Black Opps Scallops

I know I've mentioned my Monday dinners before but the most recent one went over particularly well and was particularly easy so I figured I'd share. We're calling this recipe...Black Opps Scallop Salad in honor of a particularly amazing line uttered by Blair Waldorf in last week's Gossip Girl (the reason we gather).

And actually, while we're on the topic, I've decided to stop apologizing for watching it. I don't know why I'm so compelled to do so but goodNIGHT it is light and the clothes are pretty and it's kinda funny and on a Monday with my girlfriends with a long week ahead? Not bad. Plus the music's pretty good. And I need my girlfriends. All of them. At every opportunity and especially on Mondays.

*Did you know I don't have cable? I'm not alone in that either, I think I have three other friends who looked at their cable bills sometime in the last year and said "$50 a month for BASIC cable?" No thanks. I miss Check, Please but I can watch everything else online when so compelled.

What this means for Gossip Girl though is that when it's my turn to host/cook, I either need to take a re-run week or take over someone else's kitchen. This week, my thanks to Gina who's kitchen is just as stocked with "the good olive oil" and cheeses and great knives as mine is. So since Monday was a holiday I actually had time to cook all day (we'll get to my banana bread fail another time).

I brought the entire dinner, all ingredients and even some servingware, to Gina's place in Gold Coast and got to work while the ladies got started munching on David Leibowitz's Baba Ganoush with homemade pita chips (spiced with salt, pepper and paprika). That was another big hit as it is really quite healthy with just 3 roasted eggplants and I used two full heads of roasted garlic, some olive oil and lemon juice. I'd show you a picture but to be frank, the stuff tastes fabulous but doesn't photograph terrible well.

Black Opps Scallop Salad
Serves 6

Scallops
2 pounds bay scallops (on sale for $8 at Dominicks!)
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons butter (unsalted)

1. Rinse scallops in a colander under cool water then dry them in a bowl lined with paper towels.
2. Combine dry ingredients (everything left other than the butter) in a small tupperware container and shake shake shake (with the lid on) to make sure it's well-combined.
3. In batches, toss scallops in the flour mixture, shaking excess flour of each scallop before adding to a frying pan with 2 TB butter melted of medium heat.
4. Scallops should be left for about a minute and a half without turning then tossed until golden brown on all sides. Repeat process till all scallops are fried. Replenish butter when necessary to prevent burning.
   

Salad
Large box of spring mix or 1/2 spring and 1/2 baby spinach
1 large grapefruit, halved and then supremed
1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced into fifths on each half
3/4 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup dried cherries
Loads of goat cheese

Toss it all together with dressing (recipe follows), adding scallops only at the very end of the toss process to evenly distribute.

Dressing
Juice of 1 whole grapefruit
1TB champagne vinegar
1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Shake Shake Shake or Whisk Whisk Whisk then toss with salad and scallops above.

It's a great girls night because it takes no time to put it together and there are opportunities for helping hands when it comes to the avocado, grapefruit and scallop prep. Also- it's good filling, not I-wish-I'd-brought-sweatpants filling.

A Moment in the Edible Career Corner

Served on the side, I made stuffed mushrooms. This is a very special recipe because it's one that I finally perfected thanks to worklife. I never talk about the office but we're all foodies here so if you make the jump to check out the Stuffed Mushroom recipe, you may find a very familiar voice on The Mushroom Channel. And @MushroomChannel for that matter. Yes, I really do read food blogs, write food blogs and Twitter for a living. It's not bad work if you can get it:)