in between seasons

Although I haven’t posted in the past week, I have been busy cooking. I’m still making fresh tomato sauce once a week as I can’t help but take full advantage of New Jersey’s tomato season.
 
My son grew Sweet Basil, a Rutgers Obsession DMR variety, and had excellent results. He had three huge planters growing on his deck this summer. My basil plants were sufficient for flavoring my fresh tomato sauce, but not quite enough to make pesto for the winter. He and his wife came over this past weekend and helped me by cleaning and plucking leaves while I made the pesto. I made two 16 ounces jars and one 8-ounce for them. After they left, I made two more 16-ounce jars, one for myself and one for a neighbor.

Recently in the New York Times Cooking app had a recipe for Seared Scallops with Jammy Cherry Tomatoes. As the tomato season is winding down, I couldn’t help myself to try this interesting recipe.
 
For the recipe you’ll need butter, shallots, garlic, dry white wine, one pound of cherry tomatoes, one pound of sea scallops, a lemon, fresh basil, mint and sea salt.
 
The scallops were from Atlantic Offshore Fishery and have been a great price all summer ($13.99/lb.). The recipe takes under 30 minutes to prepare. In the end what you’ll end up with is perfectly cooked scallops in a wonderful and tasty tomato sauce with a hint of lemon and basil (I omitted the mint.) I served over a bit of pasta to soak up the flavorful sauce.
 
I’ve been having difficulty finding my favorite cooking shows on the Public Broadcasting stations. Perhaps they changed up their scheduling to allow for a greater mixture of diverse content at different times of the day. However, recently I came across an episode of Milk Street, which was started by Charles Kimball formerly of Cook’s Country and America’s Test Kitchen. The episode I watched was “Weeknight Italian” and featured an absolutely delicious recipe. Mr. Kimball was in Bologna, Italy at Trattoria Bertozzi where Chef Fabio Berti made Gramigna Bertozzi Guanciale, zucchine, zafferano e scaglie di Parmigiano (gramignone (cut of pasta), pig’s cheek, zucchine, saffron) and Costolette alla Bolognese (Bolognese veal cutlet).
 
This dish is an egged and breaded veal cutlet that is fried, topped with thinly sliced prosciutto and shredded Parmesan. I used the recipe from the website La Cucina Italiana as a guide, adapted it to be closer to Chef Fabio’s creation, and substituted pork tenderloin.
 
Besides the veal cutlets or pork tenderloin, you’ll need eggs, prosciutto, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, butter and olive oil.  I butterflied and cut pork into three pieces. I took each piece of pork, placed it on my cutting board, covered with plastic wrap and pounded it flat.  I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find guanciale, so I substituted pancetta. It turns out that Pastosa Ravioli in Manasquan sells small pieces of guanciale.  I tried to purchase saffron at my local Costco, as they had it the past, but it was not available. 
 
Once I had my ingredients prepped the dish came together quickly. As a side dish, I had some cooked spaghetti squash to which I added some pesto.
 
My husband really enjoyed this and said it was very good. The pork tenderloin was tender and moist and was a great vehicle for the prosciutto and Parmesan cheese. The pesto added to the squash was a nice foil to the rich and slightly salt flavors of the pork. Overall a great weeknight meal.

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​Seared Scallops with Jammy Cherry Tomatoes
Lidey Heuck
The New York Times
 
Yield: 4 Servings
Time: 25 minutes
 
INGREDIENTS
 
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup thinly sliced shallots (about 2 shallots)
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup dry white wine, such as muscadet or sauvignon blanc
1-pound cherry tomatoes, cut in half through the stem (about 3 cups tomatoes)
 Kosher salt and black pepper
16 large sea scallops (about 1 pound), tough muscle removed
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, plus more as needed
1 lemon, halved
 Julienned fresh basil and mint, for serving
 Coarse sea salt, for serving
 
PREPARATION
 

1. Heat a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-low and add the butter to melt. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.
2. Add the wine and cook until about half the liquid has evaporated.
3. Add the tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tomatoes have released their juices and almost completely collapsed. Transfer the tomato mixture to a small dish (use a rubber spatula to get every last bit of the sauce!), then carefully wipe out the pan with a damp paper towel.
4. Pat the scallops dry. Add the grapeseed oil to the skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. When the oil is very hot, add half the scallops, spacing them evenly in the pan, and season with kosher salt. Cook without moving for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook for 1 more minute. Don’t overcook! Transfer the scallops to a plate and repeat with the remaining scallops, adding more oil if necessary.
5. Drain any remaining oil and take the skillet off the heat. Return the tomatoes and their juices to the skillet and squeeze in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Return the scallops to the skillet, nestling them into the tomatoes. Top with the zest of both lemon halves, julienned basil and mint, and a generous sprinkle of coarse sea salt, and serve immediately.

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Cotoletta alla Bolognese
Adapted from
 
Trattoria Betozzi, Bologna, Italy
Chef Fabio Betrozzi
 
La Cucina Italiana
By Gaia Masiero, Editorial Staff
 
Weeknight Italian, Season 4, Episode 201
September 12, 2020
Milk Street TV
 
Serves 4
 
Ingredients:

• 4 slices of veal cutlets (alternatively you can take a pork tenderloin, butterfly and cut into 3-4 pieces)
• ¼ lb. thinly sliced and shingled prosciutto crudo, if unavailable, Prosciutto Di Parma
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (1/4 grated for egg wash and ½ cut shredded into flakes)
• 1-2 eggs
• Breadcrumbs
• Butter
• Chicken or beef broth (just enough to create steam for cheese to melt cheese)
• Salt
• Pepper

 
 
Preparation
Place the pieces of meat on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, flatten cutlets. Season with salt and pepper.
 
Add one to two eggs egg to a soup bowl and stir vigorously with a fork. Add grated Parmesan cheese and mix. Dip the cutlets in the egg and gently hit cutlet against side of bowl to release any excess.
 
Pour breadcrumbs onto a plate. Cover cutlets with breadcrumbs; using your hand press breadcrumbs into cutlet. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes for breading to set up.
 
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large fry pan (You can also add a little olive oil to the butter). Fry the cutlets and brown them slowly, on both sides. Remove any excess fat. Leaving the cutlets in the pan, cover with of prosciutto and plenty of Parmesan Reggiano.
 
Add a small ladle of chicken or beef stock, cover and let cook over medium heat until the cheese is completely melted.
 
https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/f27b1a5e/files/uploaded/menu.pdf
https://www.177milkstreet.com/tv/weeknight-italian

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