When I made Ina Garten's Potato Basil Puree, I decided to add broiled tomatoes as an extra bonus. I often forget how delicious tomatoes can be, when they are filled with bread crumbs, seasoned with fresh herbs and garlic oil. They're also really easy to make. I've tried a few recipes, but this is my favorite version:
I'm such a fan of panko crumbs. I love that special "crunch" that I don't get with regular bread crumbs. I add fresh thyme, a little bit of Parmesan cheese. In a separate pot, I heat a little bit of olive oil and butter, and then some minced fresh garlic. On very low heat, I allow the garlic to infuse the oil.
I use Roma tomatoes, sliced lengthwise; seeds and pulp are removed.
Season with salt and pepper...
Slowly, drizzle the garlic-herb oil/butter mixture into the panko crumbs, and combine with a fork.
Fill each tomato...then bake at 350F for 7-8 minutes.
Place a small pat of unsalted butter, and broil for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.
VERDICT: I'll let my son be the judge. You see, he's always hated tomatoes... ever since he was a little kid. Brian looked at his dinner plate, and poked at the tomato suspiciously. He took a bite-- he tasted that wonderful garlic and herb combination, and that buttery crunch of the panko crumbs. His eyes grew big, and he liked it! It took 23 years for me to see the day that he ate a tomato. Now, that's a compliment. The tomato complimented the delicious Basil Potato Puree, perfectly. As Ina would say, "How Easy Is That"?
A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted that I was having the ho-hums in the kitchen. I just couldn't muster up any kind of enthusiasm with cooking. That happens to me, every so often. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Last weekend, I sat outside to enjoy a sunny afternoon in our backyard. I dug out a few of my Tyler Florence and Ina Garten cookbooks and began to revisit them. The dry spell of cooking inspiration was broken!
I had invited my husband for dinner at Chez Debby's, that Saturday night. (This is my way of saying I would be cooking at home, for Date Night, and he'd be doing all of the cleanup). Truthfully, I am very lucky that my husband does most of the kitchen cleanup on a regular basis. Chez Debby's is affordable cooking, but I try to kick things up a few notches so that it looks like restaurant quality. Ina Garten to the rescue:
Whenever Whole Foods has their special sales, I stock up-- especially when it's Sea Scallops on sale for half price! My favorite way to prepare scallops has been to quickly sear them. This time, I wanted to try something different and Ina's Scallops Gratin sounded perfect.
I had frozen the scallops. My "quick thaw" method never involves the microwave. Instead, I rinse them with warm water to separate them, and then soak them. In about 15 minutes, or longer, they are good to go.
Pat them very dry, and remove the muscle (the "feet") that it sometimes hanging on to the side.
These are a decent size, and the price was just right.
I made a couple of tweaks to Ina's recipe. I chose not to use Prosciutto di Parma because I didn't have any. I also decided to add fresh tarragon (which is growing out of control in our garden). I love tarragon. Ina also lists Pernod, but I don't have that on hand. I wasn't going to invest in a bottle, just for this recipe.
Tarragon and seafood are meant for one another. I love the really mild notes of licorice.
This is a very easy recipe to make, actually. I'm going to make delicious garlic-butter topping, and then I'm going to fold in Panko crumbs. Here's how:
To make the topping, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer).With the mixer on low speed, add the garlic, shallot, tarragon, prosciutto*,
...parsley*, lemon juice, Pernod*, salt, and pepper and mix until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the olive oil slowly as though making mayonnaise, until combined.
*I didn't use these ingredients.
Fold the panko in with a rubber spatula and set aside.
NOTE: Don't use bread crumbs! Panko crumbs are much easier to find, nowadays. Check the international aisle of your supermarket. Panko gives a beautiful crunch to this recipe, and the crumbs would become soggy.
Preheat the broiler, if it’s separate from your oven. Place 1 tablespoon of the wine in the bottom of each gratin dish.
Distribute the scallops among the 3* dishes.(NOTE: I scaled this recipe for two.)
Spoon the garlic butter evenly over the top of the scallops.
Nice!
Since the oven was already preheated, I decided to roast fresh asparagus with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. I like to use my cast-iron skillet for ease.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the topping is golden and sizzling and the scallops are barely done. If you want the top crustier, place the dishes under the broiler (which I did) for 2 minutes, until browned.
Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley and serve immediately with crusty French bread (which I didn't have, but I wish I had...the sauce is amazing!)
For those of you who watch "The Barefoot Contessa", you've seen many episodes where Jeffrey walks into the kitchen to see what's cooking. Craig is my Jeffrey, and this meal was prepared with a lot of love. The table was set, soft music going and just the two of us, and two glasses of chilled white wine. Best of all, this really came together in about 45 minutes.
VERDICT: I loved this dish. The scallops were tender, and not overcooked. How can you go wrong with wine, butter and garlic? I'm glad that I added tarragon, because it's one of my favorite herbs. I didn't miss adding the Prosciutto at all. As for my Jeffrey Craig, he really loved this dish. He said it looked and tasted just like a fancy restaurant. For me, that's an ultimate compliment. This recipe, in fact, reminds me a lot of Ina's Baked Shrimp Scampi that I made quite a while ago. The panko topping is really good, and I would make this for shrimp or any kind of baked fish. It's one of my favorite recipes I've made in quite a while.
A printable recipe is at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!
A few weeks ago, I caught this current episode on America's Test Kitchen, and so I bookmarked the recipe. Fast forward to last week, when I had come home from work and my sister-in-law was cooling off from the Missouri heat visiting us in California. My husband wasn't going to be home for dinner, and the two of us preferred to stay home. Bingo! I have lots of fresh basil and zucchini in our backyard. I had just purchased a refrigerator staple of fresh mozzarella. I tend to hoard pasta, and while I didn't have ziti pasta, I had a bag of rigatoni. Close enough!
I try to keep at least one can, each, of tomato products in my pantry. Fortunately, I had crushed tomato. The rest of the ingredients are six cloves of garlic, red pepper flakes, water, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
I decided to add one zucchini (from our garden) to this recipe, for a little extra crunch and to "healthify" it a little more.
America's Test Kitchen used the kind of grated mozzarella that comes wrapped in plastic. I rarely buy that, preferring fresh mozzarella. Either way works fine, I am sure.
I simply sliced the mozzarella thin (like 1/2")
The sauce is very easy to make, by sauteing the garlic and red pepper flakes in some olive oil. Then you add a can of crushed tomatoes.
Next, you add water, salt and the pasta and cover it. The pasta is cooked until it's tender-- about 15 to 18 minutes. Preheat the oven to 475F.
While the pasta was cooking, I quickly sauteed the zucchini in a little olive oil and lightly seasoned them with salt & pepper. Then, when the pasta was tender, I added the zucchini. One pan cooking-- how easy is that?!
Last, stir in the heavy cream, Parmesan and fresh basil...
Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over ziti. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cheese has melted and browned, about 10 minutes. NOTE: Because I used fresh mozzarella, the cheese melted but it didn't brown.
Total prep and cooking time took about 30 minutes. While the pasta cooked, I had time to clean my mess, and that is such a help on a work night.
VERDICT: The sauce was delicious. I liked the garlic flavor, which was definitely present but not overpowering. The red pepper flakes were very subtle, and it added a little bit of heat. The heavy cream turned the sauce a light pink color, and toned down the tomato flavor. I liked it. Of course, I had to add more fresh basil. My only criticism, is that I thought the sauce was a little runny for my liking. I'm not sure what the fix would be. I'd be hesitant to reduce the water, as the pasta has to cook in the sauce and it does absorb a lot of the liquid. I'm glad I added the zucchini, as it added some texture. The next time I make this, I might consider adding cooked Italian sausage (maybe even turkey sausage) and/or mushrooms.
Overall, it's a simple pasta dish that rates "very easy".
A printable recipe card can be found at the end of this post.
What I have truly come to appreciate about having a food blog is challenging myself to learn cooking techniques that have forever altered my previous food path of buying boxed mixes and frozen prepared foods. Amen. With that said, I have developed some food shopping compulsions habits that can make my grocery bill sky-rocket faster than the price of gasoline. Seriously. I have an array of exotic condiments and baking doo-dads that I bought, with a specific mission in mind. Then, my recipe attention deficit disorder kicks in, and I make something entirely different. (I'moutofbreathfromthatreallylongandrunonsentence!)
Therefore, my garage freezer and pantry runneth over. This is when I step into my home "Iron Chef Mode". Instead of relying on an ingredients list for a new recipe, I'm doing the reverse. Based on what I have on hand, determines what's next on the menu at home. I need to shop at home, first, because I don't want to become a food hoarder! I spotted this recipe on "Quinces and the Pea", and I loved the color of the risotto. Making a mental grocery list, I realized I had everything to make this. I had a few asparagus spears in my fridge.
I had a box of unopened Carnaroli rice, and a few opened bottles of white wine in the fridge. Somewhere in the freezer, I recalled seeing a few large shrimp (is that an oxymoron?). My cheese drawer is chock full of Fontina, Gouda, Parmesan, Romano, Feta (I have a serious affinity for cheeses). The last time I actually made a Risotto was Ina Garten's Spring Risotto (August 2009), so it was time to make this delicious Italian comfort food.
Risotto isn't a difficult dish to make. Sure, you have to add small amounts of chicken stock, and you need to do a bit of stirring. On the other hand, it doesn't mean you can't do a little prep work in the kitchen at the same time. I've added some saffron to the broth and white wine, for some color.
I made a few changes from the "Quince's" recipe and I decided to quickly saute' the asparagus (rather than steam them) with a little olive oil and unsalted butter. I also sauteed shallots (instead of green onion) with some fresh garlic, before adding the rice.
As the liquid reduces, I add an additional ladle of chicken broth, and make sure to stir often.
Risotto should be cooked until it's al dente (firm when bitten). The end result that I prefer is a creamy risotto, but I honestly don't want it to be too "soupy". The asparagus is al dente as well, so it's time to cook the shrimp-- I've done a quick marinade of the shrimp with a splash of white wine, finely minced garlic, a squeeze of lemon juice and some olive oil.
These shrimp (tails removed) are quickly cooked for about 2 minutes per side...
We want them pink and no longer opaque. Remove from heat.
The rice is perfectly cooked, I season it with a little more coarse salt. The pan is removed from the heat, and I add a fistful of freshly grated Parmesan, about 2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, the asparagus and a handful of frozen peas (unthawed). I gave the risotto a final stir.
Now, add the cooked shrimp...
Carnaroli rice makes such a creamy risotto! But this needs more freshly grated cheese, and a little lemon zest...
All that's needed is a glass of chilled white wine and for a hungry husband to join me at the dinner table.
TASTING NOTES: You can cook the risotto a minute or two less, if you prefer more of a runny sauce. It's all preference. I loved the creamy, thickness of the rice, which was perfectly cooked. The color of the saffron was really nice, but you could use a pinch of tumeric if you don't have saffron on hand. The shrimp rounded out this light comfort food meal, and a crisp white wine balanced the citrus and the saltiness of the Parmesan.
If you've always thought making risotto is too hard, or too much work, I can assure you that it took about 25 minutes for this dinner to be on the table. It took about 15 seconds for my husband to be at the table, and an immeasurable amount of time to enjoy each others company for a cozy dinner at home-- and definitely a lot more economical than at a restaurant.
