One of our dreams is to travel out to scenic Italy as homage to our families’ roots. The cuisine is known for its Mediterranean flair plentiful in fruite de marre. It’s so much more accessible for a seaside country to specialize in shellfish than a land-locked one. Since a package of scallops this week was only $9. Let’s give them a spotlight before they shoot up in price like those $21 shrimp.
The scallops we know and love are actually just the muscles (let’s not get confused with mussels, shall we?) that joins the fan-shaped shell together. As Lidia Matticchio Bastianich tells in her cookbook “Lidia’s Italian Table”, Europe also saves the peachy-colored roe. Sometimes you can have them served together. Once scallops are shucked, they’re put into a preserving liquid, hence the official name, “wet scallops.” Wet scallops are best when they’re an off-white color and have been kept at very low temperatures. This is one time when we won’t bash the idea of an ingredient being somewhat frozen at the start. If they appear off-color, feel slimy, have been at room temp for too long or smell sour, throw them out immediately! Paralytic shellfish poisoning can be at worst deadly! If you have any sort of symptoms after eating shellfish, SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!
Remember that Giovanni fettuccini from Reel Seafood Company? Spinach, cherry tomatoes, shrimp, oyster mushrooms and scallops on a bed of fettuccini. It hits the spot when you’re looking for that classic huge Italian plate.
When I was in Italy (before I met my dolce inamorata) we would spend hours at the table at meal times. Each meal was a couple courses long with EVERYTHING from pizza, salad, antipasto and every kind of fish they could find. All throughout, there would be conversations, laughing and savoring each other’s company unlike the hustle and bustle of today’s on-the-go fast food services.
The Reel Seafood Company in particular holds a special place in our hearts as a couple. We went there for our first anniversary of our first date. In fact, this was the first meal I had there while you had the stuffed haddock. Ironically, when we returned a year later last March, we inadvertently swapped meals! Isn’t it beautiful how food can be so nostalgic and refresh some of those fond memories? With all that being said, let’s get to cooking.
Looks like the feet of the scallops are cleared off already. All we have to do is season both sides, plop them in the oiled pan and flip when they feel right. Seasoning for these little suckers has to really pack a punch. I gave them a mix of pink salt, black pepper, parsley and paprika.
We got some words of advice from the vender in the seafood section to make sure they were a nice crispy brown on the edges. A simple way to test is to compare the feel of the scallops to the flesh between your thumb and first finger. If the scallop is firmer, you’ve over-cooked it and consequently, it will be very chewy. If it’s squishier, keep it on the heat for another 30 seconds. Just keep in mind, scallops cook relatively quickly.
We left the spinach whole, (Not my best idea, strips would have been so much easier. Oh well, save it for next time) minced the garlic and the oyster mushrooms and sliced the cute cherry tomatoes in half while we waited for the water to boil for the macaroni.
Timing on our end has improved with experience in the sense of synchronizing the cook-times of the ingredients. Water may take seemingly forever to boil-you know what they say about watching pots too closely- but if you keep yourself busy with other parts of the entrée, time won’t feel so stagnant. It’s not just water boiling or not, but the chef that wastes time watching.
Once we melded everything together into my mother’s macaroni bowl, everything tasted just fine with a small drizzle of olive oil. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the wine for the white wine sauce. This was a big fat oops on our part because macaroni tends to stick to itself if not properly dressed in some sort of oil, butter or sauce. The scallops were tender and spiced just right.
What really tied it all together for us was the atmosphere. Holding hands across the table, pulling out each other’s chairs and turning an ordinary dinner into a date night with Italian-American music and fancy clothes. Food is not only best made with love, but it’s also best shared among loved ones. It fills your stomachs and your hearts. Viva L’Amore!
