Anniversary Scallops

Earlier this month we celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a dinner and some sparkling wine that Eric's parents dropped off. Eric likes to joke that we ran to Vegas and came home married, but in reality we spent a year planing it, and it was spectacularly fun. Fun was actually the key, we wanted everyone who came to really enjoy themselves something that doesn't always happen at weddings. It was pretty exciting to see everyone who came, about 100 of our closest friends and family on both sides. The Wynn Hotel, where we had the ceremony and reception was really good to us and we had 4 full days of fun. The hotel had a really pretty outdoor venue and the coordinator there was wonderful. The wedding is actually a topic that still comes up at dinner parties and BBQs, so much so that everyone keeps insisting that we get married again, but once was enough for us, unless someone else is paying this time! Even though we're not getting married again, we're still up for celebrating every chance we get! In addition to the dinner here, we're planning on heading out to Nick's on Main in Los Gatos, one of our favorite restaurants in the south bay. We've been waiting to do something with some Sol and Scallops we had in the freezer (and more of Monica's lemons) we managed to put together a very lemon themed dinner, and boy was it good. Try our "Anniversary Scallops" which are scallops and pancetta on a faux hollandaise and let us know what you're celebrating!

Lemon Drop Scallops

Tuesday and Thursday nights are typically Eric's night to cook, which isn't a bad thing its just... time consuming. Lets just say that "multitasking" is not used in his vocabulary next to "I can" or "I'm good at" very often. So when Eric cooks, eating later in the evening (8:30 anyone?) tends to be more common than not. Such was the case last night when he got home all excited to start on a recipe he found, and realized halfway through that we were out of a great many things. This is actually okay as the phrase "lets just wing it" is a very common phrase in the Eric Lexicon. Halfway through, the dish was starting to sound more like a Martini than a dinner so a few of those got added to the meal too. In fact a cold martini is one of Eric's favorite meals.

The recipe here calls for fresh spinach, but sometimes its just not around, so we had to go for frozen. Charisse pulled out one of her little tricks to prepare frozen waterlogged spinach. Start by defrosting the spinach in the microwave (or let it sit out for a while) then put the spinach on a clean dishtowel (one that you don't mind making instantly dirty) and wring the towel out from both sides over the sink. Really twist it good and when your done, your greens are ready to cook with.

We served this one over a bed of cuscus with some sauted garlic and butter broccoli, but it would go equally well with the scallops served over the spinach.

Blackened Scallops Over Light Pasta

It was a dark and stormy Thursday night and our usual chef had had a long day at work, so Eric went for the combo: Head Chef and Photographer. Never doing that again. How anyone in their right mind thinks it’s a good idea to try to sauté mushrooms and onions, prepare a rub, defrost scallops dredge said scallops and operate a camera while making sure the pasta does not get overdone all at the same time is beyond me. It came together right at the end, somehow or another, but not an experience anyone wants again anytime soon. It’s a good thing the dish was worth it. Very much worth it. The scallops were blackened in a pepper mixture and the pasta was drizzled in extra virgin olive oil and butter. Even with all the butter, this was one of the healthiest meals anyone’s ever felt the need to brag about. This is a super easy meal, as long as your not trying to do everything all at once and take pictures.

Chef’s note: the recipe has a lot of pepper in it. I mean a lot a lot. If I did it again, I would probably cut down the Cayenne Pepper a pinch. This was also a total leftovers meal, so a lot of the discrepancies between the original and mine have to do with item availability. That and the fact that I hate the texture of tomatoes. So here’s the Foodies@Home rendition of Blackened Scallops Over Pasta.


Pictures and Recipe after the break