Pan-Seared Scallops with Bacon and Spinach

This recipe is yummy and fancy and pretty darn quick and easy!  It's from Cooking Light May 2010 and I love serving it with crusty bread and wine as they suggest.

Pan-Seared Scallops with Bacon & Spinach

3 center-cut bacon slices
1 1/2 lbs. jumbo sea scallops (about 12)
salt & pepper [They measure; I don't & sometimes skip it.]
1 c. chopped onions
6 garlic cloves, sliced
12 oz. fresh baby spinach
4 lemon wedges (optional) [recommended!]

1.  Cook bacon in a large cast-iron [or heavy-bottomed, like All-Clad] skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. [I sometimes cut it up raw since it needs to be crumbled later anyway.]  Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 Tbl. [or more!] drippings in pan; coarsely chop and set bacon aside.  Increase heat to high.

2.  Pat scallops dry with paper towels.  Sprinkle scallops evenly with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.  Add scallops to drippings in pan; cook 2 1/2 min on each side or until done.  Transfer to a plate; keep warm.  Reduce heat to medium-high.  Add onion and garlic to pan; saute 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add half of spinach; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/8 tsp salt and remaining 1/8 tsp pepper.  Divide spinach mixture among 4 plates; top each serving evenly with crumbled bacon & 3 scallops.  Serve immediately with lemon wedges, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 scallops & 3/4 c. spinach mixture.) Calories 323; Fat 6.5 g (sat 1.9g; mono 2.3g, poly 0.6g); Protein 45.3g; Carb 22.7g; Fiber 5g; Chol 106mg; Iron 6.8mg; Sodium 885mg; Calc 141mg

Italian-Style Monchong Fish

I've got a favorite guy at my local Festival Foods.  He used to be at the deli counter, but got a promotion to the meats/fish counter (maybe even asst manger?).  Anyway, I trust him.  He's recommended enough stuff to me that I like that I'm willing to take a risk on him.  (Except the pumpkin pie bread pudding, but that's a texture thing for me.)  He says it's good; I'll give it a try. Not that it's all one-sided - I've given him both the Chicken Saltimboca recipe (for which he said his wife both thanked and cursed me :) ) and the rib/beer can chicken rub. 

So, when I was in this week, I asked him if he had any new good recipes for me.  Here's what he gave me... along w 12 oz. of monchong when I said I wanted to give it a go.  You guys - it's SO good!  Penguin was all, it's ok, but not my favorite, but the other 3 of us were NOMNOMNOM! My guy gave me our approximately 12 oz as one slab, but I chopped into 4 pieces without issue.

Monchong Italian-Style
http://mantestedrecipes.com/recipe/1435/monchong-italian-style.aspx

Recipe by: DefenseEngineer

Monchong, which is generally sold pre-cut into thinnish fillets, lends itself to quick cooking, pan-frying in less than 5 minutes. The flesh remains moist and has a mild flavor acceptable even to those who don't love fish.

  Ready in 20 mins

Ingredients

Serves: 4

• 4 (3-ounce) fillets Monchong
• Flour, salt and pepper for dredging fish
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons capers (optional)- my vote - NECESSARY! Yay for saltiness!
• 8 cherry tomatoes, sliced lengthwise - we had oven-dried, frozen-in-oil cherry tomatoes & they were yum in this, but in the summer I would try fresh.
• 1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil - I had a bit of leftover fresh basil from Mr. Kluges's supper last Sunday, augmented by some frozen-in-oil from our garden last year.
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (Have I mentioned our fav balsamic/oil place lately?)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (Because THEY ARE AWESOME!)

Preparation method

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 10 mins

1. Wipe Monchong fillets with paper towel and dust each fillet lightly with flour that has been well-flavored with salt and pepper.[I rinsed my fillet well in cold water first, then patted it dry because I'm paranoid about fishy-flavor.]

2. In a bowl, toss together capers, tomatoes, parsley, basil, garlic, vinegar and olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper or additional balsamic vinegar if needed. Set aside.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in frying pan over high heat; add Monchong fillets, allowing even space around them. Fry fillets until golden-brown.

4.Turn and sauté until golden-brown.

5.Place fillets on plates and dress each with one-quarter of the vinaigrette.

6.Serve immediately.

Fettuccine with Garlic Scallops

Mr. Kluges made us this for supper the day we had the giant radiator puddle, and it was really good. I'm just typing it the way the recipe is written, since I didn't make it myself, but I liked it and I'm not, in general, a fan of seafood. It comes from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook called Low Fat Bold Flavors.

1 lb. fresh or frozen scallops (We used frozen.)
6 dried tomato halves (not oil-packed) (We used oven-dried cherry tomatoes from our garden that were frozen with some oil. I think they say not oil-packed since it's a "low-fat" cookbook.)
1/3 c. boiling water
2 tsp. cooking oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
2 Tbl. lemon juice
2 tsp. cornstarch
4 green onions, sliced
2 Tbl. snipped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
3 c. hot cooked spinach and/or plain fettucine
lemon wedges (optional)

1. Thaw scallops, if frozen. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl combine dried tomatoes and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid. Cut tomatoes into thin bite-size strips. Set aside.

2. Pour oil into a large nonstick skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Add mushrooms; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add scallops and tomatoes; stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until scallops are opaque.

3. Combine lemon juice and cornstarch. Add to skillet along with reserved tomato liquid, green onions, parsley, and lemon peel. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.

4. Serve the scallop mixture over hot pasta. If desired, garnish with lemon wedges. Makes 4 servings.


Total Fat: 4 g. Daily Value Fat: 6% Saturated Fat: 0g; Daily Value Saturated Fat: 0%
Per Serving: Calories: 263; Total Fat 4g; Saturated Fat 0g; Cholesterol 34 mg; Sodium 281 mg; Carbohydrate 36 g; Fiber 2g; Protein 21g
Exchanges: 2 Starch, 2 Lean Meat, 1 Vegetable

Crisp-Fried Vegetables (or Fish) with Hot & Sweet Dipping Sauce aka Vegetable Tempura

Mr. Kluges requested this recipe the other day, and then proceeded to be the chef that night. He even asked for fresh fish to do with it, and put it in the batter & cooked it in the oil after he was done with the vegetables and it was DELICIOUS! And I don't tend to like fish.

So if you're craving some yummy veggies, these are it. I'm totally going to have to remember this recipe for those times when we end up with a lot of small amounts of assorted vegetables from the CSA... This could also be a good appetizer, but you've got to let them cool enough you don't burn yourself, but still have them nice and hot. But if you're having one of those get-togethers where everybody is in the kitchen anyway, they can just eat them as they come out of the pan and cool a tish!

Crisp-Fried Vegetables (Or Fish)
with Hot & Sweet Dipping Sauce
(aka Vegetable Tempura)

From Classic Vegetarian Recipes.
Serves 4.

vegetable oil, for deep-frying
500 g / 1 lb. 2 oz. selection of vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli (yum), mushrooms (my fav!), courgettes (zucchini), bell peppers, and baby sweetcorn cobs, cut into even sized pieces. [Green beans and onions are also yummy.]

Batter:
125 g / 4.5 oz / 1 c. plain (all-purpose) flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. caster (superfine, but reg is ok) sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3 Tbl. vegetable oil
200 ml / 7 fl. oz. / scant 1 c. warm water

Sauce: [Also good on plain brown rice]
6 Tbl. light malt vinegar
2 Tbl. Thai fish sauce or light soy sauce
2 Tbl. water
1 Tbl. soft brown sugar
salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp. grated ginger root
2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped finely [we skip]
2 Tbl. chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

1. To make the batter, sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the oil and most of the water. Whisk together to make a smooth batter, adding extra water to give it the consistency of single (light) cream. Chill for 20-30 min.

2. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the vinegar, fish sauce or soy sauce, water, sugar and a pinch of salt until boiling. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

3. Mix together the garlic, ginger, chillies and coriander (cilantro) in a small serving bowl. Add the cooled vinegar mixture and stir together.

4. Heat the vegetable oil for deep-frying in a wok or deep-fryer. [We use a dutch oven or large skillet.] Dip the prepared vegetable in the batter and fry them, a few at a time, until crisp and golden - about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

5. Serve the vegetables accompanied by the dipping sauce.

Fish/seafood resource

There's a lot of debate about whether fish is good for you or toxic, whether eating fish is sustainable or not ecologically, whether you should look for farmed or wild-caught, which fish to avoid. So wow do I love this website: http://www.oceansalive.org

It lists most commercially available fish and seafood options and rates them on a best/okay/worst scale for your health and the health of the environment and fish populations. It breaks down how many servings a month of what type of fish are suitable for women/men/older kids/younger kids. There's a list to help you substitute eco-sustainable fish when your recipe calls for one that's not sustainable. There's even a recipe section, though I haven't tried any of them yet.

Peppered Tuna Skewers

Okay, tuna probably isn't the best choice for a fish/seafood newbie since it's not exactly subtle. But I have this recipe on hand, so this is the one you get first. It's from epicurious.com. I've served it as an appetizer for weekly dinner a couple times. It comes together really quickly and it's always gone over very well.

Peppered Tuna Skewers with Wasabi Mayo

2 Tablespoons wasabi powder
1-1/2 Tablespoons water
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 lb. tuna steak
2-1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Fresh ground black pepper

Pickled ginger

Combine wasabi and water to make a paste. Add mayo and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. It takes this long for the wasabi flavor to come through — an early taste-test will not give you an accurate idea of the flavor. Marinate tuna in soy sauce for the same 30 minutes. While that part is sitting, thread pickled ginger onto short skewers (I just use heavy-duty toothpicks). The original recipe suggests serving on a bed of watercress for pretty.

After the 30 minutes are up, drain the soy sauce from the tuna and pat the tuna dry with a paper towel. Add pepper to tuna. Heat vegetable oil over a medium-high flame until shimmery, and quickly sear tuna (about 2 minutes on each side for a good, 1-2" thick tuna steak — you want it to be rare in the center). Remove from heat, carefully cut into 3/4" cubes (the tuna will want to flake into its own shape, particularly the parts that are the most cooked) and add to ginger skewers.

Serve with wasabi mayo dipping sauce.

Note: You will have lots of extra sauce. I've used it up as another fish dish. Take filets of whatever fish you like and place them in an oiled baking pan. Spread wasabi mayo over the top in a thin layer, then sprinkle seasoned bread crumbs/panko/crackers/whatever over that. Bake. (I refer to Joy for baking time/temp for whatever type of fish I'm using. If it's a thinner, lighter filet, you may need to switch it over to broil for the last couple minutes to get the top nice and crunchy.)

Recipe Request - Fish & Seafood

I have never really liked fish. Growing up, I could tolerate fish sticks or a fish sandwich if there was so much tartar sauce on it that you couldn't taste it.

But so many seafood recipes look and sound good, if I could get past the fish. And I always taste Mr. Kluges' seafood if he has some at a restaurant. And we've been served seafood dishes occasionally by friends and relatives. And sometimes it's delicious! Like when he had some Chilean sea bass at the Oceanaire once... or the absolutely, positively fresh cod we ate in Iceland on a day expedition that included riding Icelandic ponies... or in Paris where we had The. Most. Incredible. Meal. Ever. at a little place called La Casa di Sergio with stuff like mussels in pasta and it was all just *swoon*.

Ok, maybe I just need to travel to enjoy seafood.


But since that's not so much an option at the moment, I've been trying to stretch my taste buds a bit. And I've found a recipe or two (ok, actually, 2) that are fine.

But I'd like to be cooking a bit more fish and seafood for menu variety, for the Omega-3s and health benefits, and to help my girls learn to like fish. (Pumpkin seems to enjoy it already.)

So if you've got a yummy fish or seafood recipe, would you mind sharing it? Or any tips or hints about cooking fish? Because my experience with it is quite minimal.

Thank you!!!

Salmon Ball

This one comes from The South Beach Diet Cookbook. Yummy! Serve with veggies for dipping, or really, whatever sounds good with smoked salmon.

2 cups canned salmon, drained, flaked, and skin and bones removed
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 cup chopped almonds
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

In a large bowl, combine the salmon, cream cheese, onion, lemon juice, horseradish, salt, and liquid smoke; mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until firm enough to form into a ball.
In a small bowl, combine the almonds and parsley. Shape the salmon mixture into a ball. Roll in the almond mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until chilled.