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ffwd: warm scallop salad and tomato-cheese tartlets
At my house, there are two definitions of August. To me, August = Tomatoes. To the other resident (husband Howard), August = Corn.
Selections for the first two weeks of French Fridays with Dorie were perfect. Tomato-Cheese Tartlets the first week, and Warm Scallop Salad with Basil, Tomato, and Corn. I missed last week’s deadline for the tartlets, but made both this week.
The tartlets were fun to make. The individual tarts were constructed on disks of puff pastry. I had a little trouble with the puff pastry. The package said you could defrost at broom temperature for 20 minutes or microwave for 90 seconds. I went with the quicker approach, but turned on the microwave and walked away. It got a little too soft and wouldn’t unfold. I just rolled it out with the folds making extra layers, but I had some tearing that didn’t mend as forgivingly as pie crust. But I liked the simplicity of cutting out circles and baking until lightly golden.
As with many of Dorie’s recipes, this one was more of a suggestion than a strict recipe. The disks were smeared with a layer of tapenade or pesto. I tried two of each. This is topped with alternating slices of tomatoes and cheese, goat cheese for me. I warmed the tartlets under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese started to melt. A final drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a fresh basil leaf garnish and it was done. We each ate two of these for dinner, but one tart accompanied with a salad would have made a lovely lunch. Sipping a glass of cold white wine on the side is the perfect accompaniment.
The warm scallop salad was another summer treat. The scallops were a bit pricey, but worth it for the end result. I left out the nectarines, but the lightly dressed corn, freshly picked backyard cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil coulis were packed with flavor. The vegetables surrounded the seared scallops which were the star in the center of the plate. Each component was super simple to put together, now that I’ve learned from several Dorie recipes how foolproof it is to pan-sear scallops. I could make this for a weeknight dinner after a long day at work. The final dish was restaurant worthy.
All-in-all, it was a good week for enjoying new recipes spotlighting seasonal ingredients.
Recipes aren’t posted, but are available in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. To read about other home cooks’ experiences with these recipes, check out the Leave Your Link posts at French Fridays with Dorie.
French Fridays with Dorie: Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce
If you follow my blog, you know that for my Friday posts, I make a recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table as part of an on-line cooking group called French Fridays with Dorie. This is the second recipe in March that I had my doubts about. (The first was the Beggar’s Linguine.)
This week’s recipe was Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce. I love scallops, but I was a little ambivalent about the sauce. Of course, without a sauce, plain seared scallops aren’t necessarily a cookbook-worthy recipe. Dorie described the sauce as aigre-doux, French for sour-sweet. I watched the sugar melt into caramel (sweet) and added the orange juice and white wine (sour) and reduced it to a thick glossy sauce (after the caramel seized up and had to melt down again).
In the end, unfortunately, I found that the sauce had little flavor. Howard is always skeptical of fruit in his food, but he took a taste of the sauce off a spoon before opting to eat his scallops plain. It wasn’t the fruity flavor that caused him to decline, but rather a lack of any spark. I’ll admit that the rewarmed sauce the next night was a little tastier, but I doubt I’ll make caramel-orange sauce again.
On the other hand, the scallops themselves cooked up easily and tastily. Other than a rinse and pat dry, the scallops were ready to cook after a quick tug to remove the little muscle. They seared quickly in hot oil, with a sprinkle of salt and white pepper, cooking for just a few minutes on each side, undisturbed, and they were perfect! Usually, we grill sea scallops, so the bright side of this recipe is a new technique, especially for cold weather cooking when the grill is inaccessible. I’ll have to search out another sauce to top the scallops, or just eat them plain.
Next Friday falls on April Fool’s Day. The selected recipe is quinoa, fruit and nut salad, which I voted for and sounds appealing (no joke). In the meantime, if any of the recipes intrigue you, I recommend that you buy the book. If you’re really ambitious, you can join this cooking group and try a new recipe each week.
Other bloggers are also chronicling their own experiences with this recipe. I always find some extra inspiration from my fellow cooks’ posts. You can check out their links at French Fridays with Dorie.
A Plateful of Happiness 