Pan Seared Scallops

I think the cookbook that I was most excited to get for Christmas was the Cooks Illustrated Cookbook, better known as the bible of cooking. It is a wonderful resource for doing just about anything in the kitchen and would be a great addition to anyone's kitchen. It isn't flashy with tons of pictures but the recipes and techniques are well tested and won't let you down.

I made the cauliflower pesto I posted about earlier this week for Joe and I on New Years Eve. We were going out later with friends but weren't meeting until after dinner so I wanted to make something special for the two of us to have at home for dinner before we went out. I decided on seared scallops with spaghetti and cauliflower pesto. I love scallops, they are one of the very few things from the sea that I do like. I have tried to cook them at home before and they either come out too rubbery or just don't brown and it has always made me frustrated.

I turned to my Cooks Illustrated Cookbook in hopes that they might have something that could help me and boy did they! Turns out that for home cooks there are two things that get in the way of making a great pan seared scallop. First, most of the scallops that we can get our hands on are chemically treated with a solution called STP to increase shelf life and retain moisture which make them overly wet and hard to sear. Second, the stoves most of us have in our homes are much weaker than those in restaurants so it is hard to bring them up to the temperatures needed to properly sear a scallop. Cooks Illustrated has come up with a solution for both issues. Using their methods, these were the best pan seared scallops I have ever been able to make.

Pan Seared Scallops
From Cooks Illustrated Cookbook

Ingredients
1 quart cold water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 lbs large seas scallops, tendons removed
Ground pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Lemon wedges or your favorite sauce

Directions
Combine cold water, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl. Add scallops and soak for 30 minutes. Remove scallops from water mixture and place on rimmed baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel. Place second clean kitchen towel on top of scallops and press lightly on towel to blot liquid. Let scallops sit at room temperature 10 minutes while towels absorb moisture.

Sprinkle scallops on both sides with ground pepper. Heat 1 tbsp oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of the scallops in single layer, flat side down, and cook, without moving, until well browned, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Add 1 tbsp butter to skillet. Using tongs, flip scallops and continue to cook, using large spoon to baste scallops with melted butter (tilt skillet so butter runs to one side) until sides of scallops are firm and centers are opaque, 30 to 90 seconds longer (remove smaller scallops as they finish cooking). Transfer scallops to a large plate and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Wipe out skillet with wad of paper towels and repeat cooking with remaining oil, scallops, and butter. Serve immediately with lemon wedges or sauce.

Spaghetti with Cauliflower Pesto

I think my family knows that I like to cook and that I really want to take this blog more seriously in 2012. Many of my birthday and Christmas gifts this year were centered around cooking and blogging. I got a bunch of different plates and bowls in all different patterns and sizes to use to photograph the food I make. I got 4 new cookbooks that are all wonderful in their own ways and I can't wait to use all of them starting today with this wonderful recipe. And my big present from Joe was a DSLR camera which has been really fun to use so far. I can't wait to learn all the things it can do and hopefully take better photos as the year progresses. I personally already see a difference between the photos taken with the new camera versus my old point and shoot and I don't even really know what I am doing with the new camera yet. Do you notice a difference?

One of the books that Joe got me is called Cooking for Friends and it is a really great book which not only gives you recipes but also ideas about plating and serving food and good cocktail pairings as well. A lot of the food is simple and fresh but prepared in ways that maybe you wouldn't think of. This recipe is a great example of that. We love cauliflower. Boiled, steamed, mashed, roasted, raw, plain, with cheese, you name it, we like it. I never in a million years considered making it into a pesto and serving it over pasta but it works. This was really light and flavorful and a perfect complement to the seared sea scallops that I made to go with it.

Be aware that this recipe makes a lot of pesto so it would be great for having a group of friends over, hence I guess the name of the cookbook. We had leftovers for quite awhile since I made this for just the two of us.

Spaghetti with Cauliflower Pesto
From Cooking for Friends

Ingredients
1 small head cauliflower, cored and cut into 1-inch florets
sea salt
ground pepper
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup almonds, toasted (I used pine nuts since I didn't have any almonds)
2 tsp capers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb spaghetti
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shaved

Directions
Preheat a stove-top grill pan over high heat.

Season cauliflower florets with salt and pepper. Place on grill pan and cook, turning occasionally, until well charred on all sides, 6-8 minutes. Transfer cauliflower to a food processor and add olive oil, parsley, almonds, capers and garlic. Pulse until mixture is well combined but still coarse. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until pasta in al dente, according to package directions. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of cooking liquid, and transfer to a serving bowl. Toss with cauliflower pesto and shaved Parmeson, adding some of the cooking liquid if necessary (you won't always have to do this. I wound up adding maybe a 1/4 cup of it). Serve at once.

Baked Brie

The brie was such a hit on Christmas Eve that I had to hide a piece for Joe who was working and was going to be late getting home and I am not even sure if there was any left by the time the last guest arrived. My mom even made it again last weekend while we were watching the Giants beat the Packers and it was just as good. I think David made it for a New Years Eve party that he went to as well. Needless to say, we have already gotten some use out of this recipe.

I love brie, especially baked brie but I have always made it with berries and I wanted to try something different this time. In November, we went to our friends Chris & Carrie's wedding in Washington DC and as part of our welcome bags at the hotel was a small jar of apple butter that Carrie had made for everyone. I couldn't wait to get home and try it and it was amazing on just a piece of toast. It hit me that it would be amazing in a baked brie. Now the jar we got from the wedding was not large enough to be used in the brie and I didn't have time to make my own so I bought a jar but I hope to try to make my own apple butter in the future.

I also used cooked apples to top the brie because I wanted a bit of a texture contrast rather than everything being all soft and gooey. The apples were only cooked for a few minutes so they still retained some of their crunchiness which I think added a nice element to the dish. I served crackers on the side of the brie but most people wound up just eating the wedges of cheese, apple and pastry as it without the crackers so you could do without the crackers if you wanted.

Baked Brie
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients
1 (8-9 oz) wheel of brie, slice in half horizontally
1 apple, cored and diced
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp brown sugar
1/3 cup apple butter
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
Water
1 egg yolk, beaten

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a small pan, heat the butter and add the diced apples and cinnamon and saute over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add the brown sugar and stir until combined with butter. Cook for another 3-4 minutes just until the apples begin to soften slightly but still have a bit of crunch to them. Remove from heat.

Place your puff pastry sheet on a floured surface. Place your apple mixture in the center of the pastry. Top with half of the apple butter. Place one piece of the brie, rind side down on top of the apple mixture. Spread the other half of the apple butter onto the cheese and top with the other half of the cheese wheel.

Brush the edges of the puff pastry with water and bring the sides of the pastry up and around the wheel of  brie, adding more water if necessary to seal the edges of the pastry to each other. Place the brie wrapped in pastry seam side down on cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg yolk to help the pastry brown. Place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the pastry is flaky and brown. Serve hot.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

My Dad's side of the family always gets together for dinner and church on Christmas Eve. I was the host for this holiday for the first time in 2011. It also happened to be the day that the Giants played the Jets and those of you that know me and my family, we are huge rabid Giants fans, so I invited everyone over earlier than we would normally get together so we could watch the game together and the Giants didn't disappoint!

Normally we don't do a lot of appetizers for Christmas Eve because we know we are going to have a big meal but this year since we were going t be getting together about 3 hours earlier than normal and were going to church before dinner, I decided to pile on the apps. With my brother David by my side, we decided to make a hot spinach artichoke dip, baked brie with apples and apple butter and baked butternut squash ravioli with homemade pasta dough and spicy vodka dipping sauce. The brie will be coming along in another post. The ravioli still need some work so I plan to try them again and once I get them right, they will make their debut too. The filling was great but the pasta wound up a little too dry. Thankfully my parents bought me the pasta attachments for my kitchen aid mixer for Christmas so I will be able to work on perfecting the ravioli along with making a myriad of other fresh pastas. I can't wait!

For the spinach artichoke dip we used a recipe by Alton Brown from foodnetwork.com as a guide and then made some changes to suit our own tastes. It came out really good. I ate the leftovers for lunch with some cut up vegetables and crackers. Yummy!

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip
Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients
1 box (10 oz) chopped frozen spinach, thawed
1 box (9 oz) chopped frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
8 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 tsp garlic powder
1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Boil spinach and artichokes in 1 cup of water until tender and drain. Discard liquid. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in spinach, artichoke hearts, sour cream, Parmesan, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and garlic powder and transfer to an oven safe dish. Sprinkle  top with mozzarella cheese and  bake in oven for 15 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve hot with vegetable sticks and/or crackers.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

I saw this salad back in November on Brown Eyed Baker and it sounded so good that I made it that night. Joe liked it so much that we had it again a couple of days later. The combination of mixed greens, squash, dried fruit, cheese and nuts is just a wonderful combination. Top it off with a great tasting dressing and you have a great side dish. We had it with some grilled chicken breasts the first time and with a couple of grilled steaks the next time.  That's it, just the salad and the protein, no need for anything else on the plate. I can't wait to make it again and I am sure I will soon since butternut squash is a winter staple in our home. The recipe calls for walnuts and that is how I made it the first time. The second time I made it I was out of walnuts and had some pecans in the house so I used them and it came out just as good so I think you could substitute a number of different types of nuts and still make a great salad. I also didn't have apple cider either time I made it and used apple juice as mentioned below. Still great.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

1 (1 to 1 1/2 lb) butternut squash, peeled and 3/4 inch diced

2 tbsp + 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1 tsp ground black pepper, divided

3 tbsp dried cranberries

3/4 cup apple cider (can substitute apple juice)

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp minced shallots

2 tsp Dijon mustard

4 ounces baby arugula (or mixed greens), washed and dried

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Place the butternut squash on a sheet pan. Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil, maple syrup, 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Toss evenly to coat the butternut squash. Roast for 20 minutes, turning once, until the squash is tender. Add the cranberries to the pan during the last 5 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, combine the apple cider, vinegar and shallots in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the cider is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Off the heat, whisk in the mustard, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.

Place the arugula or mixed green in a large sald bowl and add the roasted squash mixture, the walnuts and the grated Parmesan. Spoon just enough vinaigrette ove rthe salad to moisten and toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

I love using cinnamon in baking, especially with apples but it never occurred to me to use it in ice cream until I was going through David Lebovitz's book, The Perfect Scoop. It suddenly hit me that cinnamon ice cream would be the absolute perfect accompaniment to apple pie.  It was a match made in heaven. This ice cream has a silky, creamy texture and a cinnamon flavor that is so deep and complex that we all went, "wow", after the first bite. It is almost like the luxurious taste and feel of homemade rice pudding without the rice. I made this for Thanksgiving to pair with the mini apple pies and it was definitely a successful flavor combination. I had some leftover and would take just a spoonful a night until it was gone. I wanted to savor it for as long as possible.

Cinnamon Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Ten 3-inch cinnamon sticks, broken up
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks

Directions
Warm the milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks and 1 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan. Once warm, cover, remove the the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Rewarm the cinnamon-infused milk mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon and discard them. Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thicken and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.