a summer of seafood

This summer, sea scallops have been holding steady in price at $15.99/lb. Occasionally I’ve seen them on sale at Shop-Rite, Foodtown and Whole Foods for $14.99/lb. Recently I purchased them at Whole Foods as a special dinner for my husband and I. I have several recipes on this blog for sea scallops, but for the sake of research, I wanted to find another one. On the New York Times cooking app, I found a recipe for sea scallops with brown butter, capers and lemon. This recipe was featured in an article in back in 2009. Chef Michael Lomonaco, created this recipe at the former Windows on the World Restaurant where he worked before the devastation of 9/11.

​This recipe is easy, has minimal ingredients, but lots of flavor. You’ll need olive oil, unsalted butter, a shallot, salt-packed capers, fresh lemon juice and fresh flat leaf parley. Before I cooked my scallops, I  seasoned them with salt and pepper prior to dusting them in Wegmans Pan Searing flour. Next it was time to sauté the scallops. Once that was complete, a little butter was added to the pan. Time to add the shallots and capers for a quick 1 minute sauté; then the lemon juice. 

To serve, merely pour the sauce over the scallops once they’re on the plate. The scallops were delicious! I love a quick cook recipe, especially one with few ingredients. This a good recipe to keep on hand whether for a weeknight meal or for company. 

The other evening, my daughter and her family were here for supper. Both she and I are known to cook a lot of chicken. So in deference to my son-in-law, I prepared a seafood supper. Shop-Rite had on sale this past week, whole lobsters for $7.99/lb. (with a coupon $6.99/lb, limit one). A good start was to prepare lobster rolls. As my granddaughter doesn’t like lobster, she’s almost 2, I picked up Dominick shrimp, 21-25 count, on sale for $15.98 for a two pound bag. I wanted a recipe that would appeal both to her and the rest of us. I did a search for a recipe by Ina Garten and found a wonderful one, Shrimp Skewers. Again, it was a recipe that had minimal ingredients, but lots of flavor. You’ll need fresh parsley and basil, olive oil, dry mustard, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, fresh lemon juice and 2 pounds of shrimp. I must admit, although I read the ingredient list and the directions, I overlooked the fact that I had to peel the shrimp, yikes! Not to worry, I made it a peel and eat recipe. I also think that keeping the shells on helped prevent the shrimp from over cooking on the grill. 

The review, everyone enjoyed the dish! The addition of the parsley and basil gave the shrimp wonderful flavor. The lemon juice a touch of acidity to make the shrimp zing! Despite the fact that we had to peel the shrimp, it didn’t deter this group licking their fingers!