Memorial Day - a holiday perhaps traditionally celebrated with burgers or fried chicken, complimented with coleslaw and potato salad. When I was contemplating what to make for this wonderful holiday - a much anticipated day-off - only one ingredient came into mind as a MUST - that ingredient: CORN.
I then recalled coming across a recipe for scallops that incorporated corn. Obviously this is not what I ended using as my base recipe, but it brought forth the inspiration for my - perhaps not so traditional - Memorial Day meal.
I was a bit disappointed when we stopped by our meat market only to find that they were out of sea scallops! However, they did have sushi-grade bay scallops that the man behind the counter said tasted better than the sea scallops. Not wanting to try another store, we went ahead and purchased some of the bay scallops and hoped for the best!!
Our adapted recipe:
Scallops with Tomatillo Guacamole and Roasted Corn Salsa
Ingredients:
3/4 lb bay scallops (we used sushi-grade)
cumin
olive oil
salt
For the Tomatillo Guacamole:
1 avocado, halved and pitted
1/2 pound tomatillos, husked and coarsely chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1 small shallot, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeño, roasted, seeded and coarsely chopped (I would use 1/2 jalapeno next time)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
For the Corn Salsa:
2 ears corn, shucked
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium yellow pepper, roasted slightly, roughly diced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
Combine all ingredients for the guacamole in a food processor or blender and pulse until mixture is combined, but still fairly coarse. Set aside.
For the corn, par boil the cobs in boiling, salted water for about 5 minutes. Remove from the water and place on a grill or gas flame to roast (about 4 minutes, moving the corn around so that it chars evenly). Once cooled, in the center of a large bowl, take one cob at a time, stand it upright and shave the kernels off with your knife.
Meanwhile, spray the tomato halves with EVOO and sprinkly with salt. Roast the tomato halves in an oven heated to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Toss together with the remaining ingredients for the salsa, and set aside.
Gently pat the scallops down with a towel until very dry, and season both sides well with cumin and salt on a large side plate.
Lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and set over high heat. When the pan is smoking hot, add the scallops, making sure not to crowd the pan. Allow the first side of the scallops to sear without moving them, then flip to get the other side. If using bay scallops, you only need about 1 minute cooking time TOTAL.
Serve the scallops on top of the roasted corn salsa with a generous dollop of tomatillo guacamole.
I have to say that I was very proud of Derek for OK-ing the use of scallops in our dish. He is still a little weary to eat them even though he tested negative for scallop allergies. This is my slow conversion process for him to love scallops as much as I do and he seemed to enjoy the dish - success. I personally would have been slightly happier with the jumbo (or regular) sea scallops. The bay scallops had amazing flavor but it was harder to get a good sear on them. That's what I love so often about a nice big tender sea scallop - the perfect "crust" encasing a nearly raw inside that is so tender it parallels butter - and with each bite you close your eyes and savor the incredible sweet and delicious flavor. Ahhh..
For what it was, however, this dish was excellent. The roasting was completely our addition to the recipe as we find that it adds a wonderful flavor. A roasted cherry tomato take on a completely different form from its raw twin. The corn adds a touch of complexity beyond the raw, sweet deliciousness that it is.
My most significant change to this recipe would be to cut down on the jalapeno for the tomatillo guacamole. Alone, the guacamole was killer and would go so well on a taco or as a dip. With scallops, however, it was a little overpowering as the spice clouded over the subtle scallop flavor. I prefer the scallops to shine, and with the spiciness, it's difficult.
In all - it's a wonderful recipe with the ingredients that are in season now - perfectly light and tasty. Also a multi-use recipe as the salsa or guacamole could be used in a variety of settings.
Happy Memorial Day to me.
I then recalled coming across a recipe for scallops that incorporated corn. Obviously this is not what I ended using as my base recipe, but it brought forth the inspiration for my - perhaps not so traditional - Memorial Day meal.
I was a bit disappointed when we stopped by our meat market only to find that they were out of sea scallops! However, they did have sushi-grade bay scallops that the man behind the counter said tasted better than the sea scallops. Not wanting to try another store, we went ahead and purchased some of the bay scallops and hoped for the best!!
Our adapted recipe:
Scallops with Tomatillo Guacamole and Roasted Corn Salsa
Ingredients:
3/4 lb bay scallops (we used sushi-grade)
cumin
olive oil
salt
For the Tomatillo Guacamole:
1 avocado, halved and pitted
1/2 pound tomatillos, husked and coarsely chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1 small shallot, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeño, roasted, seeded and coarsely chopped (I would use 1/2 jalapeno next time)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
For the Corn Salsa:
2 ears corn, shucked
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium yellow pepper, roasted slightly, roughly diced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
Combine all ingredients for the guacamole in a food processor or blender and pulse until mixture is combined, but still fairly coarse. Set aside.
For the corn, par boil the cobs in boiling, salted water for about 5 minutes. Remove from the water and place on a grill or gas flame to roast (about 4 minutes, moving the corn around so that it chars evenly). Once cooled, in the center of a large bowl, take one cob at a time, stand it upright and shave the kernels off with your knife.
Meanwhile, spray the tomato halves with EVOO and sprinkly with salt. Roast the tomato halves in an oven heated to 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Toss together with the remaining ingredients for the salsa, and set aside.
Gently pat the scallops down with a towel until very dry, and season both sides well with cumin and salt on a large side plate.
Lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and set over high heat. When the pan is smoking hot, add the scallops, making sure not to crowd the pan. Allow the first side of the scallops to sear without moving them, then flip to get the other side. If using bay scallops, you only need about 1 minute cooking time TOTAL.
Serve the scallops on top of the roasted corn salsa with a generous dollop of tomatillo guacamole.
I have to say that I was very proud of Derek for OK-ing the use of scallops in our dish. He is still a little weary to eat them even though he tested negative for scallop allergies. This is my slow conversion process for him to love scallops as much as I do and he seemed to enjoy the dish - success. I personally would have been slightly happier with the jumbo (or regular) sea scallops. The bay scallops had amazing flavor but it was harder to get a good sear on them. That's what I love so often about a nice big tender sea scallop - the perfect "crust" encasing a nearly raw inside that is so tender it parallels butter - and with each bite you close your eyes and savor the incredible sweet and delicious flavor. Ahhh..
For what it was, however, this dish was excellent. The roasting was completely our addition to the recipe as we find that it adds a wonderful flavor. A roasted cherry tomato take on a completely different form from its raw twin. The corn adds a touch of complexity beyond the raw, sweet deliciousness that it is.
My most significant change to this recipe would be to cut down on the jalapeno for the tomatillo guacamole. Alone, the guacamole was killer and would go so well on a taco or as a dip. With scallops, however, it was a little overpowering as the spice clouded over the subtle scallop flavor. I prefer the scallops to shine, and with the spiciness, it's difficult.
In all - it's a wonderful recipe with the ingredients that are in season now - perfectly light and tasty. Also a multi-use recipe as the salsa or guacamole could be used in a variety of settings.
Happy Memorial Day to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment