Grab the Good Stuff

Abi chose a nice, firm, multigrain baguette for the bruschetta I made yesterday. We enjoyed it immensely as an evening snack since I drug my feet a little getting to it. I figure it this way—bruschetta is good just after it’s made and better with a little time after the savory flavors have blended. That brings me to today’s culinary adventure.

I decided I was in the mood for Coquilles St. Jacques. This is a delightful French dish featuring scallops which I hadn’t had for a while before today.  Now, the roux for this recipe is half dry, white wine and half cream. I don’t bother using cooking wine because I’d just as soon take advantage of the opportunity to have a glass while preparing the dish.

Now, let me barely scratch the surface of a funny story about how I came to know of this absolutely splendid dish. When I was about eight months pregnant my husband's ex-wife invited us to her home for dinner. This was a bit questionable to me because it was a well-known fact that the woman loathed my very existence. Still, I went, hoping, once again and against nothing other than hope itself, that she was sincerely extending the olive branch of friendship. She wasn't. She was simply taking advantage of the fact that I was big and pregnant; somehow surmising that my husband would find his way back to her through his favorite dish, her Coquilles St. Jacques. Not a terrible plan, I suppose. While I was, indeed wrong again about her motives, the meal was, as clearly... remarkable. I always say, grab the good stuff and throw the insanity back, so that’s what I did when I hung onto my awesome coquilles St. Jacques experience. Of course, as is usual, I made it my own, and, in this case, I quite intentionally improved it which surely one might expect. ;) 

The flavors work really well together as you'll note when you read the recipes.

  

I'm careful with the delicate subtly of scallops. If they are to be the star we mustn't get too bold with other flavor so you'll see I pair it up with a non-competing side dish.

One of the best things about this meal is that all components bake at 400 degrees which is wonderful for bringing the meal together at one time. All I have to do is put the asparagus in first, wait 10 minutes then add the bread, wait another 10 minutes and add the scallops to the oven. Ten minutes later everything is ready all at once. Gosh, I love it when that happens!

    

I’ll share the recipes for all components today. Naturally, the bruschetta was a leftover from yesterday. A nice addition of color to the plate, although; normally, I would hesitate to add basil to the palette. It worked today because I used the bruschetta as more of an appetizer, although; it isn't pictured above as such. 

Baked Asparagus

1 lb fresh asparagus

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1  garlic clove (minced)

½ tsp thyme leaves

½ tsp lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Wash asparagus and snap the ends off.  Lightly coat a baking dish with olive oil and minced garlic. Lay asparagus in the dish in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn asparagus and bake for another 15 minutes.

Coquilles St. Jacques

1.5 lbs scallops

1 shallot (finely chopped)

2 c. white mushrooms (thinly sliced.)

1 c. dry white wine

1 c. half-n-half cream

½ c. gruyere cheese (shredded)

3/4 c. bread crumbs

1 lemon

5 tbsp butter

1 bay leaf

¼ tsp thyme

¼ tsp white pepper

½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400. Saute mushrooms and shallots in 3 tbs of butter and lemon juice until golden brown. Remove from heat.  Bring wine, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper to a boil in a sauce pan for 4 minutes.  Add scallops and reduce heat to simmer for 3 minutes.  Remove scallops to mushroom pan. Reserve 1 cup of the liquid from scallop broth. Melt remaining 2 tbs of butter in sauce pan, add 4 tbs flour whisking constantly. Slowly add broth from scallops and half-n-half, stirring constantly until roux thickens. Add mushrooms, shallots, and scallops to roux. Spoon onto baking shells. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Drizzle lightly with melted butter. Top with gruyere cheese. Bake for 10 minutes.

Oops, is that a tomato seed I see? Oh well, it tastes great!

Garlic & Chive Bread

1 multigrain baguette (sliced.)

½ stick butter

1 tbs fresh chives

1 clove garlic (minced)

Preheat oven to 400. Soften butter in microwave maybe 20 seconds. Stir in garlic and chives. Spread over bread and back for 18 minutes.

Bruschetta

7 Roma tomatoes

1 small Vidalia onion (chopped)

1 c. fresh basil chopped

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Parboil tomatoes. Peel, seed and chop eliminating most juice. Add all other ingredients and chill.

Out-Quiched!

Today I got off from work at about 1pm so I had a good opportunity to drop by the produce market for some fresh goods on my way home. My daughter, Abi, is good about assisting with foods management. She was particularly interested in seeing what fruits and veggies will be on-hand over the next week as she begins her senior year of high school Tuesday morning and packs her lunch daily. As I passed apples, peaches, and plums she told me about a pumpkin latte she wanted to make using almond milk, so we began to make a list of items we wanted to pick up from the grocery store.

Putting away the last of the produce, I quickly checked the freezer, both for available space and for inventory. I, once again, found myself repositioning two frozen pie crusts that have been occupying premium freezer space since last year’s holiday season when Abi had gotten into a pumpkin pie-baking mood. In an instant I decided that today was the day when these two freezer anomalies would be utilized. Tossing the crusts onto the countertop, I added half-n-half and eggs to my mental list asking Abi to start brainstorming  a couple of quiche creations for dinner. Together, we headed for the grocery store discussing the pros and cons of universal healthcare en route.

As is usual we split up upon entering Super Fresh. She’s getting her latte ingredients while I shop the seafood counter. We meet at the bakery because Abi always wants some decision-making power when it comes to fresh bread. I told her I’m making bruschetta this weekend, so she chose a good, multigrain baguette to accommodate the topping. Proceeding through dairy we begin to share our quiche ideas. We decide that she will create one and the other using a basic recipe of 6 eggs, 1.5 cups half-n-half, 1.5 cups cheese, and 2-3 cups of meat and/or veggies. We figure we’ll decide when we get home because we know we have plenty from which to choose to fill in the gaps in our recipes.

We finished up our trip grabbing a variety of cheeses, eggs and milk, and discussed our quiche ideas during the trip back home.  We both were stuck on using fresh spinach so while I made spinach the feature ingredient in my spinach & mushroom dish, Abi chose to make smoked salmon the star of her recipe with the spinach playing second fiddle. While it is usually not the case, Abi kicked my butt in the kitchen this evening. She totally out-quiched me! Her salmon, spinach, and goat cheese quiche is outstanding which is why I’m sharing her quiche recipe with my salad creation of the day.

Fresh Greens & Fruit Salad

Mixed greens

cucumbers

strawberries

mandarin oranges

sliced almonds

sweet onion & poppy seed dressing

I love salad and create a variety of both side and entree salads all year long!

  

Smoked Salmon & Spinach Quiche

6 eggs

1.5 cups half-n-half

1.5 cups goat cheese (crumbled)

1.5 cups smoked salmon (slices cut to ½ wide pieces)

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1 9-inch pie crust

Pre-heat the oven to 400 and bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove and lower oven temperature to 375. Lightly beat the eggs and whisk in the half-n-half. Add salt and pepper.  Layer spinach, salmon, and goat cheese in the pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over the ingredients. Bake for 45 minutes.  Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

Abi's Smoked Salmon & Spinach Quiche is delicious! The goat cheese was an excellent choice for the dish.