Orange Caramel Scallops - French Fridays with Dorie

This week's recipe from Around My French Table (AMFT) is Orange Caramel Scallops.   I like scallops  a lot, and it orange caramel made them perfect. 

Over the past few years, I've been trying to learn more about meats and seafood.  After watching Gordon Ramsey scream "these scallops are RAW" on Hell's Kitchen, I wanted the finished scallops to have nice tender creamy center or perfect crispy outside.   I wanted the real thing already thawed (I have to pretend they're fresh), so Gary set off on a mission to find the scallops.  He returned from Madison with the butcher-wrapped present from the Seafood Center.

The pretty scallops

The recipe is very well written with the perfect amount of detail.  I followed the steps exactly.   I carefully dried each fresh scallop, and heated the pan as I had been taught in a cooking class long ago.   The pan had to be hot enough for me to hold my palm about an inch away from and pan and not be able to count one-one thousand, two-one thousand before the I had to pull my hand away.  

While the pan heated I made the orange caramel.  I've made tons of caramel, and this recipe pretty tough.  The recipe makes dry caramel, aka no water with the sugar in the pan.   The sugar becomes amber colored very quickly.   The recipe has you add white wine and the juice of an orange to the caramel.  If I were teaching a class, I'd have the class gently warm the juice and the wine.  This will keep the caramel from turning into a hard crack, glass-like lump when the cold liquids hit.  I followed the directions and added the liquids.  The caramel did turn into a hard mass, but quickly liquified and reduced to a perfect orange caramel topping.   The small quantity of sugar in the recipe didn't cover the bottom is the pan, so there was little risk of the sugar bubbling up and burning my hands/face with splattered caramel.  Remember that hot sugar is like hot tar.  Always be very, very careful.  Enough lecturing!

The reduced Orange Caramel

Ok, now on to the scallops.  I added the olive oil and then the scallops.  With as much will power as I could muster, I waited the two minutes per side with flipping them.   They were perfect!  Again, I could hear Gordon summoning me to the Hells' Kitchen pass and then saying, "these scallops are perfect".  

One side down, One to go!

I plated the scallops, added the sauce, and completed the meal with Risotto with asparagus.   It was SO good.

The finished meal!

I don't know what's on the April schedule, as always, I'm sure it will be great.   Last week, I also made the Cauliflower Gratin from AMFT.   Even non-vegetables will enjoy it.

Happy Spring!  (though it's snowing out the window right now!)

Salted Butter Breakups - FFWD

Salted Butter Breakups- French Friday with Dorie

After a few savory weeks, it's fun to get back to something sweet.  I read through the recipe and realized I had learned to make cookies very similar to this on my very first day of pastry school.  We used the recipe to learn how to weigh ingredients and smear dough across the marble to shear the butter between layers of flour.  I was going to use that technique then decided to follow Dorie's directions and compare.    The instructions produced a very flaky, smooth and perfect dough. 

The buttery, salty, and sweet cookie was fun to make and eat.  I especially liked the large breakable, shareable size and shape.  I would highly recommend trying this recipe.  

Here's the dough as it's ready for chilling.   The recipe used the food processor which made it quick and easy.

After the dough was rolled out, I brushed it with egg wash, then scored the top.  This is the same pattern as the Bretton cookie from  France.  I added a little extra Fleur de Sel to the top just before I put it in the oven.  It brought out even more of the great salty taste.

Here's the finished Break-up.  Perfect with a cup of tea.  This was a huge hit with Gary!

Next week:  Orange Caramel Scallops!   Have a great week!

Beggar's Linguine- French Fridays with Dorie

Well, it's been a wild week.   Politics, weather, Stephanie's biathlon, family illness ... and earthquakes.   Fortunately, this week's recipe was quick, easy and surprisingly delightful.  

I have to admit it wasn't a recipe I would have read and decided to make.   Fruit, nuts and pasta don't naturally pop into my mind for a combination.   The recipe uses the main ingredients of Mendiant, a French chocolate confection, for inspiration.   I made Mendiants at Le Cordon Bleu, and again at the French Culinary Institutes's Chocolate class.   A Mediant is a disk of tempered chocolate about the size of a quarter topped with a pistachio, a dried cherry or other dried fruit, and an almond or hazelnut.  The disk it to look the medallion a nun would wear.  The confection is simple and delicious.   Beggar's Linguine uses the same ingredients but uses pasta rather than chocolate.  Browned butter adds a nutty and background for the pasta.

The ingredients are very simple.  pasta, butter, dried fruits and nuts.  I substituted dates for figs, and raisins for golden raisins.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written.  (Be sure to pick up a copy of the book if you haven't already.)

Two ingredients in the recipe are favorites.  Browned butter and chives.  I love making browned butter.  I love the smell, the technique, and the taste.  This was no exception.  The recipe puts the nut and fruit into the butter early in the browning process.   My instincts were to wait, but I added them as directed.   In retrospect,  I should have waited just a little more.  The fruit ended up caramelizing a little bit and appeared, but didnt' taste, a little too dark.  Garnishing with fresh chives, orange zest, and fresh Parmesan made the dish complete.

Beggar's Linguine would be a great accompaniment for grilled lobster or pork tenderloin.   We enjoyed the dish.  I'm planning to try it again, waiting until the butter is brown to add the fruits.  I'd also add a little more chive and orange zest. 

If you're looking for a dish that's interesting, rich and unique, give Beggar's Linguine a try.

Next week... Salted Butter Breakups!