Sunday, December 2, 2007

Talking Sea Scallops - My Trip to Wonderland

I was at the Halifax Farmers Market yesterday, doing some research for an article I'm writing for Food for Thought (Foodtv's blog) - Christmas at the Market. It's a hard job but someone has to do it! So many wonderful gift ideas...but we'll save that for another day.

I happened upon Peter Darnell of Indian Point Marine Farms, noted for their mussels and as I approached, these cute little scallops started to yap. I seriously felt like I had joined Alice in her Wonderland adventures. Who could have possibly resisted these little beauties? Especially since they were chatting with me.

Cooking scallops (one of my favorite dishes to eat, especially since coming to Nova Scotia and really understanding what "fresh" really means) is new to me. Up until yesterday I've only purchased shucked scallops. I've mastered the art of searing them, but now I had a new challenge and couldn't wait to get home to try it out....Roasting them over a bed of coarse sea salt. How romantic! They were delicious and so easy, I'm embarrassed to share the "recipe" if you could call it that. And because I wasn't sure of what I was doing, I shucked half and sauteed them as Peter had suggested - with at bit of fresh ginger and garlic - perfection on a plate! And all in under 10 minutes!!!

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5 comments:

Nora B. said...

Hi Ruth,
Your scallops do look perfectly cooked. Ginger and garlic are great flavours. I've only ever roasted fish and chicken in salt, so I should give scallops a try.

Ruth Daniels said...

Nora, thanks. I think the salt really just stabilizes the scallop shells. But it certainly looks pretty.

Anonymous said...

That looks great, Ruth. I'm sad to say that I won't buy fresh seafood and hence don't cook it at home. Living in the desert (Las Vegas) our seafood choices are limited and most often a waste of good money. I'll just have to tell my husband we need to move somewhere by the ocean!

Ruth Daniels said...

I do understand...living by the sea is quite remarkable. I never really thought about just how fresh "fresh" fish & seafood was living in Toronto. It is incredibly different.

So where are you moving ;-) ?

leosatter said...

you make me want to start cooking right now! LOL!
Maybe you can help me out with something…? I want to order all of my food online from now on because of various reasons, but I don’t know where to go for quality food. I have tried 2 companies so far, Fresh Dining, and and Celebrity Foods, but I wanna get others I can try out. Do you know of any? The main thing I’ve ordered so far is steak. I guess you can say, I’m a steak junkie. LOL!!! From what I have found out (from what I have ordered so far) I think I am able to regulate the quality of beef I buy. I hate going to a store and getting that crappy slab of beef that I have to cut down until there is like nothing left. Hahaha!!!! (its so true though) Anyhow, sorry that I made this comment so long. If you can help me out or point me in a direction where I might find more quality foods online, I would greatly appreciate it. Have a good day or night! (depending on when you read this) LOL!!!!