Cooking & Baking

Seafood


Striped Bass Francese
Striped Bass Salad
Striped Bass with Eggplant and Olives
Trio of Striped Bass, Salmon, and Tilapia
Oven-Roasted Branzino with Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette
Fried Cod Fritters
Flounder Milanese
Pan-Seared Halibut with Mustard-Caper Sauce
Roasted Monkfish with Asparagus and Chickpeas
Fillet of Sole with Seafood Stuffing
Grilled Calamari with Three Bean Salad
Octopus Affogati with Linguine
Scallops Oreganata
Sea Scallops with Caramelized Fennel
Sautéed Shrimp with Prosecco Sauce

Sea Scallops with Caramelized Fennel
MAKES 4 SERVINGS


My grandparents used to serve sticks of chilled fennel to nibble between courses as a palate cleanser—a tradition that deserves to be revived. If you like fennel as much as I do, give this dish a try. The mild licorice flavor is pumped up with a dash of pastis, a French anise-based spirit. Be sure to caramelize the scallops and fennel nicely to bring out their flavors.

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
20 large sea scallops, about 1½ pounds (see Note)
1 fennel bulb, quartered, cored, and cut into ¼-inch dice
1 cup bottled clam juice or water
3 tablespoons pastis (anise-flavored liqueur), such as Pernod or Ricard
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 scallions (white and green parts), finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a large skillet over high heat until the oil is shimmering but not smoking. Spread the flour on a plate. Working in batches, coat the scallops in the flour, shaking off the excess. Add the scallops to the skillet and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides but not fully cooked, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate.

2. Pour off any oil in the skillet. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and heat. Stir in the fennel and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel has softened and turned golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the clam juice, pastis, pine nuts, raisins, and butter and bring to a boil. Return the scallops to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with the scallions and parsley and continue cooking, uncovered, until the scallops are barely opaque in the center when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 1 minute more. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the scallops to a deep platter. Return the skillet to high heat and boil the sauce, stirring often, until it is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the scallops and serve hot.


pastis? A Real Italian uses anisette or Sambuca. Hmmmm.


I use Paprika Recipe Manager app, and it loves a raw URL. Cleans out all the ads (I use an ad blocker anyway) and life stories quickly.
A LOT of book recipes turn up on the web in individual cooks' websites. (or damn close)

Some of your posts (single item) work, or I just copy and paste.

All very uniform, even if some tidbits are lost.

UNFAIR TO ME.
I'm a recipe junkie, and can't resist adding to the collection (Got that habit from Mom)
And I cook for one. Some of those "dishes for one" are too big for me.

Appreciate the posts, anyway!