Once again there were some beautiful large very fresh scallops at the Greenmarket, and, especially after a summer of much smaller specimens, it was going to seem a shame if I didn’t take advantage of their size – and the fresh bouquet of basil waiting on the counter – to repeat the same savory entrée I had prepared only 10 days before.
I made last night’s preparation at least a little distinctive from earlier versions by finishing the 10 pan-grilled médaillons with a garnish as special as the perfect scallops themselves.
- 10 thick sea scallops (12 ounces) from Seatuck Fish Company, rinsed, dried, slit horizontally with a very sharp knife almost all of the way, stuffed with a mixture of basil from Campo Rosso Farm, one medium-size clove of garlic from Willow Wisp Farm, salt, and pepper, chopped together very finely, removed to a small bowl where just enough olive oil was added to form a paste, the stuffed scallops then rolled around on a plate with a little more olive oil, drained, pan grilled about 2 or 3 minutes on each side, removed to plates, lemon juice and olive oil drizzled over the top, and garnished with some wonderful micro scallions from Two Guys From Woodbridge
- two garlic scapes from Berried Treasures, cut into quarter-inch segments, sautéed in olive oil until tender inside a heavy copper pan, adding much of one small red Calabrian chili pepper from Campo Rosso Farm, finely chopped, near the end, after which one medium green heirloom tomato from Stokes Farm cut into thin wedges, and 8 or so small orange and red cherry tomatoes from Berried Treasures, halved, were added and cooked for a minute or so before 2 small handfuls of halved yellow flat pole beans from Norwich Meadows Farm (par-boiled, drained, and dried earlier) added to the pan and stirred briefly, heating and combining the flavors of all the vegetables, seasoned with salt and pepper, mixed with a little chopped fronds attached to stems of some fennel flowers from Willow Wisp Farm, removed to the 2 plates, and scattered with the fennel flowers themselves (tasting much like the takeaway from an Indian restaurant), roughly chopped
There was cheese and fruit.
- small amounts of 2 Consider Bardwell cow cheeses, ‘Barden Blue’ and ‘Pawlet’, with toasts made from very thin slices of ‘whole wheat farm’ bread from Rock Hill Bakery, in Gansevoort, N.Y., served with one shared ripe, luscious satsuma plum from Phillips Farm
- the wine was a California (Lodi) rosé, Karen Birmingham Rosé Lodi 2015
- the music was Handel’s 1732 opera, ‘Fernando Re Di Castiglia’, Alan Curtis directing Il Complesso Barocco