Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

On today’s menu we have a pan seared sea scallop on a nest of angel hair pasta, accompanied by a roasted red bell pepper sauce.

The sauce is comprised of roasted red bell peppers, skins removed, then pureed. Cayenne pepper, sour cream, salt, parsley, and lemon zest/juice are also included. It’s got a great sweetness to it that really complimented the scallops natural sweetness.

The wine paired with this dish was another bottle of the Cottage Road Chardonnay that I picked up a few weeks ago. It also would have done well with a Riesling or Gewürztraminer to play off of the mild spiciness, but just make sure they aren’t too fruity or they will take away from the delicate taste of the scallops. That’s why a nice crisp and dry chardonnay hits the spot!

I love how it turned out!

-Johnny

Baked Halibut with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Feta

On today’s menu we have a Baked Halibut Steak topped with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and crumbled Feta Cheese.

I’m working on my plating technique; the white wine reduction dots were an afterthought. A smudged afterthought. Oh well.

The dish was great! You really have to season the heck out of halibut as it’s naturally not a very “fishy” fish. The salt and pepper mills worked over time.

I will make this dish again, but next time I may add something for it to rest on that compliments it well. We’ll see what I can cook up.

Voila!

-Johnny

P.S I have GOT to figure out how to take decent pictures with my camera!

Spinach Linguine with a Seafood Medley

On today’s menu we have a Spinach Linguine with a Seafood Medley. The Medley consists of shrimp, scallop, and squid, sauteed in basil, garlic, shallot, radicchio, tomato, and white wine.

I admit, it looks gross. Kinda like you dipped your hand in the ocean and came out with a scoop of dead things.

It was, however, surprisingly good. This dish was enjoyed with a glass of Californian Chardonnay.

Will I make it again? Eh, I’m pretty squeamish about eating things that are still in the same form as they were when they were alive. Maybe not.

Of coarse, the whole thing was tossed with Parmesan-Reggiano.

Voila!

-Johnny

Spaghetti with Pinot Grigio and Seafood

The past few days have seen me primarily in sweat pants, wrapped in a large comforter, while consumed with the sniffles and extra strength Tylenol. Johnny and I were talking recently about our comfort foods, and the past sickly days have been filled with many of mine: pb&j’s, Easy Mac, toasted turkey and processed American cheese sandwiches, and spaghetti; not to mention bags and bags of Hall’s Fruit Breezers. The two of us ventured out to go see “Good Luck Chuck” last night, which proved to be a pathetically allergy-stricken outing.

This morning, after a cup of coffee and some of the hazelnut biscotti Johnny made, I felt quite a bit better. I decided to be productive; which meant finishing some work, making a trip to Market Street, and returning to my work out routine after a “sick leave” of sorts. The work was finished, the excursion to Market Street successful; however, working out was not a good idea. In fact, it was a very bad idea. So, I have returned to my sofa (green tea, books, and cough drops in tow) and I will probably remain here for quite some time.

Even though I now feel incapacitated, earlier this evening I had no intention of letting my grocery shopping be in vain. So, I whipped up a slightly modified version of Giada De Laurentis’ Spaghetti with Pinot Grigio and Seafood.

By “slightly modified”, I mean I used scallops instead of clams. I like them better and they’re easier to eat. As I said earlier, spaghetti is definitely one of my favorites, and I like to make it as easy to partake in as possible; however, clams would probably make this dish prettier and more interesting.

This was fantastic, and will definitely be made again. The Pinot Grigio had a great flavor and I plan to play with this recipe further in the future. As it is commonly known, Giada makes some fantastic foods.

Yum.

-Mel

Shrimp stuffed Three Cheese Manicotti

On today’s menu we have a Shrimp stuffed Three Cheese Manicotti. The shrimp was sautéed in garlic, tomato, shallot, basil, and white wine. The cheeses used were Parmesan-Reggiano, Ricotta, and Mozzarella.

This was my first time multi-tasking in the kitchen. Until now I haven’t had the confidence to focus my attention on anything other than the food in front of me and my dog below me. Overall it wasn’t so tough. I tripped over a rolly chair in my office prancing back into the kitchen to get another glass of the Pinot Grigio I bought last week. Skinned my shin. That was about the extent of the kitchen drama. My dog may disagree as she is chased away every 5 minutes or so. She runs away when I show her my chef’s knife and sneaks back into the kitchen from the opposite side. She looks like some sort of spy the way she moves from corner to corner being careful to stay out of site. Funny funny. I remind her how bad of a mother she is for letting me sell all her puppies!

You can’t really tell that it’s pooch is filled with yummy shrimp and cheese. Perhaps I should invest in a higher quality camera when I get better at this stuff. Maybe I should find some guide to fancy presentations on the internet somewhere. Maybe.

Loved the dish. I made 16 shells in all. They were woofed down.

Voila.

-Johnny

Fettuccine and Shrimp

On today’s menu we have a fettuccine with shrimp topped with parmesan-reggiano. The shrimp was sautéed in tomato, basil, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, and white wine.

This was my first attempt, not only at this dish, but at anything that takes longer than it does to open a plastic bag. That being said, it turned out great!

I’ve been trying to “get into” wines lately, so before I made the trek to central market to get my shrimp I did a little research. I happened upon a simple page that is great for the wine newbie such as myself: http://www.foodsubs.com/WinesWhite.html

I heard somewhere that you are supposed to cook with a wine that is from the same country as the type of food you are making, so I went for the Italian rack. I chose a Pinot Grigio from Masi Masianco. Apparently Pinot Grigio is a great wine to be paired with seafood and pastas. An obvious choice. Not only did I add a splash to the shrimp, but I also drank a glass with the final product. De-lish.

To conclude the meal, I made some chocolate covered strawberries. I used Lindt & Sprüngli dark chocolate.

In the poorly chosen words of Joey from Top Chef Miami, “It’s like an orgasm in your mouth.”

Voila

-Johnny

Salmon and Taters

It seems only appropriate to kick off “Love At First Slice” with something simple, yet classic. Everyone needs their Omega-3’s, and salmon seemed like a good starting point. I flipped through some recipes and found one for “baked cilantro salmon” in Betty Crocker’s Quick and Easy. I was also craving some mashed potaters, and they seemed like a good choice to plate with the fishes, although angel hair pasta was probably an even better option.

The salmon is seasoned with a blend of ground cumin and salt (the latter of which was probably slightly lacking), splashed with a good squeeze of lemon juice, and cooked for 20 minutes. The topping is a mix of margarine, cilantro, and lemon zest– very flavorful. The salmon was cooked perfectly, which was a pleasant surprise on my first go.

If you get the chance, I recommend using a potato masher. It’s a lot more fun than you’d think.

The potatoes were just like grandma use to make them, although I opted for half a stick of butter to her minimum of 2 sticks, but only because I’ve grown attached to my arteries. Her version with an extra 100g of saturated fat is obviously better, but I thought mine went quite well with the juicy nature of the fish. Unfortunately, they also could have used a little more salt. All in all, it was a surprisingly good meal, and I would love to try it with pasta again at some point.

-Mel