Valentines Dinner Menu – Cocoa Scallops with Vanilla Bean and Saffron Beurre Blanc on a bed of micro green
My husband and I had the best Valentine’s Day – it started with a trip to the Providence Winter Farmer’s Market where we picked up some amazing scallops – Bomster Scallops from Stonington CT. The scallops are harvested and flash frozen right on the boat shortly after being shucked, they are not rinsed with fresh water or treated in any way – to read more here is a link to an article that ran in RI Monthly.- Bomster Scallops. These scallops are the best, about the size of a half dollar, fresh and dry packed. Also on our trip I picked up micro greens from Ledge Farms and of course some cheese from Narragansett Creamery and Blue Corn Meal from Kenyon Mills (not sure what I will be making with this…I will keep you posted). After our market trip we were off to Federal Hill for a little lunch at Zooma and I can’t go to Federal Hill without a stop in at Venda Ravioli. The check out line wove through the store and I am not exaggerating when I say there must have been 40 people in line if not more. We bypassed that line and went for a Cappucino and a almond cookie and headed back home with our treasures to prepare dinner. On the Valentine’s Dinner menu….
Cocoa Scallops with a Vanilla Bean and Saffron Beurre Blanc on a bed of micro greens with crispy and spicy sweet potato rounds served with a side of roasted asparagus. We served it with a Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. For dessert homemade truffles made by Chef Patti of Anastasia’s Table. Thanks Patti! Happy Valentines Day!
In an effort to get my husband back on track with eating a little more healthy I had to bribe him with a little decadence. I promised last Sunday that I would prepare his favorite Thai Chicken Pizza if on Monday he would be back to his more healthy eating plan. He agreed and I made the pizza. Don’t get me wrong…we all really like this pizza – he is not alone. The recipe is based on the California Kitchen Thai chicken pizza recipe with a few little changes. There were leftovers and to the best of my knowledge he didn’t eat them, they were missing from the refrigerator but I believe the teenager and young adult in the household ate them during a late night move and feeding frenzy. Husband kept his word and went back on the healthy eating plan on Monday morning….the power of good food!
In the fall I attended the Gluten Free Summit in Providence and a representative from Pamela’s Gluten Free products was promoting their products and giving out some yummy samples. The Green Grocer in Portsmouth sells several of Pamela’s GF products so last week we focused on their vanilla cake mix and I prepared delicious! GF coconut cupcakes – one was prepared with a dairy free frosting and one with lots of butter – certainly not dairy free!
The snowy beach photo was depressing and dismal so I went back to something more pleasant…food!
Every Superbowl we have plan a great “football-tailgating” dish to dine on during half time. This has been a tradition for at least seven years and we had some fun foods like ribs on the grill, wings, chili, brats and sauerkraut to this years Gumbo. We just can’t find really good gumbo here in NE. My husband who has spend time in New Orleans on business trips misses having gumbo so this year it was gumbo! Terrible to say this but I don’t have a recipe that I would trust posting – I will have to work on that. I started with a basic recipe but by the end of the dish it didn’t resemble what I had started with. The gumbo was absolutely amazing with the right balance of spice and heat and we threw in shrimp, crayfish, chicken and andouille. It was served over a little white rice and if you ever make gumbo as good as it is the day you make the next day will be even better. If I can work through my notes and recipe I will post – but here is the picture at least.
