SUPPER SUNDAY: 1/30/11

It's no secret that I've been trying to incorporate more healthy food into my diet, so scallops is a no-brainer. The other morning my TV was on mute while I got ready for work, but I saw a segment where they were cooking scallops, and making pasta out of it. I decided to look it up, later, and give it a try. Here is Geoffrey Zakarian's recipe.

These instructions come directly from the website, with my tips in parentheses. 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Japanese buckwheat soba noodles (I had to go to a local Japanese market to find it, but I think Whole Foods has it.)
• 6 ounces guanciale or pancetta, diced small (Trader Joe's has it already diced!)
• 4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used lowfat milk, instead)
• 1 ounces chives, minced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed in its skin ( I used three)
• 1 pound bay scallops (Trader Joe's has frozen scallops. If you don't live by the sea, frozen is better than "fresh".)
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• Sea salt
• Cracked black pepper

Preparation

Here is how to make this dish in the style of Geoffrey Zakarian’s new Manhattan restaurant, The Lambs Club:

• In a large pot of salted water, cook the soba noodles for 8 minutes or just until tender. (8 minutes was too much for me, I'd recommend checking after 5 minutes.)
• In a small bowl combine the egg yolks and grated Parmesan cheese. Reserve.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the guanciale or pancetta and cook until crispy. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat and add the crushed garlic to release its fragrance. Season the bay scallops with sea salt and saute in the pan with the crispy pancetta until golden on both sides, about 3 minutes. Remove the scallops from the pan and drain on paper towels. Add the heavy cream and cook 2 minutes or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. 
• Drain the soba noodles and add to the sauce. Add the cooked bay scallops. Turn off the heat and add the egg yolk and Parmesan mixture. Toss well to combine. The heat will cook the egg yolk. Season with the chives.

Yield: 6 portions

I will definitely use this recipe again, but without the scallops. As it turns out, I don't like them. I could see this recipe working really well with chicken or tofu, so I'll probably use that instead. Also, while the Tilapia I cooked a few weeks back did not leave a fishy odor in my kitchen, the scallops left a gnarly stench all over my house, that lasted a couple of days, despite my excessive scented candle lighting. 

I served the pasta with a "bento box" (not really like a bento box, at all) from Trader Joe's, and a boiled egg. For dessert, we had strawberry mochi ice cream balls.

...and I almost forgot! When I was at the Japanese Market, I found these awesome egg molds. You boil a egg. While it's still hot, you peel it and put it in one of these super cute molds, and let it cool in ice water. Once it's cool, you have a cute little boiled egg! Okay, to be honest, it's a little creepy... but, I like it!

I hope you all had a really great Sunday, whether it involved supper or not.

Love, Cynthia