{"id":6065,"date":"2015-11-17T20:16:30","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T20:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=6065"},"modified":"2015-11-17T20:16:30","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T20:16:30","slug":"grilled-scallops-on-a-bed-of-salsify-wreathed-in-arugula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=6065","title":{"rendered":"grilled scallops on a bed of salsify, wreathed in arugula"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"scallops_salsify_arugula\"<\/a><\/p>\n

not\u00a0an Advent wreath, but it does look festive; probably\u00a0tastes much better<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For years I had been trying very hard to find a way to use salsify. \u00a0The vegetable had long fascinated me, at least partly for its homeliness. The fact that I could find almost nothing in the way of a recipe in any of my books or files didn’t help. \u00a0It also didn’t help that I was unaware that ‘oyster plant’ was another name for the same vegetable, meaning that\u00a0it\u00a0was actually under my nose all along.<\/p>\n

I had often seen black salsify in the Greenmarket, but the stalks always seemed to be too narrow to deal with easily if you aren’t just going to add it to a soup or a stew, especially since the vegetable has to be peeled.<\/p>\n

\"salsify_John_D_Madura\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then last week, when I spotted this\u00a0beautiful row of white salsify displayed in the Greenmarket by one of my favorite farms, I finally decided to\u00a0take some home. \u00a0I first picked up five\u00a0or six, put them in a bag, and had already exchanged some banter about the root before I asked how much they would cost. \u00a0I heard, “20 dollars a pound”, and thought it was a part of the banter. \u00a0It wasn’t.<\/p>\n

I thought, wow, vegetables sure have come a long way since the days when they only grew (and often died<\/em>) inside supermarkets, and apparently I’m not the only one who esteems\u00a0them above meat today. \u00a0I returned all but one stalk to the row where I had seen it, but three days later I returned for one more. \u00a0I still didn’t know what I would do with the vegetable, but I didn’t think I wanted to be caught short when I did.<\/p>\n

Now I wish I had bought four.<\/p>\n

Last night, starting too late as usual, but interested in marrying the scallops with the salsify,\u00a0I looked\u00a0on line once again, I found a mere sketch of\u00a0an attractive recipe, but one which I decided I could work with, and it\u00a0could\u00a0put a meal on the table in about an hour.<\/p>\n

The original recipe<\/a> is so simple it seems like it’s intended as only a framework for others to play with. \u00a0In my version there were some serious liberties taken, one\u00a0of which included a substitute for the\u00a0watercress. \u00a0I didn’t have watercress, but I did have some extraordinarily luscious arugula. Those\u00a0very fresh greens were\u00a0so good that I ended up using\u00a0a reckless\u00a0amount, which meant I had to place\u00a0it next to\u00a0the scallops and salsify, not on them; \u00a0I decided on a circle – only\u00a0for the geometric efficiency of course.<\/p>\n

Other changes included dressing the arugula with good oil, salt, crushed pepper,\u00a0and a drizzle of organic lemon. \u00a0I\u00a0also Pan grilled the scallops, as I do usually<\/a>, and, especially because they were fairly small already, I did not halve them. \u00a0I parboiled the thinly-sliced salsify, then saut\u00e9ed it, but next time I’ll simply\u00a0slice it into \u00bc-inch segments and caramelize them in butter. The next time I\u00a0will also try for more salsify, and larger scallops (I won’t halve them), and whatever green (or ‘red’) I use will be in a smaller amount, and sprinkled over the salsify (but\u00a0maybe\u00a0not the shellfish).<\/p>\n

I want to ask everyone out there reading this to please ask for salsify<\/em> when you’re in your\u00a0local greenmarket. \u00a0It’s a delicious vegetable, and its preparation is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, but It’s pretty expensive right now, and I can only think it has something to do with rarity.<\/p>\n