Dinner ... Part Deux.

Mr. Hawthorne and I were at Harris Teeter's and found some beautiful scallops.

They were huge.

I rinsed them off, patted them dry, and added salt and pepper.

And so starts tonight's entree.

First Up ... CARAMELIZED ONIONS.

I thinly sliced my onions and started sauteeing them in melted butter.

Saute the onions, scraping up the brown bits.

Pour in white wine to de-glaze the pan.

Continue cooking.

Keep adding in wine and cooking the onions down until you get lovely caramelized onions.

Set aside.

Next up ... PARMESAN CRISPS.

Place shredded Parmesan cheese into biscuit cutter rounds. Press down firmly.












Place into pre-heated 425-degree oven and watch carefully.











Apparently, I didn't watch as carefully as I should have. I should have turned the pan halfway through cooking.

Important note:

Do NOT let crisps cool on baking sheets, else they'll stick, horribly.








If you missed this window,
just heat them back up a bit and try again.


Scrape off while still warm.


Lovely Parmesan crisps.


Third up ... PESTO.

I only have two little basil plants growing on my window sill so I didn't want to strip them of every leaf to make basil pesto, so I went out in my garden and picked some mint leaves and some parsley, in addition to the basil.












Add a bit of garlic, then some pine nuts.
















Add Parmesan cheese, then add olive oil while processing.

And you end up with a beautiful pesto.



Fourth up ... RISOTTO

I included these because I liked the pictures.
Know what it is?

I'm pouring boiling water over some sun-dried tomatoes to softened them.
I likey steamy.

Wow, that Blue Pearl Granite sho is purty.

I have chopped spinach, chopped onion, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.




Saute your onions in butter.

Whoot!

ACTION shot.

Pour about a cup of Arborio rice into the onions.










Thoroughly coat the rice.











Add chicken stock just a bit at a time and allow the rice to absorb the liquid.









Stir constantly.

I ended up using about 2 cans of stock.

I like to add in a some heavy cream for
extra richness.

Here's the risotto, almost done.














Next, add in the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes.

















Stir vegetables until spinach is wilted.
















Add in grated Parmesan cheese.












My thick, creamy, delicious risotto.

Set aside.



Fifth up ... SCALLOPS.


Remember, I've already rinsed, patted dry, and seasoned my scallops.



Here's my pesto, my caramelized onions, and my scallops.


Saute scallops in butter, maybe two minutes on each side.
Do not cook all the way through because you're going to finish them off in the oven.



... ON TO THE ASSEMBLY ...





Using a biscuit cutter,
make rounds of risotto.


















Next, add a Parmesan crisp.


















Add scallops on top.

Then add a bit of pesto.

Finally, top with the caramelized onions and place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 4 minutes.

I've plated the scallop and the Panerre Naanini with
some mustard emulsion and paprika infused oil.

The scallops were cooked to perfection.

Youngest Hawthorne came in a few minutes later, so I ended up making a third plate of this.

OK. Here It Is. And This Is Just The Beginning. More To Come.

I'm still on my Indian kick, so I decided to make Naan, a leavened Indian white flatbread.

First, I mixed my dry ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 TB sugar
1 TB baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

I made a well, then added in 2 eggs, stirring them into the flour mixture.

Next, I added in 1 cup of milk, in a slow, thin stream,
stirring constantly until ingredients were well combined.

Knead the dough for about 10-15 minutes, until it's nice and smooth.

Gather the dough into a ball and place in a bowl.

Cover with a towel and let dough rest in a warm, draft-free place for about 3 hours.

Three hours later...
pretty, smooth dough.

Mr. Hawthorne always likes to help out in the kitchen, so he offered to slice the naan into 6 equal portions.

Place two large ungreased baking sheets into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
Place the naan on the preheated sheets and POP back INto the oven.

(Gee, I'd forgotten SandySpeak.)

Here's my naan puffing up inside my oven.
Cook about 6-8 minutes, or until bread is firm to touch. Then place under broiler for a minute or two to brown the tops slightly.

Wallah! Naan.

I cooked the back set a bit more than the front.

Here's my mise en place for my Paneer Naanini.

At the top, I have my naan, turmeric, salt, home grown red peppers, frozen peas, chopped red onions, and chopped tomatoes.

Bottom right is my home-made paneer.
Bottom left is chopped spinach.

Chop the paneer into cubes.

Heat peanut oil in skillet and add onion, tomatoes, and peas.












Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft.

Isn't this pretty?

Next, add in the spinach.

Chop up the red peppers.

Add in the chili flakes, turmeric, and salt.

ACTION SHOT!

And here's the filling.

Slice the naan in half.

Looks like two little foot prints.

Spread the filling over the slices of naan and put the cubes of paneer on top.

Saute in butter.

Slice the naan into yummy little pieces.

Wonderful Dinner Tonight.

I had a wonderful dinner tonight. It actually took me several hours to prepare. I just can't post tonight, since it would probably take me 3-4 hours to do so, and I don't feel like doing that right now. Stay tuned. I'll post tomorrow. And, just let me tell you, it will be worth the wait! Trust me. What's involved: Naan Paneer Scallops Parmesan Crisps Risotto Caramelized onions Pesto Spinach It was YUM-MO!

Don't You Just Hate It When This Happens?

Well, I am totally pissed. I was all excited about my Outer Banks Taste of the Beach class today from 4-6 on
Learning the Secrets of Seafood.

At 3:15, I left home and drove the approximately 20-mile drive to the College of the Albemarle in Manteo where these classes are being held.
At 3:45, as I'm TURNING INTO THE PARKING LOT of the College of the Albemarle, my cell phone rings, and it's "Priscilla," who is apparently one of the event organizers or something, or maybe just some poor underling whose job it is to clean up after the higher ups eff it up. "Priscilla" informs me that the class for which I have tickets TODAY from 4-6 is actually being held on FRIDAY, March 7. It was a misprint on the web site.

Outer Banks Taste of the Beach

Oh yeah, they've changed the schedule NOW.

I kindly thank her for this heads up and ask her why she couldn't have called a bit earlier, say BEFORE I HAD TO DRIVE 40 MILES
(with gas being $3.10 here the last time I bought any)
and WASTE AN HOUR OF MY TIME.

I immediately called home to bitch at Mr. Hawthorne about this, because, of course, this is his fault. He naturally knew about it already, which I had figured out since Priscilla had my cell phone number.
He told me he gave her my number since he wasn't about to call me with the news.
Chicken Shit.

Speaking of chicken, when I finally got home, Mr. Hawthorne had been busy in the kitchen. Let me just say, "He Sandra-Lee'd it."

This is Mr. Hawthorne's Chicken Niplets, a sweet and savory combination of skinned and trimmed chicken pieces, Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Basmati rice and brown rice blend, and pineapple slices with cherry nipples.

Close up.

My Indian Kick.

As I've mentioned previously, the last two times we've been to Raleigh to see our daughter, we've been to

India Mahal Restaurant

Now, last week, I made the wonderful
Chicken Curry .

So, I really want to explore this unique cuisine.

Today, I made my own paneer.

You can read about paneer
here in Wikipedia.
Yes, I know, it's the definitive site for any and all things.

I went to Google and came up with numerous sites.

I liked these two:

Mahanandi
and
this lovely site.

Well, you know me.
I can't follow a recipe exactly.

The recipe called for whole milk.

I only had 1 % milk.

So I took 2 cups of 1 % milk, added one cup of half and half,
and one cup of heavy cream.

Then I had a bunch of those little tiny limes (Key limes?) I bought for $1.00 yesterday at Harris Teeter.
I squeezed a bunch of them.
Maybe 2-3 tablespoons.

I brought my milk to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly.



Once the milk came to a boil, I reduced the heat and added the lime juice.





In a few minutes, I saw small curds floating on top. I didn't think they got as big as I thought they were supposed to do, even after cooking the 5 minutes, and cutting off the heat and waiting 5 more minutes.

Soooooo, I consulted another recipe,
heated the milk up again to the boil,
added some buttermilk and plain yogurt in.
That did the trick.

Cooked it another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Then let set 5 minutes.

I poured the mixture into a cheesecloth-lined sieve.

ACTION PIC!
It looks like a miniature tornado.

Here's the mixture settling in the cheesecloth.


Lots of whey draining through.

After about 30 minutes of draining, I brought the cheesecloth up in a ball,
tied it up with rubber bands,
and squeezed it to get the water out.

At this point, I left the curds in cheese cloth, in a strainer, draining in a measuring cup in the refrigerator, while I went to Manteo for my cooking class.

I came back home and un-cheeseclothed this.

Here's my cheese.
I'm quite proud of myself.
I gots me a ball-o'-cheese.

Another Cooking Class At The North Carolina Aquarium.

Does this chair make my butt look big?

Today's cooking demonstration was performed by Executive Chef Cory Schleicher of Old Tom's Tavern in Powell's Point, N.C.
This presentation was by far the most enjoyable and entertaining I've been to yet.
The gentleman is very funny.
I will have to make the drive up there some Friday night, because that's when he comes out of the kitchen into the dining area to entertain the patrons.


He prepared Marinated Margarita Swordfish Kabobs:

fresh swordfish, cut into cubes
red peppers, large pieces
yellow peppers, large pieces
orange peppers, large pieces
Bermuda onions, cubed
fresh pineapple, cubed

Skewer the above, alternating fruit, vegetables, and marinated swordfish. Grill until swordfish is cooked through, about 4 minutes,
or bake at 325, approximately 12 minutes.


Margarita Marinade

2 cups orange juice
2 cups sour mix or margarita mix or fresh lemon and lime juice and sugar
1/2 cup Tequila
1/2 cup Triple Sec
1/2 cup sugar
1 TB salt
1/4 tsp cayenne

Mix all ingredients together and marinate the swordfish for at least 6 hours and no more than 12 hours.



Hawaiian Rice

wild rice/white rice
onions
chicken stock
Coco Lopez coconut milk
ginger
pineapple

Francaise Rockfish with Shrimp and Roasted Red Pepper Silk Sauce

Fresh Rockfish scallopine (cut on bias to about 1/2" thick)
Seasoned flour (Kosher salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, dried thyme & basil)
3 eggs, beaten
chopped shallots
TB lemon juice
4 TB clarified butter
1/4 cup white wine

To clarify butter, just heat over low heat and skim off the milk solids.
Heat clarified butter in saute pan until hot.
Dredge rockfish in flour and shake off excess.
Dip in beaten eggs and put into hot butter.
(This is the Francaise method, I learned. Normally, you'd dip in flour, then eggs, then back into flour. Here you just dip in flour then eggs.)
Sear on one side until golden brown, roughly 1-1 1/2 minutes.
Carefully turn fillets over, add chopped shallots, lemon juice, and white wine.
(If you're using open flame, remove pan from heat before adding wine.)
Season with salt and pepper and put in oven for about 5 minutes at 325 degrees.

Roasted Red Pepper Silk Sauce

1/4 pound shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined
2 red peppers, flamed, roasted, and peeled
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 sup sherry
corn starch slurry to thicken (equal parts corn starch and water)

Now if you can't flame roast your peppers, oil them and set under the broiler until skin is blackened. Then immediately put into a paper bag and seal so the steam helps take the skin off.

Pulse the shrimp and roasted red peppers in a food processor until the mixture is very fine.
Heat some clarified butter in a sauce pan and add shrimp, pepper mixture.
Add brown sugar, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for about 2 minutes
Deglaze with the sherry.
Add the heavy cream.
Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and add the cornstarch slurry to thicken.
Drizzle sauce over the rockfish.
Garnish with chopped red pepper and scallions.

I'll definitely be making the sauce.

Before going to our cooking class, Mr. Hawthorne and I took a side trip back to the Elizabethan Gardens since "Nancy" wanted to get some more of Somebody's-Gramma's-Parlor-Potpourri-Spray. This is after we had gone to the quilting exhibit at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

So now, I give you pictures of the lovely gardens. I only wish they had a way to bottle the smell of the freshly-mowed lawn.



Pansies are still blooming, hyacinths are falling over from the weight of their blooms, and the yellow tulips are blooming.

Ahhhhh. Spring.

In Addition.

In addition to the three dishes of jicama I prepared last night -
jicama/black bean/potato salad,
jicama slaw,
and jicama lime and chili matchsticks-

and the tostadas that Mr. Hawthorne made,

he also made pork spare ribs.

Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, and granulated garlic.
325 degree oven
Turn after 1 hour.
Turn again after another hour.
Turn up to 350 degrees.
Baste in the last half hour of cooking with whatever barbecue sauce you like.
Mr. H. makes his own. It's delicious, but he ain't talking now.
(15 minutes on one side. 15 minutes on the other.)