Scallops & Cherry Tomatoes with Caper Butter Sauce

I found this recipe in my email this morning from a newsletter I get from The Prep at Eating Well. I was intrigued by the time it would take to make the recipe and the calorie count. 20 minutes to prepare and under 400 calories! The reviews from the other side of the table were favorable.

The newsletter recommended Zucchini Zoodles Cacio e Pepe. I love Cacio e Pepe but had never tried Zucchini Zoodles. Well, I made the recipe and found out I am not a fan of Zoodles. Next!

The recipe also recommended polenta to soak up the sauce. I made that too and that was a good suggestion. And yes I use instant Polenta.

This is the original recipe from EatingWell.com.
I cut the recipe in 1/2 and there was plenty for both of us. 

And enough for Lucy who seems to love scallops!

Ingredients-
1 pound dry sea scallops, tough side muscle removed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
1-pint cherry tomatoes
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Method-
Pat scallops dry. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallops and cook, flipping once, until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
 
Add tomatoes to the pan and cook, stirring once, until browned on one side and starting to burst, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine and capers; cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits until the wine is reduced by half, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and pepper. Serve the sauce over the scallops, garnished with parsley, if desired.

A Tale of Two Pastas

This month is what I think is the last meeting of the online library group, International Cooking. With things returning to "normal", there was talk of discontinuing the group. We will find out tonight...

This month's recipe was Pasta Verde, Green Pasta. It was made with roasted asparagus, fresh spinach, mint, and leeks. The sauce was a lemon vinaigrette.
I used homemade pasta, the recipe called for Penne. 

Chris, not being a fan of most of the ingredients in Pasta Verde dined on Fettuccine Alfredo, which has 4 ingredients - Pasta, Cheese, Butter, and Pasta Water.

I liked the Pasta Verde but I was not in love with it. I would rather have had the Alfredo. The flavors were good, but it was something I cannot imagine going out of my way to make again. It was just lacking something. I was supposed to top the dish with Ricotta Salata which I did not have but I do not think that it was the one thing that would have made the dish a home run.

Steaks on the Grill

For Christmas, I got Chris a Weber Grill. 

He put it together today and he grilled tonight.

I picked up Porterhouse Steaks at Robert's. 

This is my favorite part of summer. Steaks on the grill. Perfect. 

Chris used the William Sonoma Outdoor BBQ Fork 

with Thermometer so the steaks were spot on.

I made Potato Salad as a side dish. 

Simple recipe with a few ingredients. 

I found this recipe on GimmeSomeOven.

Filetto Di Manzo All'Aceto Balsamico

It seems that this has become a once-a-week posting blog. Tonight we had Filetto Di Manzo All'Aceto Balsamico, Beef with Balsamic Vinegar. It is from La Cucina The Regional Cooking of Italy, or as Chris calls it - The Big Book. The recipe is from the Emilia-Romagna region. The recipe came together super fast, easily a 20-minute meal.

The sauce was quite good. There were some comments about the texture of the meat. I had no problem with the texture, but one of us did.

I made our usual sauteed zucchini and Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes. Again, here we were split on the potatoes. But the Air Fryer is definitely the way to go with baked potatoes. The kitchen did not get super hot with the oven on for 45 minutes. The skins were crispy and the interior was creamy.

Filetto Di Manzo All'Aceto Balsamico

Ingredients-

3/4 lb. beef tenderloin, cut into 2 slices

1/4 cup flour

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 cup beef broth

Method-

Flatten the tenderloin slices with a meat pounder and dredge them in the flour. Shaking them to remove any excess.

Heat a saute pan to high and grease it lightly with olive oil.

Salt the slices, then cook them on high heat on both sides, sprinkling with 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar.

Remove the meat from the pan and keep warm.

Prepare a thin sauce by combining the remaining vinegar, broth, and 1 tbsp flour.

Return the meat to the pan with its juices and cover with the sauce and serve piping hot.

Happy Mother's Day

Fifteen years ago was the first Mother's Day that I did not buy a Mother's Day card. Damn, time does go by fast. I miss her laugh. I miss shopping with her. I miss her phone calls. But most of all I miss her cooking.

I wanted to do something special today for dinner. I found a recipe for Beef Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine from Lidia Bastianich. I think my Mom would have enjoyed this.

Ingredients-

2 cups red wine

2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 pounds bone-in Beef Short Ribs

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

¼ cup minced pancetta

2 carrots, chopped

2 sprigs rosemary

2 dried bay leaves

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups Crushed Tomato

Method-
Season the ribs generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy braising pan over medium heat. Lay as many of the short rib pieces as will fit into the pan in a single layer. Cook, turning as necessary until evenly and well browned on all sides. Remove them to a plate and repeat with the remaining ribs. Adjust the heat as the ribs cook so that they brown without burning.

Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Stir in the onions and bacon and cook, stirring, until the onions are lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in the chopped mushrooms and the carrot, rosemary, bay leaves. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook until the carrot is wilted for about 3 minutes. Drop in the tomato paste and stir well until the vegetables are coated and the tomato paste begins to darken for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the reduced wine and the crushed tomatoes and tuck the browned short ribs into the pan. Pour enough of the remaining chicken stock to barely cover the ribs. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the liquid is at a lively simmer. Cook, adding the remaining stock a little at a time as necessary to keep the ribs covered until the ribs are tender and just about to fall off the bone, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Taste the cooking liquid from time to time as the ribs cook and add salt as necessary.

Pick out the ribs from the sauce, carefully so as to prevent the bone from falling out, and set them on a baking sheet. Ladle the cooking liquid into a sieve placed over a bowl and push the liquid through with the back of the ladle. Discard the solids in the sieve and return the strained liquid to the pan. Tuck the ribs back into the sauce. You may serve the ribs at this point, or cool them in the liquid and refrigerate them for up to three days. Bring them back to a simmer and cook until heated through before serving.