Scallops and Snow Peas with Salsa

Scallops aren’t cheap, and when you get a chance to buy some in bulk at a reasonable price, do so. Costco has deals all the time, but be prepared to buy enough for three meals. What I do is break the bulk and repackage the purchase into two or three packages of a dozen large scallops each, using my vacuum food saver.

Actually, you can substitute the salsa with any kind of sauce you want. If you’re in the mood for Italian, use marinara sauce. Country gravy is good, and if you want French instead, use a beurre blanc.

Ingredients

• SNOW PEAS, approximately two dozen in the pod
• SEA SCALLOPS, 12 large, each cut in half horizontally
• ONION, ¼ of a large or ½ of a medium, sliced
• GARLIC SALT, to taste
• BUTTER, 2 tablespoons
• OLIVE OIL, ¼ cup
• SALSA, commercial brand (I use Pace Mild), ¼ to ½ cup 

Directions

1. Prepare, rinse and dry the scallops, seasoning lightly with garlic salt.
2. String the peas if necessary, and boil until just tender in water seasoned with garlic salt. Drain and set aside.
3. Sear the scallops in a hot pan with olive oil and butter until barely cooked through, remove from heat and set aside.
4. Sauté the onions in the buttered pan.
5. Add in the snow peas, then the scallops, including any juices.
6. Add in the salsa and heat through.
7. Serve with rice or tortillas.

Apple-Pinoli Bread Pudding

Pinoli are shelled pine nuts with a very distinctive and mild nutty flavor all their own. This recipe is a “tinkered-with” recipe of one I have used for a while, this time adding in some chopped apples and toasted pinoli instead of my usual raisins.

Use a stale French baguette (the skinny, long loaf); the staler and drier the bread is, the better it will soak in the custard liquid. If your bread is fresh, dry it in the refrigerator overnight. That’ll do the trick.

If you bake it for 45 minutes, the top will be nice and crusty, and the inside pretty moist. If you prefer a drier bread pudding, then leave it longer in the oven.

Ingredients

• BREAD, 1 French baguette
• BUTTER, 4 tablespoons, melted
• EGGS, 8 beaten
• MILK or HALF AND HALF, 4 cups
• SUGAR, 1½ cups
• CINNAMON POWDER, 2 teaspoons
• NUTMEG, ½ teaspoon
• VANILLA EXTRACT, 4 teaspoons
• PINE NUTS, ¼ to ½ cups, shelled and lightly stove-top toasted
• APPLE, 1 large, ½-inch diced

Directions

1. Using a serrated bread knife, cut the French baguette bread in half lengthwise, then cut each half in half the same way. Cut crosswise into 1-inch cubes (see the introduction, re drying the bread overnight if necessary).
2. Prepare the pine nuts and apple; combine them with the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add the bread cubes.
3. Let it soak for a while (15 minutes should be okay, as long as the bread becomes wet throughout.
4. Pour the bread mixture into an 11x9 pan and spread evenly.
5. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour in a 350˚ oven.
6. Remove from oven and let stand for a half-hour before serving.

Sautéed Tilapia with Tomato Mélange Relish

Tilapia is a very tender, flaky white fish with a somewhat neutral flavor that adapts well to seasoning and sauces. Or, in this case, a tomato relish. I call it a “mélange” because of the various ingredients that I use.

The last time I made this, I had a jar of pickled bell peppers that added the perfect zing to the relish. If pickled peppers aren’t available, use diced green and/or red bell peppers instead. I would roast them first and char off the skins.

Adding calamata olives adds saltiness to the combination of sweet-sour pickles, the acidity of the tomatoes, and the sweetness of the honey. And of course, the onions turn sweet in the butter.

Ingredients

• TOMATOES, 3 medium Maui or Vidalia, seeded and diced
• ONION, 1 large, chopped
• CELERY, 2 stalks, diced
• PICKLED PEPPERS, ¼ cup (more, or less, to your liking), chopped
• CALAMATA OLIVES, 10, seeded, chopped
• HONEY, 1 tablespoon
• GARLIC SALT, to taste
• BLACK PEPPER, freshly ground, to taste
• TILAPIA FILETS, 4 to 6
• SEASONED SALT, to taste
• OLIVE OIL, about 1 tablespoon each for the relish and the fish
• BUTTER, 3 tablespoons for the relish, 2 tablespoons for the fish

Directions

1. First, make the relish. Heat the olive oil and melt the butter in a large pan.
2. Cook the onions over medium heat until soft but not browned.
3. Add the celery, tomatoes, pickled peppers and olives and heat through.
4. Add the honey, garlic salt and black pepper.
5. Heat through and set aside.
6. Next, sauté the tilapia; season the filets with the seasoned salt.
7. In a clean large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and butter until it’s melted.
8. On medium heat, brown one side of the filet, then flip over and brown the other side.
9. Serve the fish over a bed of tomato relish.

 

 

Rigatoni with Garlic Shrimp

This is a pretty light and delicious main course. I saw a version of this recipe, called aglio gamberetti con pomodoro in Italian, on David Rocco's Dolce Vita show on the Cooking Channel, and added in the mushrooms and olives because I had some leftover in the refrigerator.

I used rigatoni, but you can use whatever pasta you have in your larder.

Ingredients

·         OLIVE OIL, ¼ cup

·         GARLIC, 2 cloves

·         SHRIMP, 16 headless, size 16/20

·         CHERRY TOMATOES, ½ cup, halved

·         ZUCCHINI, 1 medium, ¼-inch dice

·         MUSHROOMS, 4-6, sliced thin

·         OLIVES, ½ cup sliced

·         LEMON, ½, juice, plus zest if desired

·         GARLIC SALT, to taste

·         BLACK PEPPER, freshly ground, to taste

·         PASTA, about one cup, rigatoni or your choice

Directions

1.       Cook the pasta and set aside.

2.       Clean the shrimp by removing the legs, cutting down the back with scissors and removing the vein. Leave the shells and tails on for extra flavor.

3.       Slice or crush the garlic and heat it in the olive oil.

4.       Sauté the shrimp in the hot oil until just orange/pink inside. Set aside.

5.       Sauté the tomatoes, squishing them slightly.

6.       Add the zucchini, mushrooms and olives.

7.       When the veggies are cooked and slightly tender, return the shrimp to the pan.

8.       Add the lemon juice.

9.       Add in the pasta and mix well.

Insalata Caprese

One of my favorite salads is Insalata Caprese, more commonly referred to by its English name – Caprese Salad (or, “salad in the style of Capri”).

I forget when I first discovered this salad, but once I did, there was no stopping me once I saw it on an Italian restaurant menu. Plus, it’s so easy to make. Nothing to it, just get the right ingredients and arrange them on a plate.

If the basil leaves are limp when you buy them, refresh them by placing in iced water and they will perk up.

Ingredients

·         ROMA TOMATOES, as many as you like, estimating one per diner

·         MOZZARELLA CHEESE, one ball, soft and moist

·         FRESH BASIL LEAVES

·         OLIVE OIL, extra virgin top quality

·         BALSAMIC VINEGAR (optional), aged, from Modena if possible

·         SALT and PEPPER to taste

Directions

1.       Slice the tomatoes into rounds, approximately 3/8 of an inch thick.

2.       Slice the mozzarella cheese into rounds, about the same as the tomatoes.

3.       Chiffonade some of the basil leaves.

4.       Arrange the tomatoes, cheese and basil in alternating layers.

5.       Sprinkle with olive oil (and balsamic vinegar), then salt and pepper to taste.

6.       Arrange a few basil stem tips and leaves on the plate as decoration.

Spaghetti and Spare Ribs

I once saw Iron Chef Michael Symon prepare a dish similar to this on his Symon’s Suppers show on The Cooking Channel, so I thought I’d see what I could do with it.

The dish turned out pretty good. It’s not hard to make because I used jarred marinara sauce. You can use any sauce you want, perhaps even make your own, but I used Mezzetta Napa Valley Bistro Pasta Sauce that we picked up at the local Safeway Supermarket.

Ingredients

·         PORK SPARE RIBLETS, 10-12, separated and trimmed

·         CANOLA OIL, approximately 1½ cups

·         FLOUR, about ½ cup

·         SWEET ONION, 1 large, chopped

·         BACON, 4 slices cut into lardons

·         MARINARA SAUCE, 1 jar, about 3 cups

·         CHERRY TOMATOES, 15 smashed

·         CALAMATA OLIVES (Optional), 10 chopped

·         GARLIC SALT, to taste

·         BLACK PEPPER, freshly ground, to taste

·         DRIED SPAGHETTI, up to 1 pound

Directions

1.       Heat the oil in a large pan until a little flour tossed into it sizzles.

2.       Flour the riblets and brown on all sides, remove and set aside.

3.       In a large pot, brown the bacon in about a teaspoon of the oil.

4.       Add the onions and cook on medium heat until translucent.

5.       Add the marinara sauce and tomatoes (and optional olives), combine thoroughly.

6.       Season with garlic salt and ground pepper.

7.       Place the browned riblets into the sauce, stir, coating the riblets, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

8.       About 15 minutes before eating, cook the spaghetti pasta per package directions.

To serve, remove the riblets from the sauce pot, skim off the excess pork fat, add in the pasta and stir until evenly coated. Place a serving of sauced pasta on a plate, along with 2-3 riblets.

Spinach and Italian Sausage Lasagna

Nobody doesn’t like lasagna. Take a tip from Garfield the Cat and have it often. It’s not that hard to make, although getting your mise en place ready is a bit time-consuming. Once that’s done, however, it’s just layer and bake.

If you make your own marinara sauce, great. Me, I’m lazy, and I use store-bought jars of marinara. You can add other stuff in your lasagna – olives, green onions, zucchini, crispy bacon, leftover sausages – it’s all up to you and your “druthers,” whatever you like.

Lasagna is personal.

Ingredients

·         LASAGNE NOODLES, 1 box

·         ITALIAN SAUSAGE, 1 pound, removed from casings

·         SPINACH, 1 bag fresh (or, 1 box frozen)

·         MUSHROOMS, ½ pound sliced

·         RICOTTA CHEESE, 16 ounces

·         EGGS, 2 large

·         PARMESANO REGGIANO CHEESE, 1 cup grated

·         MOZZARELLA CHEESE, 16 ounces grated

·         MARINARA SAUCE, 1 large jar or 16 ounces homemade

·         OLIVE OIL, 1 tablespoon

·         GARLIC SALT 

Directions

1.       Grate the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, and set aside.

2.       Cook the spinach with lots of salted water until just wilted. Take out with a slotted spoon and let cool.

3.       Use the spinach water to cook the lasagna noodles until just al dente. Lay the noodles flat on a tray to cool.

4.       Sauté the Italian sausage in a tablespoon of olive oil until crumbly, set aside.

5.       Sauté the mushrooms in the pan drippings and oil, and set aside.

6.       Mix the eggs into the ricotta cheese until well blended, set aside.

7.       Spoon and spread a little marinara sauce on the bottom of a lasagna pan and line the bottom with a layer of lasagna noodles.

8.       Spread marinara sauce on the noodles, then layer with sausage, then ricotta, then spinach, then parmesan, then mushrooms, then mozzarella.

9.       Continue layering two more times, concluding with a layer of lasagna noodles, marinara, whatever else you may have bits of, and lots of mozzarella.

10.   Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour in a 350˚ oven. After one hour, remove the foil and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes or until the mozzarella cheese has turned slightly golden.

11.   Remove from oven and let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving.