: June 27, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe. Compare the two recipes and figure out which you want to make. I can guarantee both are great!

Roasted Chicken with Figs and Rosemary
New York Times
 
This is truly one of the easiest company-worthy chicken dishes out there. Marinated with citrus zest and rosemary then quickly roasted at high heat, the chicken turns golden, juicy and richly flavored, while the figs cook down into sweet jammy puddles. Use your favorite bone-in chicken parts here, or a mix of pieces. 
 
INGREDIENTS
Yield:6 servings
 
4½         pounds bone-in chicken parts
1             tablespoon coarse kosher salt
2             rosemary sprigs, needles removed from stems (discard the stems)
2             garlic cloves, grated on a microplane or finely minced
½            teaspoon finely grated orange or lemon zest, plus optional orange or lemon wedges for serving
½            teaspoon black pepper
1             pound ripe figs, stemmed and quartered lengthwise
1 to 2     jalapeño or red chile peppers, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
 
PREPARATION
 
1. In a large bowl, toss chicken with salt, rosemary, garlic, citrus zest and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight (the longer the better).

2. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spread chicken pieces out on two rimmed baking sheets, making sure there is plenty of room between the pieces. Arrange figs among the chicken pieces, then scatter jalapeño slices on top. Drizzle everything generously with olive oil.

3. Roast, switching the position of the baking pans after 15 minutes so everything browns evenly, until the chicken is golden and cooked through. This should take about 25 to 30 minutes for the breast meat, and 30 to 40 for the dark meat. Serve chicken with the orange or lemon wedges for squeezing, if you like.

Curried Swordfish with Tomatoes, Greens and Garlic Toast

We started with a Tomato Salad with Burrata and Pesto.

Good news, Bad News. I love Curried Swordfish with Tomatoes, Greens and Garlic Toast. Unfortunately at my last doctor's appointment my Mercury levels were high. No swordfish for me for a while. Apparently big fish have more Mercury than small fish. For those  of you with acceptable levels of Mercury, you can find the recipe on our blog of August 6, 2019. Click the date to get this great recipe!

Alan Cooks

Our good friend Alan loves to cook at our house. He is absolutely great cook. Coming from Singapore the food he cooks is the best of Chinese Cooking. We love it when he comes to our house and cooks! No recipes cause it all comes with love from his head.

Zucchini Pasta

 

Melon's have been particularly good this year. We started with a Melon Salad with Prosciutto. 

This is one of our favorite summer dishes. Zucchini Pasta. Actually to be clear the pasta isn't made from zucchini, the sauce is. It is sautéed until it is a rich dark mass. The browned zucchini almost taste like a meat sauce. It is a delicious pasta especially appropriate for you vegetarians. The zucchini is sliced very thin and sautéed until dark and crisp. They cook down to very little, so start with a lot of zucks. You can find the recipe for this simple and delicious pasta in our blog of: June 19, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. This is one of those dishes that makes me realize I could be a vegetarian (theoretically speaking - I will never give up my love a great steak!).

Creamy Corn Pasta With Basil

 We loved this recipe for Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil. The Creamy Corn Pasta With Basil was great. We are eating a lot of Corn this summer! We love the many ways we can serve corn. Hope you ate a lot of ears this year! You can find this recipe on our blog of August 16, 2024. Click the date to get the recipe.

Tomato Risotto

We had left-over Shu Mai Burgers. You can get the recipe on our blog of: June 30, 2010 for them. Click the date to get the recipe. We made Tomato Risotto to go with them. The Risotto was rich and made a perfect accompaniment.
Tomato Risotto
New York Times
 
Once you master the risotto technique, you can make flavorful versions throughout the year. This summery version is based on red, ripe tomatoes from the garden, but if you want to up the tomato quotient, surround the finished dish with slices of multicolored heirloom varieties. Best as a first course or vegetarian main course, it could also pair with a main course — grilled fish, for instance.
 
INGREDIENTS
Yield:4 to 6 servings
 
Extra-virgin olive oil
1large onion, diced (about 1½ cups)
Salt and pepper
1½    cups arborio or carnaroli rice
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
2       garlic cloves
½      cup white wine
2       cups diced ripe red tomatoes
3       cups boiling water or vegetable broth
½      cup grated pecorino or Parmesan, plus more for serving
4       medium tomatoes, in different colors, sliced
Chopped parsley, for garnish
Snipped basil, for garnish
 
PREPARATION
 
1.  Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the onion, and season generously with salt. Add pepper to taste, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2.    Add the rice and cook the onions, stirring, until the onions are barely brown, about 2 minutes. Add red-pepper flakes, garlic, white wine and diced tomatoes, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes more.

3.  Add 2 cups boiling water and adjust the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring well with a wooden spoon every minute or so.

4.  When the liquid is absorbed, add remaining 1 cup water and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, until the rice is cooked, but the grains are still firm. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding another splash of water if necessary to loosen the mixture. Turn off the heat, stir in the pecorino and 2 more tablespoons olive oil.

5. Transfer to a low, wide serving bowl. Surround the rice with tomato slices and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and basil. Pass more grated cheese at the table.