Skip to main content

Winter Farmers Market: Sautéed Scallops and Herbed Rice


Somerville, MA is a great city. I love living here, and this year's new Winter Farmer's Market just added to my joy. It runs between now and March, and it has been inspiring to see people trudging out in the cold, ice and snow, to the Armory (yes, the market is inside). This past Saturday, I stocked up on locally grown leeks and potatoes, grabbed some hot Italian sausage from Stillman's, and then ventured upstairs to buy some FRESH FISH from Jordan Brothers Seafood. Yes, that's right: haddock from Gloucester, and scallops from Maine. Not frozen--fresh. When she showed me the scallops I might have cried, just a little. Oh, and I picked up a baguette, brioche, and potato bread.

Scallops don't require a lot of fuss, but are easy to overcook. I pulled out my San Juan Classics Cookbook (San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest, not Puerto Rico) and went straight to the shellfish section where I found a recipe for "Sautéed Prawns or Scallops" from Thibert's Crab Market on Fidalgo Island. Due to copyright, I won't reproduce the quantities, but here are the essential ingredients for

Sautéed Scallops
  • fresh scallops--medium to large, dry
  • butter
  • chopped garlic
  • chopped green onions
  • sliced mushrooms (I used babybella)
  • dried tarragon (I substituted fresh because I had it)
  • dry white wine
  • fresh lemon juice
  • chopped fresh parsley
  • salt and pepper
  • lemon wedges to serve
In a nutshell: melt butter, saute garlic, onion, mushrooms and tarragon until softened. Add scallops, sauté for five minutes. Add wine and lemon juice, stir in parsley, simmer to blend. Add salt and pepper to taste!

I served it with Herbed Rice which was loosely inspired by a Herbed Barley recipe that I made for Christmas, from The City Tavern Cookbook .

Herbed Rice
  • basmati rice (follow normal portioning)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • fresh herbs: I used parsley, tarragon, and thyme in a 3:2:1 ratio. It really is to your taste, but I do recommend being sensitive to what you are serving with the rice. The tarragon picked up the tarragon in the scallops, and I wanted just the faintest whisper of thyme, so that it would work with the rice, but not compete with the scallops.
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
Cook the rice according to package directions, putting the 1 tsp of salt in the water. After it is done simmering and the liquid is mostly absorbed, add all the other ingredients and stir through.

Served with a simple green salad, and we had fresh brioche topped with raspberries and brandy for desert.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. KB from Prof Who CooksJanuary 23, 2011 at 10:12 PM

    Yum! As always, it all sounds lovely! Next time I visit, it will be when you have a working fridge and fresh drinking water!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KB from Prof Who CooksJanuary 27, 2011 at 1:28 PM

    Also, I've put you on my list for the Stylish Blogger Award over on my blog. Feel free to participate as much or as little as you like.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rebecca MJanuary 29, 2011 at 4:49 PM

    HA! I saw your blog before I saw your comment here! I don't feel I'm worthy, but THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Miscellanea: Sicilian Caramelized Onions and Homemade Pita Chips

Last month, my family came to visit. My father, who has recently been getting back in touch with his Sicilian roots, is a wonderful cook and I'll admit that I've always been a little daunted cooking for people who cook really well. At any rate, we decided to have a barbeque, invited a few close friends, and I cooked...for three days. This was certainly the most cooking in which I have ever engaged for a single event. Because the attendees to our barbeque ran the gamut of dietary concerns and preferences, I wanted variety. And variety there was. The menu (aside from the meat, which we left to my dad to grill): homemade roasted peppers Sicilian caramelized onions homemade pita chips tabbouleh Amish slaw Chorizo salad watermelon and fresh mint salad To keep this blog post short and sweet, I'll only blog two recipes (the ones that are hyperlinked have been blogged before). First, the pita chips. My dad wanted to help me in the kitchen (something toward which I am usuall...
2 comments
Read more

Summer Salad Marathon: Mixed Bean Salad with Tomato Dressing

I currently have us on a "meat every-other-day" plan, but my low blood sugar requires protein in almost every meal. So...I am working very hard to find ways to incorporate beans into our diet. I'm not a big fan of beans (kidney, pinto, black-eyed, lima, you name it). I tend to tolerate them, and really only enjoy black beans in Mexican food. But in my quest for optimal health, it seems practical to find a way to eat them more often. This recipe comes from one of my most-used and most-loved cookbooks, The Cook's Encyclopedia of Thirty Minute Cooking by Jenni Fleetwood. I don't really care about the "thirty minute" part (usually), but I love the variety and ease of the recipes. In addition to blanched green beans (which I love), mixed canned beans (I used pintos and black beans), celery, onion (I used red), tomatoes, fresh parsley, I also tossed in a can of whole kernel corn....mostly for color, but I really liked the little bit of sweetness that it adde...
Post a Comment
Read more