I cannot believe that it is Tuesday already.  Back to the grind as Christmas is now over.  Oh well – we must move on.  Yesterday was a huge shopping day for the house, we picked up some new bedding, some regular supplies, a new microwave and well some clothes…. but that is normal.

Remember a few weeks back when I posted about a huge food night at the zesty in laws?  Well I never posted one of the menu items as of yet because I couldn’t find any good pictures.  Well the good news is I found them and I think you may like it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Salmon fillets, no bones
• 2 egg whites
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tsp. Salt
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. fresh ground pepper
• 2-3 Cups heavy cream, 36-38%, well chilled
• 8 Scallops, firm “feet” removed and reserved.
• 3-4 Peices dill with fronds removed, stems reserved.

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. minced onion
• Reserved scallop feet
• Dill stems
• 1 Cup white wine
• 1 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup heavy cream

Method

1. Using a food processor, puree the egg whites and the salmon until smooth, use as is or pass through fine sieve to smooth even further. Then chill for at least 2 hours.







2. Whip butter salt and all the pepper until smooth, then add the fish puree and blend until well mixed.
3. Slowly add the cream, in a steady stream to allow full incorporation.
4. Layer 1/2 of the mix in a 4×11 inch loaf pan tamp to settle any air bubbles. Next place scallops and dill in the center of the mixture and cover with the remaining mix and tamp the mixture once again.
5. Cover with buttered parchment and back in a water bath for 90 minutes in an oven preheated to 275 F. Water bath should be about 3/4 up the sides of the loaf pan.
6. Cool for 2-3 hours or overnight. Remove from mold and serve with sauce.
7. Saute onions until soft and not browned and add scallops and dill stems. Cook for 30 sec over low heat and add water and wine and reduce until little 1/4 cup remaining and add cream.



8. Bring to a boil to thicken and then strain.
9. Serve slice mousseline  with sauce over, or under the slice.



10. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The same mix of fish can be poached in water for a quenelle and sauced then serve warm.

Well I better get going and get ready for work.  I will talk to you tomorrow for sure.  Any big plans for the new year?

Take care

zesty

Driving home from work yesterday afternoon, I was starving and realized that I did not take anything out for supper. At that point I decided to pull into the super market and attempt to put a meal plan together on the run. I made it to the meat department and noticed that Pork Loin Chops were on sale so the wheels started turning as I came up with an idea for pork chops. They were so thick and looked incredible yummy.

I picked up two of those and moved along to the seafood section. I thought that I was craving scallops and grabbed 10 fresh scallops to atop the pork. I then needed a vegetable or two as I thought that maybe some brown rice would go well with my already developing recipe. I walked over and grabbed a fresh package of shitake mushrooms and some baby spinach and I was on my way. Once home I came up with a sauce and because it was pork I thought I would go with an apple based sauce but kick it up with some sweet chili sauce. Follow along below to see the process.

Ingredients

• 2 Pork Loin Chops Center Cut Bone-In
• 10 Scallops
• 2 cups of Baby Spinach
• 1 cup of Shitake Mushrooms ( coarsely chopped )
• 1 cup of Apple Juice
• 1 Tbsp. Garlic chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp. Sweet Chili Sauce
• Cracked Black Pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
2. Season both sides of Pork Chops with cracked black pepper
3. Pan sear the pork until golden brown crust forms
4. Place pork in roasting pan and place in oven for about 10-12 minutes until cooked through
5. With the pan drippings still in the frying pan, add apple juice, garlic, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce and bring to a boil and then let reduce.
6. Once reduced by half, add mushrooms and spinach to the sauce.
7. Start another Sautee pan and heat up some olive oil and sprinkle some red pepper flakes in the oil.  Once hot place the scallops in and sear on both sides until golden brown.  Once complete remove from heat and set aside.
8. After the mushroom and spinach cook through add the scallops to the sauce as well and stir to coat the scallops.
9. Ready to plate. I like to place a big scoop of brown rice on the bottom of the plate and then set the pork chop on top followed by the delicious reduction of sauce, mushroom, spinach and most of all tender juicy scallops.