live mahogany clams in tomato basil broth
seared bacon-wrapped scallops with lemon-thyme potatoes and red chard
red bean mochi and coconut pineapple ice cream with a pomegranate thyme glaze
yes, wednesday nite dinners was tough to do on wednesday nites. just too much going on to serve a formal 3 course meal on a weeknite and still feel physically awake the rest of the week. so, i'm going to be doing more sunday nite suppers which give me more time to prepare and to relax and enjoy the meal with friends.
my dear friend holly was in town from la this past weekend and wanted me to cook a meal while she was here. so we took a trip to 99 ranch and safeway to pick up some things for dinner. danna joined us shortly thereafter. and you can bet there were no breaks in the conversation that nite with these 2 girls. =)
so i learned a few things about cooking scallops last time i prepared them.
1) they need to be completely dry before hitting the pan
2) searing on my pan takes longer than i think to get to medium-rare
3) don't use olive oil. it doesn't have a high enough smoking point (the temperature an oil can reach before it smokes and starts breaking down).
4) sear in a non-stick grill pan with little or no vegetable oil
i saw a recipe recently somewhere for pancetta-wrapped scallops with a lemon, bruised thyme and olive oil reduction. i think it might have been a different jamie oliver cookbook. i love scallops and i love bacon, so i wanted to try preparing the combination together. it's nothing new. there are bacon-wrapped scallop creations on many fine-dining menus. but this was a first for me to cook. anyway, i wanted to improve my scallop skills using the lessons learned above. so here we go.
holly, danna and i ate at zushi puzzle the nite before and spent mucho money on a fantastic nigiri meal at chef roger dodger's bar in the marina. it was $80 per person. so while we still wanted seafood for tonite's meal, we just couldn't afford to spend any more money of that proportion. so, in addition to "how to cook bacon-wrapped scallops," this will also be a lesson in "how you can eat gourmet for a fraction of the price at home." =)
a pot of cold salted water goes on the fire along with about 1.5 pounds of small red potatoes that have been scrubbed and sliced in half. bring to a boil and let it go 15 min or so until the potatoes are tender. drain well and toss back into the same pot to "dry out" the potatoes. i then added some high quality evoo (enough to moisten the potatoes well), juice of half a lemon, some chopped thyme, salt, pepper, and smashed it skins and all. no need to "mash" the taters til kfc consistency, this is supposed to be chunky.
while that was going, i sauteed 8 cloves of chopped garlic in a good amount of olive oil in a large stockpot. a half can of crushed red tomatoes went in with a cup of white wine and a cup of water, as well as salt, pepper and some chili flakes. i let that simmer for 15 min until thickened (adapted recipe from dave lieberman's young & hungry cookbook).
somehow during those two activities i found time to prep and saute a large bunch of red chard with chopped onion, garlic and olive oil. the unfortunate thing i dislike about red chard is that its gorgeous red color leaks out and stains everything else in the pan. watch the saute time on this. i overcooked it and stalks got too soggy with everything else i was doing.
in preparing the scallops i did want to get pancetta, but i had a package of bacon in the freezer feeling unwanted, so that was defrosted and i secured a half slice around each scallop with a toothpick.
when these were all prepped and the potatoes and greens were keeping warm in the pan, i threw the 2.5 pounds of live mahagony clams into the pot and clamped down the lid. this was when i invited holly and danna to sit because the clams would only take 5 min or so and you want to eat them asap. once the clams have opened up they're ready.
i tossed them with a big handful of chopped basil and scooped them into bowls with a toasted baguette.
hard shell mahagonies are larger than the popular soft shell manila clams at about 2" across in diameter.
their meat also seems less flavorful than manilas. but overall this dish turned out pretty good. the broth was both spicy and hearty and the bread soaked up all the juicy goodness. it was a little on the salty side though and i think next time i'd use diced tomatoes vs crushed. the broth was a bit overpowering for the delicate clams.
while we were enjoying that, i slipped over to the stove and laid down the scallops on a hot non-stick grill pan, no oil.
i let these run for 3-4 min each side. in a small frying pan, i heated some quality evoo with the juice of half a lemon, some bruised thyme, salt and pepper. this simple sauce glazed the scallops when plated.
now these were some meaty scallops. cutting into it was met with gentle, firm pressure and this time, it was cooked to medium rare, perfect. it tasted sweet against the salty smokiness of the bacon which i must admit was a little overpowering.
the bacon was also on the rubbery side, a result of either being previously frozen or not cooked long enough to crisp. i found out later that you can parcook the bacon until it's tender and the fat is starting to render and then wrap the scallops for the final grilling. this results in crisper bacon and probably a smokier result. i think using pancetta may also have the desired smoky flavor effect without the heaviness and fat of bacon. the olive oil glaze added good lemon flavor, as did the thyme, but i think it was overkill for the delicate scallop.
the lemon thyme smashed potates were amazing however. nicely creamy from quality evoo alone, it had great "green" notes along the with citrusy lemon and thyme. and so easy to make! i'm keeping this one on hand. my chard, however, was overcooked and too mushy. it was also on the well-seasoned side. not a good foil for all the other salty items on the plate. ah well. gotta remember to watch that next time.
so what did we drink to quench our salt-parched throats? a bottle of 2005 estancia pinot noir.
not a bad choice but nothing special either. it was a little off for the scallops; a white would fair better and cut the grease in the dish down.
dessert was an interesting concocction that i whipped up last second. holly had picked out some sweet red bean mochi patties and hagendaaz coconut-pineapple ice cream.
feeling adventurous and wanting to add a little pizazz as is my usual flair, i quickly whisked up some tj's pomegranate glaze with some quality evoo and fresh thyme leaves and drizzled this around the sweets.
ok, as holly and danna will tell you, this didn't work. the pomegranate glaze was simply too tart when combined with the sweet ice cream and mochi. we ultimately pushed aside the sauce and stuck to the sweets. i will say the thyme provides a very interesting counterpoint to the sweetness of the ice cream, having a sharp lemony kick with each tiny leaf. it's something i'll explore again in future desserts.
so how much did this lavish seafood feast cost? let's add it all up...
2.5 lbs live mahagony clams 8.10
can crushed tomatoes 1.79
1 bulb garlic 0.39
1 yellow onion 0.89
1 bunch basil 0.99
2 lemons 0.79
1 lb red potatoes 1.04
1 bunch thyme 2.39
1 bunch red chard 2.49
1 pound sea scallops 7.91
1 baguette 1.59
1 package red bean mochi 2.50
1 pint ice cream 3.00
1 bottle pinot noir 12.99
total cost: $33.25
divided by 3: $11.08 per person for a 3 course seafood meal plus wine. i could easily $45 per person for what we had. that means i could've just pulled a $100 profit. hrmmm....
pretty neat huh? holly and danna, hope you enjoyed this sunday nite supper and thanks for all the laughs and cries. =)
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