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.

CSA

My CSA shares return tomorrow. It can't come a moment too soon; I have looked forward to my weekly organic veggie bushel's delivery since the last day of last year's program. I split a large share at Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre with a friend last year; this year, I went with my own medium share, which I think will give me the same amount of vegetables.

For those who don't know, Community Supported Agriculture  works like this: you pay ahead of time over the winter for a "share" of the farm's vegetables. Every week, they drop them off. Every week, you wonder how you will ever be able to buy grocery store vegetables ever again.

I started cooking competently soon after I got married, just about 12 years ago. I had always had an idea of what cooking entailed; I spent most afternoons of my childhood loitering in the kitchen; I think enough culinary vernacular sunk in by osmosis, enough to buoy my confidence that I could handle myself with at least a minimum amount of skill.

Starting out, cooking involved basically asking my mother how she cooked certain dishes. I had the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook to help me fill in some other gaps and try a few new dishes here and there. A subscription to Bon Apetit sort of showed me what's out there. Food television proved seductive; I still use some recipes from Ina or Giada or whoever, but I think you just evolve at some point.

That point for me came last year with the arrival of my CSA. There was something very educational about not really knowing what mix of vegetables would be arriving every week. Making do with what was dropped off every Monday at the Living Earth was, to call back to food television, sort of my own personal episdode of "Chopped."

"Next up, we have beets, collard greens, and garlic scapes. Go!"

The true development of skill came from two sources. That unpredictable assignment of what was picked that week up in Barre put a premium not so much on what recipe to use, but how to cook each particular vegetable. Does this one get steamed? Is this one better raw? How long do I roast this root vegetable?

On a more cultural, or even spiritual level, getting the CSA every week helped develop more respect for ingredients. The food is so good, so fresh, that it seems almost inappropriate to prepare it one bit more than it needs to be. It's not about slathering food with cheese, or hot sauce, or salt. What should a properly cooked beet taste like? What is the absolute minimum this zucchini should be boiled? Do I need to go with a full-on tomato sauce, or can I just saute this tomato with some garlic and herbs, and I'll be all set?

The dish pictured to begin this post is grilled salmon with a Thai cucumber-basil sauce I cribbed from one of my favorite websites, Serious Eats.