Bay Scallops with Smoked Fingerling Potato Salad, Endive, & McIntosh Apple

I have previously confessed my love for Laurent Tourondel... it's no secret. But I'll tell you something new: I love him even more now. Since my little eclair was born, I've been cooking, but not those spend-all-day-in-the-kitchen meals; it's been more the toss-something-in-the-slow-cooker dinners (which are delicious, don't get me wrong). But I know I'm adapting to motherhood when I get that urge to make a fab dinner, to pick recipes that take up a full page or maybe even two, have unusual ingredients or techniques, and look darn good on a plate. Enter Laurent. For my birthday in December, my mother-in-law sent me a copy of Fresh from the Market. I've drooled over it numerous times, and I finally got around to making a meal from it.

The first course is featured below. I am personally not a scallop fan. But every now and again I'll make a first course with them because my husband loves them. This recipe calls for bay scallops which I find more palatable than the big guys. I was intrigued by smoked potatoes (amazing!) and McIntosh happen to be my favorite apples. This is one great first course. It's got lots of different textures - creamy potato salad, crisp greens, crunchy apples and bacon and lush scallops. Jeff put it in his top five first courses (his long-standing favorite is also from Laurent...)

Watch for the main course: a veal chop with black trumpet ragu and crispy artichokes... mmmm.

If you're in the market for a new cookbook (and who isn't really???) check this one out. Not that I'm partial or anything.



Nantucket Bay Scallops with Smoked Fingerling Potato Salad, Endive, & McIntosh Apple
adapted from Fresh from the Market by Laurent Tourondel

SERVES 6

Potato Salad
2 slices thick-cut bacon
3/4 pound fingerling potatoes
Kosher salt
1 cup hickory wood chips, soaked in water (or use a stovetop smoker with chips if you have one)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons store-bought barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon mustard oil, or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon finely diced celery
1 tablespoon finely diced red onion
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Scallops
1 tablespoon canola oil
11/2 pounds Nantucket Bay scallops

Salad
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 head endive, sliced on the bias into 1/2-inch strips
1 small McIntosh apple, peeled and cut into matchstick-size strips
1 bunch watercress, large stems removed

Make the potato salad
Cook the bacon in a small sauté pan over medium heat until crispy, about 5 minutes. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Once cool, roughly chop the bacon.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and salt liberally with kosher salt. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 18 minutes. Drain the potatoes. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins.

Line the bottom of a pot with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Drain the hickory wood chips and place them in the pot. Heat the wood chips over a burner until they are smoking. Place the potatoes in a steamer insert and set the insert in the pot. Cover tightly with a lid, allowing no smoke to escape from the pot. Smoke the potatoes over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Alternatively, smoke them for 5 minutes in a stovetop smoker.

Whisk the mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, mustard or grapeseed oil, and sherry vinegar in a large bowl to blend.

Add half the warm potatoes to the dressing and, using a fork, crush the potatoes into the vinaigrette. Cut remaining potatoes into quarters and then fold them in.

Fold in the chopped bacon, parsley, celery, and onion, and season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Let the salad stand for 20 minutes to allow all the flavors to incorporate, stirring occasionally.

Prepare the scallops
Heat the canola oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season the scallops with salt and pepper. When the pan is smoking hot, add the scallops. Sear the scallops on 1 side until caramelized, about 2 minutes. Once the scallops have caramelized, swirl the pan several times and continue to cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer the scallops to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture.

Assemble the salad
Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic in a medium bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss the endive, apple, and watercress in the vinaigrette to coat.

To serve
Spoon the potato salad in the center of 6 plates. Place the scallops over the potato salad and then top with the watercress salad. Serve immediately.

French Laundry Crab: Crab Salad with Cucumber Jelly, Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette and Mache

My dream is to one day dine at the French Laundry in Napa Valley. Until that day comes, I'll happily try my hand at Thomas Keller's recipes and content myself with imagining what it will be like when I do go. That said, I've had the French Laundry cookbook for awhile now and I've only made two recipes. Many of them are pretty involved and I just don't get myself organized enough to get through them. But last Saturday, my parents came over for dinner.

I was making a pretty simple meal: grilled ribeyes and homemade pasta with prosciutto, grilled asparagus, smoked mozzarella and fresh basil. I wanted a first course that was a little more interesting. So I climbed onto my stool and got the French Laundry down from its place of honor in my kitchen. I quickly settled on Dungeness Crab Salad with Cucumber Jelly, Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette and Frisee Lettuce. It was beautiful, light, and only a couple ingredients would give me a challenge.

I ended up making some modifications. Keller says to buy cucumber juice at a health food store (I couldn't find it) or to make it at home in a juicer (I don't have one). So I made my own using my method noted below. I also used jicama in place of daikon and mache in place of frisee. To see what other modificaitons I made, you're just going to have to get a copy of the French Laundry!

It proved to be a hit with Jeff and my parents and it's a first course I'll make again. It's not too complicated and it really does plate beautifully. Give it a shot. We had the leftover crab the next day without any cucumber jelly and it's still delish. So if the jelly scares you, make the rest of the dish without it.



Crab salad with Cucumber Jelly, Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette and Mache
adapted from The French Laundry by Thomas Keller

For the cucumber jelly:
1 1/2 peeled cucumbers, cut into chunks, plus 1/2 small cucumber peeled
1/2 tsp. plain gelatin
1 Tbsp. warm water
24 dill sprigs, plus more to garnish salad

For the crab salad:
1/3 cup heavy cream
3-4 tsp. whole grain Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and white pepper
1 lb. lump crab meat
1 c. baby greens (I used Mache rosettes)
2-3 radicchio leaves torn into small pieces
3 Tbsp. grated jicama
Extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tsp. lemon juice
Kosher salt and white pepper

Place the chunks of cucumber in a blender and puree. (Add a little water if needed to get it started.). Line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Pour the cucumber puree into the strainer and let sit. You need 1 cup of cucumber juice (I got plenty from 1 1/2 medium cucumbers). Set the juice aside.

Using a mandoline or sharp knife, cut lengthwise slices about 1/8 inch thick from the half cucumber. Cut the slices into narrow strips about 1/8 inch wide and then cut the strips at an angle to make diamonds. You will need about 2 tablespoons of diamonds. Set aside.

Mix the gelatin with the warm water and stir to dissolve. When the gelatine has dissolved, whisk it into 1 cup of cucumber juice. Pour a thin layer of the juice onto each of 4 serving plates. Discard any excess (I used square plates and used just about all of the juice).

Arrange 6 dill sprigs around each plate and some of the cucumber diamonds. Leave the center open as this is where the crab will go. Put the plates in the refrigerator to set for at least one hour. (My refrigerator shelves were a bit uneven, so I used folded index cards to make sure the juice didn't collect on one side of the plate!)

Before serving, whip the cream in a medium bowl until it forms a ribbon when the whisk is lifted. Whisk in the mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Place the crab in a separate bowl and fold in just enough of the cream mixture to bind the salad. (Don't just dump the crab into the cream because you may have too much whipped cream.)

Toss the greens, radicchio and jicama with a little olive oil and the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Fill a 2 to 2 1/2 inch ring mold or cookie cutter with the crab mixture (pack it in so the shape holds) and carefully place over the center of the plate. Lift the mold off and then top the crab with a bit of the greens and a few extra dill sprigs.

Note: don't take the plates out fo the fridge too soon or the gelatin will soften. If that happens, stick them back in the fridge for a few minutes to harden.

Makes about 4 servings.

Fresh, simple, pretty prosciutto

Last night we had steaks for dinner with grilled ramps and some potatoes. I wanted to make a first course with a little pizazz (and not a lot of effort). I found a recipe in Neil Perry's Good Food for Prosciutto with tomato and bread salsa. It looked pretty and easy so I gave it a whirl. It was delicious and very eye-catching. I'll definitely make this again for a dinner party.

As I so often do, I made a few modifications to the recipe. My version follows. I will note that Chef Perry called for parsley and not basil and sourdough breadcrumbs. Lacking sourdough, I had some pocketless Greek pita so I dried one in the oven and then crushed it with my handy rolling pin.


Prosciutto with Tomato bread salsa
Serve 2 (can easily be increased for more people)

• 8-10 paper thin slices of prosciutto
• 1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
• about 5 basil leaves
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (use homemade - store bought are too fine. you want just a little chunkiness)
• 1 Tbsp. tomato juice (just squeeze a chunk of tomato)
• Red wine vinegar
• Extra Virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Arrange the prosciutto on two plates. In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, breadcrumbs, basil and tomato juice. Add a splash of red wine vinegar and a lite drizzle of olive oil. Stir to combine, then add salt and pepper to taste. Scoop the tomato salsa into the center of each plate.

Couldn't be any easier!