Scallops

It's hard to convey with words the excitement of the first couple weeks of the CSA. It's just my second year, but I hope to continue this great relationship with food for as long as I can afford it.

It's a challenge every week to figure out how to use the veggies in as many dishes as I can. One crop we get a lot of right off the bat is green onions. They are a double threat--the bulbs can be basically used like onions or shallots, and the stalks are great in salsas or as a garnish.

So the other day I was at a playground with my little one, and the playground just happens to be near one of two fish markets I frequent. I think shellfish has a reputation as being sort of an expensive luxury, but it's really not. I think the scallops Ihave drying out here ran me about 6 bucks, which is less than I would have spent on a take-out lunch that day.

I also had some cilantro from the CSA, so I figured a little light sear and a little sauce and I would be good to go.

Scallops are not hard at all to cook. The biggest sin is overcooking them. That probably goes for most meat--you only want to cook meat to the absolute minimum it takes for it to achieve doneness. That might be hours for a big pork butt, or just a minute or two per side for a tuna steak. Cook food until it is done. That's easy enough, right?

Here's how I cook scallops. After they dry out (and after I further trim off the little connective muscle remnants) I roll them with a little kosher salt and cracked black pepper. I get a small iron skillet really hot (medium-high, or between teh 5 and 6 on the oven dial), and add a little butter and olive oil. The scallops go right in, and catch a good sear right away. About two-three minutes. If they're huge, maybe a little longer. If they're smaller, then less time.

Flip them over, another minute or two, and they are done.




We have been taught to fear food that's not cooked enough. That's all well and good, but it has had the side effect of making us err on the side of overcooking. It's why our chickens are dry, our burgers pucked, our pork chops shoe leather.

I think it's partly becuase we don't cook enough. Like anything in life, rarely can you be really good at something you only do every now and then. Why would cooking be any different? Within that context, doneness in cooking reminds me of the short game in golf. You might be able to flub your way through an occasional round by whacking some straight drives and second shots, but you will soon be exposed around and on the greens. Your lack of practice will be exposed with awful shots that bounce past the green, and dreadful putting.

It's the same with cooking. Making salad and pasta can be done by a monkey, but learning when to declare meat or fish done simply takes doing it a lot. With chicken, you want a little bounce but no jigglyness. Same with pork. With a good piece of steak, it's sort of up to you--a little jigglyness for rare, with a progressively firmer response up to well done. And you don't ever want to cook a steak well-done. If you know where your hamburg came from, you don't want to cook that well-done either. Jeez, even Red Robin asks you now if you want "some pink."

So when the scallops are done -- opaque and slightly firm, but with a little bit of bounce to them -- I took them off, then threw in the shallots with some garlic and lemon juice.
I put the scallops over some jasmine rice cooked with a little saffron, mixed in the cilantro with the sauce off the heat, and poured the sauce over the whole deal. Some sriracha and a few extra green onions for a final touch, and I had a better lunch than most people that day.