INGREDIENTS

• 3, large sea scallops
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups fresh spinach; stemmed
• 2 cups balsamic vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

To make balsamic syrup, bring 2 cups of balsamic vinegar to a boil. Continue to boil until bubbles begin to grow larger. At this point watch very carefully. Sauce should thicken, but not burn. When the consistency of warm syrup or honey, remove from heat and let cool.

Get a small sauté pan very hot. Add oil and sauté scallops until golden brown on each side. Do not overcook! Season with salt and pepper. Remove scallops and set aside in a warm place. In the same pan flash sauté spinach. Place spinach in middle of plate and arrange scallops around plate. Drizzle balsamic syrup over scallops.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium shallots, minced
• 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, minced
• 4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons good olive oil
• ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
• 6 tablespoons dry white wine
• 2 pound fresh bay scallops
• Lemon, for garnish

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 425 ° F. Place 6 (6-inch round) gratin dishes on a sheet pan.

To make the topping, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer). With the mixer on low speed, add the garlic, shallot, prosciutto, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and mix until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the olive oil slowly as though making mayonnaise, until combined. Fold the bread crumbs with spatula and set aside.

Place 1 tablespoon of the wine in the bottom of each gratin dish. With a small sharp knife, remove the white muscle and membrane from the side of each scallop and discard. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels and distribute them among the 3 dishes. Spoon the garlic butter evenly over the top of the scallops. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the topping is golden and sizzling and the scallops are barely done. If you want the top crustier, place the dishes under the broiler for 2 minutes, until browned. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley and serve immediately with crusty French bread.

Valentine’s Day is upon us! If you forget to call for a dinner reservation, or just want to avoid the busy restaurant scene this year, you’re going to want to do something or else you’re going to get some heat. Don’t fear! We have you covered. I created this dinner specifically for you. The recipes are not too difficult and the combination of the sea scallops and sirloin work very well. The couscous gives the plate a sophisticated feel without being “over the top.” Go ahead and give it a try!

You will be making and serving sea scallops with Meyer lemon butter sauce coupled with seared sirloin steak with mushrooms and blue cheese. Both are served with asparagus, grape tomatoes, and couscous with olive oil and Parmesan. The key to cooking and serving any dinner like this is preparation. You are going to have almost everything done ahead of time.

For dessert, I recommend you serve Dr. Loetker’s Lava Cake. It is a wonderful chocolate dessert that is on sale this week for only $2.69 a box. You will find it in our Natural and Organic section.

( Chef’s hat denotes sale item)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 to 6 sea scallops
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Juice of one half Meyer lemon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

METHOD

Pat scallops dry with a paper towel. Lightly season with salt and pepper, then set aside. Heat a metal or cast iron skillet over high heat for about 3 minutes. Add oil to pan, then scallops. Cook scallops 2 minutes or until they are browned nicely. Do not turn, cook one side only! This will keep them from over cooking later. While scallops are browning, melt butter in microwave; mix in lemon juice, set aside. After scallops are browned nicely, remove from pan and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, browned side up. Pour butter mixture over scallops and refrigerate. This can (and should) be done one or two days in advance.

INGREDIENTS

• 12 oz. petite sirloin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup mushroom, sliced
• ¼ cup Rosenberg blue cheese
• ¼ cup hot water mixed with 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Beef Base
• Preheat the oven’s broiler

METHOD

Lightly season steaks with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat a metal or cast iron skillet over high heat for about 3 minutes. Add oil to pan, then add steaks. Cook two minutes per side. Remove from pan (don’t wash pan), place on a cookie sheet or Pyrex and refrigerate.

Place pan with steak drippings back on stove over high heat and add mushrooms. Sauté for a minute or two then add beef broth. Bring to a boil and scrape up any brown bits from bottom of pan. Add blue cheese and toss or stir until all ingredients are mixed well. Pour sauce into a microwavable container and refrigerate.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 quart boiling water
• 2 quarts ice water in large bowl
• 10 stalks asparagus
• ½ cup grape tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper mix

METHOD

Cut ends off asparagus and place in boiling water. Cook for about 90 seconds. Immediately plunge in ice water. Drain well. Cut asparagus into 2-inch pieces. In a large bowl, toss asparagus and tomatoes with olive oil, and about ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place in Pyrex or baking dish. This can be done up to 3 days in advance. 15 minutes before serving, place mixture in a °350 oven for 10 to 15 minutes until warmed through.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cooked Texmati Tri-Color Couscous (follow package directions)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch black pepper

METHOD

After cooking couscous, run cold water over it to stop the cooking process. Allow it to drain, then toss with olive oil, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Place in a microwave safe container. This can be done up to two days in advance.

1. Preheat oven to °400.
2. Set the table. Remember: forks on left, knives on right with blade side pointing in towards plate.
3. Put steak in oven; set timer for 5 minutes.
4. After timer goes off, put scallops and asparagus in oven with steaks. Set timer for 4 minutes.
5. Put sauce and couscous in microwave. Set for 1½ minutes on high. When done, stir and cook for another minute or until couscous and sauce both are heated throughout. Leave in microwave until ready to plate.
6. When oven timer goes off, pull steaks and set aside to rest, leaving asparagus and scallops in oven for another three minutes.
7. Remove scallops and asparagus from oven.
8. Slice steak into 6 or 8¼-inch pieces and divide onto two plates. Place scallops on plate; with a spoon, pour sauce from scallop pan over scallops.
9. Spoon mushroom sauce over steaks.
10. Divide the couscous between the two plates.
11. Place asparagus and grape tomatoes on plate as shown.
12. Prepare to be a hero!

In This Menu:

• Cioppino
• James’ Crab Dip a la the “Temp”
• Raspberries with Cream and Sugar

I first heard of this dish (the French version is called Bouillabaisse) when I was managing an excellent restaurant in Tulsa called LaCuisine. Basically, this is a fish soup or stew depending on how thick you make it. At LaCuisine we used to serve it with a thick piece of toasted French bread covered with red pepper aioli (garlic mayonnaise) and floated the bread on top. I liked the addition of the bread because it thickened the sauce which then made me think about serving the dish over a bed of pasta. I’m sure the “true” Italians would skin me alive for doing so, but I really like the way the angel’s hair soaks up the broth and gives one a feeling of having had a meal rather than a bowl of soup.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon gremolata*
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons basil pesto
• 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste
• 1 (12-ounce) can whole tomatoes
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 cups fish stock**
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ pound cherrystone clams, scrubbed
• ½ pound sea scallops
• ½ pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound tilapia or salmon, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 lb. angel hair pasta, cooked
• Parmesan cheese

PREPARATION

*Gremolata is simply a mixture of very finely minced lemon zest, parsley, and garlic. The Italians use it liberally boosting up the flavor of any dish they are making. Most Cioppino recipes call for garlic alone. I added the gremolata because the parsley and lemon zest give you a nice flavor “pop”. To make, remove the zest from one lemon using a zester, knife, or grater. Peel 3 garlic cloves. Pick 3 or 4 big sprigs of parsley from a bunch. Chop the three ingredients together on a cutting board until very fine.

**A light chicken broth can be substituted

Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, tomatoes, and salt and sautè until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the gremolata, pesto and sun-dried tomato paste. Crush the tomatoes then add them with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open). Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and pepper.

Divide pasta into 4 bowls and ladle the soup over the pasta into bowls. Top with Parmesan and a sprinkle of gremolata and serve.

My wife’s parents own a condo in Southwest Florida on a beautiful and quaint island. There is a restaurant that has been there since the 1930s called the Temptation or the “Temp” as the locals call it. The first time I went to the Temp, I ordered the hot crab dip, which in turn started a tradition of visiting the Temp every time we go to Florida and it always includes an order of their famous crab dip! I have tried to recreate the dip, and mine is good, but it seems like I’m still missing something. I think it is the salty air and the view of the sandy beaches!

INGREDIENTS

• 12 oz. crab meat from King Crab legs
• ½ cup minced onion
• ½ cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise
• ½ cup Daisy sour cream
• Juice of one lemon
• 3 tablespoons chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown mustard
• 1 heaping tablespoon horseradish
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Bread crumbs

PREPARATION

Mix the first 8 ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in the 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Pour dip into an oven proof, shallow, baking dish. Lightly sprinkle top with some bread crumbs and remaining Parmesan. Bake at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly brown on top and bubbling. Serve with toast points.

My grandmother had a house on Fremont Avenue in the middle of Springfield and I used to love to go there for the weekend. One thing I could count on in the summer was fresh raspberries. She had a big vine in her backyard and we would pick them in the morning, then she would wash them and serve in china bowls with sugar and cream. This maybe kind of old school, but heavenly!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint of fresh raspberries
• ¼ cup of half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons sugar

PREPARATION

Split raspberries between two small bowls or glasses and pour some cream and sugar on top of each one. If desired, garnish with fresh mint.