Scampi-Style Steak and Scallops

Over the past couple of years, Brady and I have had some great birthday dinners at fun Chicago restaurants. This year Brady opted to have me cook instead of take him to dinner. Even though we were staying in I wanted to make something special. The below recipe ended up being the perfect restaurant quality birthday dinner.  I loved the seared scallops in the scampi sauce and while I usually like a steak just plain with a little salt and pepper, I thought the herbs in the scampi sauce really added to the flavor of the beef. I served the dish with a side of roasted asparagus seasoned with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Super simple and yet still worthy of a celebration!

Scampi-Style Steak and Scallops

Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 25 minutes

2 medium beef tenderloin steaks
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
6 large sea scallops
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
dash hot pepper sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Season steaks with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat until hot and bubbly. Add steaks to skillet and cook 5-7 minutes per side for medium-rare. A couple of minutes before the steaks are done, add the scallops to the skillet to sear, 1-2 minutes on each side, right beside the steaks, but not touching.

After starting steaks in the skillet, begin to make the sauce. In a medium skillet or sauce pan, sauté onion and garlic over medium heat in olive oil until fragrant. Add wine and lemon juice, simmer to reduce slightly, 1-2 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted into the sauce. Stir the parsley, lemon zest, basil and hot pepper sauce into the scampi sauce. Add the sauce to the skillet with the steaks and scallops and serve.

Seared Scallops with Spring Vegetable Risotto

I am going to begin this post with a bit of a warning, the recipe below is a bit labor intensive. I think the directions in the original recipe were a little hard to follow which may have been part of the problem. I am hoping that my directions below make a little more sense and make the preparation of the dish a little easier. The dish wasn't hard to make but it did require two cooks in the kitchen. If it had just been me cooking it might have been a little interesting.

That being said, I really loved the dish and thought that it was worth the time and effort. There are a lot of great flavors with the lemon, wine and the addition of the gremolata- which we forgot about at first but after we added it I thought the gremolata really made the dish. The risotto paired perfectly with the seared scallops but you could easily substitute chicken or shrimp or not mess with a protein at all.

Seared Scallops with Spring Vegetable Risotto
** adapted from Cook's Illustrated, Light and Healthy
 print recipe


Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 45 minutes

Gremolata
2 T. minced fresh parsley, stems reserved
2 T. minced fresh mint, stems reserved
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

Risotto
1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and reserved, spears cut on the bias into 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound leeks, greens reserved, white and green parts halved lengthwise, sliced thin and rinsed
4 c. low sodium vegetable broth
3 c. water
1 T. oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 1/2 c. arborio rice
1 c. dry white wine
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T. butter
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Scallops
1 pound (about 8) fresh large scallops, patted dry to remove any moisture
salt and pepper

Combine the parsley, mint, and lemon zest in a small bowl; set aside.

Combine broth and water in a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Chop the tough asparagus ends and leek greens into 1/2 inch pieces and add to the broth, along with the reserved mint and parsley stems, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the asparagus spears that have been cut on the bias, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, and cook, stirring often until crisp-tender, about 4-6 minutes. Add the frozen peas, and continue to cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.

Next, in a large skillet heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add the leeks, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Uncover and increase the heat to medium. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Strain the broth, discarding the solids. Set over low heat and cover to keep warm.

Add the rice to the leek mixture and cook, stirring constantly until the ends of the kernels are transparent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the wine, and cook, stirring often, until it has been absorbed, another 3 minutes. Stir in 3 cups of broth and continue to simmer, stirring every few minutes until the liquid has been absorbed and the bottom of the pan is almost dry, about 12 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup more broth every few minutes as needed to keep the bottom of the pan from drying out. Continue to cook, stirring often until rice is al dente, about 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a medium size skillet over high heat and add a bit of butter or oil. Add the scallops, about four at a time to avoid crowding, to the skillet and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Remove scallops and repeat with remaining scallops.

Remove risotto from heat, and vigorously stir in the cheese, butter and lemon juice, then gently fold in the reserved asparagus and peas. Season with salt and pepper if necessary and serve served with seared scallops on top and garnished with gremolata.

Seared Scallops with Tomato Cream Linguine

Last night Brady and I accomplished something that we are both very proud of, we successfully made scallops for the first time. To be fair I should say that Brady cooked them and I watched as he pan seared them to perfection. He didn't overcook them, under cook them, burn them, or mess them up in some way that would have caused disappointment after shelling out $14 for them.  Let me just say it again, they were perfect.  Maybe it was the fact that Brady watched various tutorials on how to cook scallops (kind of nerdy but apparently helpful), whatever it was, they turned out great.

Apprehension about cooking the scallops aside, this recipe was incredibly easy and quick to toss together.  Plus it was adapted from a Cooking Light recipe so it's relatively healthy.  The sauce on the pasta is a very light cream sauce with a hint of lime and ginger which really compliment the sweetness of the scallops.  What we realized and what I think the real key to the success of this dish is, plan to under cook the scallops because they will continue to cook once you take them off the heat and in turn they will be cooked perfectly!

 Seared Scallops with Tomato Cream Linguine
** adapted from Framed Cooks who adapted a Cooking Light recipe.
print recipe

Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 c. dry white wine
1/4 c. minced shallots
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 T. fresh minced ginger
2 T. whipping cream
1 T. butter
1 plum tomato, chopped
salt and pepper
1 1/2 c. linguine
3/4 pound large sea scallops
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Combine the first four ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Meanwhile, start boiling a large pot of water for the linguine. Once the wine mixture is boiling let it cook till reduced to about a 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes).  Drain mixture into a bowl, reserving the liquid and discarding the solids.

Once the large pot of water is boiling, add linguine and cook for about 8 minutes, or until al dente.  While the pasta is cooking return wine mixture to the saucepan and add cream, cooking over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add butter, stirring until melted.  Add chopped tomato and season with salt and pepper.  Reduce to low.

Heat a large skillet, adding enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Pat scallops dry with a paper towel and then season with salt and pepper.  Once the pan is good and hot arrange the scallops in the pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Drain the pasta water, leaving about 1/4 cup water remaining in the pan. Stir in the tomato cream sauce.  Dish pasta into bowls, top with a few scallops and garnish with chopped parsley.