You Say Scallops, I Say Scallops...

Let’s call the whole thing awesome!

Depending on where you came from, scallops are pronounced either scaw-llops (like scald) or ska-llops (scaffolding). I tend to go for the latter, but I think much of my Down East brethren opt for the former.

It hardly matters, we’re heading to Italy anyway. I think you’ll love this Venetian scallop dish courtesy of the wonderful Polpo cookbook. In Venice the pilgrim scallops are smaller, as author Russell Norman tells us, so if you’re working with larger diver-caught scallops, just slice them in half horizontally. 

Fresh peas are recommended, but I found frozen works just fine. Once the ingredients are prepared, this dish all goes rather quickly, and arrives so beautifully at the table.  

How do you say...buon mangiare!

Braised Scallops, Pancetta & Peas
Adapted from Polpo by Russell Norman
Ingredients
8 rashers of thinly sliced pancetta
2 tablespoons
Extra-virgin olive oil
16 spring onions
500 g (use 1 pound) peas – fresh if you can, frozen if not
2 heads of baby gem lettuce, cut into bite sized pieces
50 g (half a stick) unsalted butter
12 small scallops (or six sliced in half horizontally if very large)
Crusty bread, to serve

Method
Cut the pancetta into 2 cm (roughly one inch) strips. Fry in a large pan with the olive oil until brown. Cut the spring onions into 5 cm (about 2 inches) pieces and add to the pan. When they have wilted slightly add all the peas and enough water to cover. Simmer for three minutes for frozen peas and 5–6 minutes for fresh peas.

Add the chopped baby gem lettuce and the butter and continue to simmer gently. After 1 minute at the scallops and simmer for 1more minute. Take off the heat and serve almost as a broth in shallow bowls.

Have some good crusty bread in the middle of the table to mop up the juices.

Tonight's Menu - Seared Sea Scallops with Buerre Blanc

Saveur has enthralled me yet again with their last two issues. I was duly moved to make seared scallops in a buerre blanc sauce with finger limes from the November issue--but after a little research, there aren't any such limes in the city and ordering them would have set me back $200 for six pints (I only needed four limes) plus $50 shipping to send them here from L.A. Taking a cue from the restaurant Crispo in our relative neighborhood and how they remarkably pair fresh grapefruit with skate, I sought out pink grapefruit. I supremed one palish orb and enveloped the richly pink interior in the buerre blanc sauce while plucking out the little pearls of another for garnish with the scallops. Divine!

As tarragon was part of the sauce, I wanted something similarly resonant to serve alongside and voila, popovers with chopped rosemary emerged from the December pages of Saveur. I didn't have time to seek out goose fat or render my own as the recipe suggests, so I used bacon fat that we already had in the fridge. These I made early and just before it was time to eat, I popped them back into the oven to warm up. Here's how they started out:

I was so engaged with the evening I never had the chance to take more pictures but the menu is below of course and the recipes are linked below just the same where applicable. Thyme, by the way, completed the herbal threaded trinity of this meal when lacing our lemon sorbet. Do enjoy!

Tonight's Menu
Rosemary Popovers
Brussels Sprouts with Pearl Onions & Herb Butter (microwavable, courtesy of Fresh Direct) with Fire-Roasted Tomatoes and Chopped Prosciutto
Scallops with Grapefruit and Buerre Blanc
Lemon Sorbet (courtesy of Sharon's) with Thyme