Felix’s Fancy Meal of the Month: Pan-Seared Scallops with a Salad of Basil, Avocado, Tomato and Fresh Spring Greens

Felix Tannenbaum, an artist and former chef at the renowned Denver organic food restaurant, the Mercury Café, provides us with an original organic recipe every month. Here's his first contribution:

One of my favorite dishes to prepare and eat, this a simple and quick recipe that highlights one of the many pleasures of organic food: its taste. The few ingredients used are wonderful complements to one another, so if you can get really nice produce (which could be tough this time of year depending on where you live) you will notice it right away.

A few notes about buying avocado and tomato: Stores are reluctant to keep really ripe avocado on hand being that many customers are shopping for the entire week, and because a ripe avocado is only one too-strong-of-a-squeeze away from being a ruined avocado. Still, they usually have a few, and if you take the time to feel a lot of them, you’ll find ’em. The modern American tomato is a poor imitation of a tomato. Sure, it’s bright red and it fits just about perfectly onto a hamburger bun, but that’s about all that it does. You will be better served by buying those weird-looking (and, unfortunately, pricey) heirloom tomatoes or even the vine-ripened kind in the little mesh bags. My general rule with tomatoes is smell them---if they don't smell like anything they won’t taste like anything either.

A few notes on buying scallops: the fresher the better. Your fish seller should be able to tell you how fresh they are, and they won’t lie to you seeing as they want you to return. I enjoy eating fish on the day I buy it, but it seems to last another day or so in the fridge in a pinch. Smell your scallops before throwing them in the sauté pan, they should smell of the sea, maybe a little sweet. If there is a slight “fishy” smell, try rinsing them off in the sink, and give ’em the smell test again. If they are still unpleasant, bring them back to the market and you should easily get our money back. But I don’t mean to be negative, in all the years I’ve been cooking, I’ve only had to return seafood once.

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

20 large dry packed sea scallops (approx. 2 lbs.)
2 ripe organic avocados
2 ripe tomatoes (heirloom if available) of average size
1 package fresh organic spring greens
15 or so fresh leaves of basil, if available
approx. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
approx. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (if you have it, coarse sea salt is a wonderful addition)

Simple vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/16 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

The salad and the dressing can be assembled up to two hours before serving but are best made a few minutes before searing the scallops. In a large bowl combine vinegar, salt and pepper with a fork. Add oil and whisk with fork until smooth, 30 seconds or so. Throw in a generous handful of greens for each serving and lightly toss. Cut your tomatoes and avocado into quarters and then eighths. Toss those into your salad bowl as well as your fresh basil. Toss! When it comes time to serve, right before you sear your scallops, separate onto 4 plates.

Pat your scallops dry with a paper towel. Lightly salt them. Get a ten-inch skillet or larger and set it over med-high heat until you can hold your hand a few inches above it for only 5 seconds. Coat the bottom of the pan with butter and olive oil and when the oil starts to shimmer, arrange your scallops, flat side down, with a good pair of tongs in the pan. Allow them a little room between. The scallops will quickly develop a lovely brown and apricot colored crust and you can turn them over right after they release from the pan.* Once the other side has browned they are ready to be placed on the plates! I like to throw a little bit more salt and pepper on the salad, especially over the scallops, tomatoes and avocados. I hope you enjoy it!

*The trick here is to develop as much of that crust as you can without overcooking the scallops---scallops are best moist and an overcooked scallop will be quite rubbery and fairly unpleasant. If you have never seared a scallop before I highly recommend trying it out using one or two scallops before you serve your guests. It’s a very easy thing to do once you see how it works.

Felix Tannenbaum is a Denver-based artist recently transplanted to Montpelier, Vermont. He was formerly a chef at the renowned Denver organic food restaurant, the Mercury Café. Samples of Felix’s artwork can be viewed at www.felixtannenbaum.com and www.topshelfcomix.com.

February 7, 2006

Felix’s Fancy Meal of the Month: Pan-Seared Scallops with a Salad of Basil, Avocado, Tomato and Fresh Spring Greens