I love cooking with my family. Lately I’ve had a chance to whip up a meal or two with my brother Ed, and I look forward to our annual Christmas Culinary Duet, which we spent the better part of the morning planning. This past Saturday night, Steve, Will and I had an amazing dinner. It brought back fond memories of Will’s high school years when he and I would cook Sunday Dinner, with Steve standing in the wings waiting to clean up our mess.
And a lovely mess we make. But if you ask Steve, he’ll tell you that it is worth it.
Saturday night's meal was particularly fun because Will made one of my signature dishes, Lemon Asparagus Risotto, to accompany a simple yet delicious preparation of seared sea scallops.
Risotto is a Barnett staple we serve at special dinners but is also a “go to” meal that often rescues us from take-out when we don’t think we have anything in the house for dinner. But that’s another blog…I have to say that it made both Steve and me very happy to see our son working so well on this dish. And it made us even happier when we tasted it. The kid knows how to cook!
(photo - about half way through the cooking process, add the asparagus)
Seared Scallops
Ingredients
- 2 – 3 Dry Diver Scallops per person
- 2 – 3 Tbs light oil (peanut, canola, etc.)
- 2 large cloves of garlic, smashed
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- About 30 minutes before cooking, bring the scallops to come to room temperature.
- There should not be any moisture on the scallops, but if there is, blot it off with a paper towel so you get a nice sear. Season the scallops with salt and pepper.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with the oil – do not use a non-stick pan
- Add the smashed garlic cloves and heat on low until slightly browned. Take your time. Patience will pay off with yummy garlic oil.
- When the garlic is nice and brown - but not burnt - you can remove it from the pan and throw it away (or give it to someone you love to spread on a cracker or bit of crusty bread)
- Raise the heat to medium high.
- When the oil is good and hot, carefully add the the scallops one by one and sear for 3 – 4 minutes. Don't crowd them. Don’t mess with them. Let the heat do its magic. When the scallops are a light caramel color, turn them and cook the other side another 3 – 4 minutes.
- Remove and serve with lemon asparagus risotto.
Broth:
Ingredients
- 5 cups chicken stock (Be sure to use stock and not broth)
- 1-inch strip lemon peel
- 1 clove garlic smashed
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp dried thyme
Risotto:
Ingredients
- ½ dry white wine (can substitute more stock in necessary)
- 3 Tbs Butter
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- ½ cup onion, minced
- 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
- 10 thin or 8 thick spears of asparagus, cut into ½ inch pieces
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbs lemon zest
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated on micro-plane
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Additional Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper for garnish.
Method
Prepare the chicken stock:
- In a medium saucepan combine the chicken stock, garlic, lemon peel, sage and thyme. Heat over medium heat until just boiling and then decrease heat to Low.
- Over medium heat in a large sauce pan melt 2 T of the butter and all of the olive oil
- Sauté onion until translucent
- Add rice and stir until coated
- Add wine and stir until absorbed
- Add hot chicken stock mixture in ½ cup increments, stirring until absorbed and then adding more; it is ready to add more when a spoon dragged thru the mixture creates a “canyon.”
- After about 10 minutes add the asparagus and continue adding broth as above
- After about 10 more minutes the rice will be tender, but still firm or “al dente.” (taste a few grains to check) At this point, add the rest of the stock and stir until it has almost absorbed it all.
- Now, add the remaining Tbs of butter, cheese and lemon zest.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle with additional black pepper and Parmesan cheese.
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