Just a little ditty that you might want to save for a special dinner, new years perhaps? I love scallops and seldom indulge, but once in awhile I can’t help myself. I pull into the parking lot where the resident fish bus is parked and load up on the good stuff from the coast. J despises the fact that anyone sells fish out of a school bus, so I make sure to go when he’s not with me. It’s not like the guys got salmon filets on the unwashed seats of school kids, I mean it’s all gutted and filled with freezers, what’s the big deal?
There are really so many ways to become enamoured with these little ocean morsels, seared, covered in butter and salt and pepper is my preferred method, super simple is sometimes best. You could serve these beauties with a nice mash, or grilled veggies, some steamed spinach and thick balsamic glaze or of course crispy shallots and sautéed kale with tamari.
So our celebrations are complete, we rang in the solstice with gift giving and a wonderful meal. J got me two handmade Japanese knives that are sharper than a serpents tooth. I mean they are the sharpest knives I’ve ever used, I barely touched a cucumber and it sliced right through. So now I’m trying to come up with a dish that involves copious amounts of finely chopped vegetables to show off the majesty of these knives. Any suggestions? Too bad I made french onion soup with ten onions last week with my incredibly dull knives.
Perfect Seared Scallops with Crispy Shallots and Kale
Author: Chantelle
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
10 scallops
1 Tbs+1 tsp clarified butter or ghee
1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil
salt+pepper
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
1 tsp tamari
1 shallot, very finely sliced
Instructions
Thoroughly dry the scallops and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper, heat a cast iron pan and add the clarified butter and oil, when it starts to smoke add the scallops, don't overcrowd the pan. Cook scallops for approx. 2 minutes per side, depending on their size it may take a bit less or more time. Refrain from turning unnecessarily as they won't brown up as nicely.
In a separate frying pan, heat up some more oil or clarified butter and add the shallot. Fry until crispy, add the kale and tamari and cover for 2 minutes until kale is nice and soft.
Let me just start by saying, I never knew making gravlax or lox as some call it, to be so astoundingly easy. If you’re unfamiliar gravlax is cured salmon, just as flavourful as smoked salmon without all the work. Seriously guys this is easier than cooking a salmon in the oven, it took me all of 5 minutes and 2 days in the fridge and the result is stunning! The colour from the beetroot is just unbelievable, wild salmon is beautiful to begin with but infuse it with beetroot and the monochromatic natural fuchsia hue is almost too pretty to eat. Almost.
Winter is officially here, it’s bloody hard to take a good photograph with the sun hidden behind the mountains all day. Now is the essential time to ensure we’re getting enough omega-3 and vitamin D. What’s more enjoyable way than salmon? Those who know me, know that I adore Jamie Oliver. His show Jamie Does, shows him gallivanting on foodie adventures all over the world. This recipe is from the Stockholm edition, I didn’t follow the recipe to the T but it worked out great anyways.
There you have it, I’m going to post my version of the recipe as well. This homemade beetroot gravlax is so beautiful just by itself but I have been enjoying it with fresh simple salads, poached eggs and with india curries.
This salmon is ahhhh-mazing. It tastes way better than the candied salmon from the market loaded with weird preservatives and junk. Bourbon glaze is good with just about anything, I mean really, it’s syrupy liquor tainted goodness that you will want to douse everything in, yes, even salad. Maybe even brownies, if you leave out the savouries. The salmon is broiled to crispy perfection, and coated with a thick layer or glaze, some sesame seeds and greens onions, the whole marvellous dish comes together in under 30 minutes. That is, if you don’t nearly light your house on fire like I did, but at least we got to test the smoke alarm. J is a firefighter so while I frantically wave the door open and closed trying to do…something, he actually deals with the situation and I love him for it. My track record for starting fires is, ahem, not favourable. But J got over my negligence as soon as he took one bite into this melt in your mouth nom nom salmon.
It’s the time of year where the Kokanee salmon spawn, what a beautiful sight of red fish flowing in the river. A feast for the grizzlies and black bears of the region, not to mention the eagles and osprey. There are a few places around us to go and marvel at the fishies. This time of year is always challenging in that summer is over, you can feel the haze of endless sun dissipate. The shift occurs so rapidly you barely notice it until the tip of your nose is red and frozen and your little babies feet now need to be covered with a pair of woolies. And here we are, my favourite time of year, pumpkins, colours everywhere, calm acceptance that the sun still shines and the world is turning. You can expect more soups and roasted delights, comfort foods and pumpkin spice being churned out, especially once we get all settled in to our new nest.
Bourbon Glazed “Candied” Salmon goes great in a salad, I made a dressing with a Tbs. of the glaze, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and a touch of dijon mustard which was tantalizing. This recipe was inspired by the one at How Sweet Eats with a few little tweaks and a whole lot of extra smoke.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
