Saturday, July 15, 2006
Pan-Fried Baby Scallops
We've done it, we've finally booked a holiday!
Months ago, we decided that we missed South Africa and our friends there so much that we had to go back for Christmas. But then we realised just how much a trip to Cape Town would be during December and changed our minds. A nice, relaxed 3-week trip in September seemed a lot more reasonable. We were going to keep it all cheap and cheerful - a hiking trip to Greece or Bulgaria for example or backpacking in Morocco. But then we realised just how much we missed Cape Town and our friends and changed our minds again. And in order to stop us ever changing our minds again, we went right ahead and booked, albeit for January when the prices aren't quite as high, but the weather is equally gorgeous.As a result of this rash action we're as broke as we were when we first
came to Dublin and I'm back to shopping on Meath Street for most food essentials. This is rather unpleasant from a foodie perspective, for the emphasis here is on price and mass, not quality and appearance, but it yields very nice food nonetheless. Today's lute were some lovely looking baby scallops (a steal at €1 for 10), some chicken livers, a pork leg and 
a bunch of vegetables. I also went to the market to get my usual supplies from Jenny: Lots of salad, baby potatoes, zucchini, green beans, runner beans and two different kinds of radishes. I did skip the luxury, such as fish, vegetables from Dennis or freshly baked loaves from Fallon & Byrne, though. My loaf was good enough for lunchtime sandwiches and with all the meat I had bought there was really no need for fish. It's probably good to take some time out from it. If you have something too often, you can no longer appreciate it. We noticed this when Lofty was over the moon when he saw the pork I had paid all of €1 for, but did not moan the missing fish. Luxury is what you rarely get, and crackling is definitely more rare in Lofty's life than seafood.This is not to say that he wasn't happy when he
got tonight's dinner - Pan-fried baby scallops on a huge salad. I was a bit unsure how to tackle these tiny morsels that came out of the shell. Full sized scallops only take about two minutes on each side, so these would be done in no time. This, however, meant that by the time I had turned the last one over, the first one would be burnt or tough or both. I took my clue from a Chinese recipe that suggested stir-frying baby scallops over very high heat for a minute. I used as little oil as possible and, once they were nice and brown, pulled the wok off the heat and added a knob of butter and two finely chopped cloves of garlic. The result was perfect. So, if you ever get your hands on baby scallops, don't be afraid to buy them. Just make sure they're not cooked for more than 2 minutes.Christine at 10:03 pm
