Thursday Night Dinner: Seared Scallops With Crabmeat And Roasted Red Pepper Creme Fraiche And Asparagus.

Mr. Hawthorne stopped at Billy's Seafood on Colington Road Thursday and brought home SCALLOPS. Scallops are my favorites.

And here's what I was heading for: Seared scallops with a roasted red pepper creme fraiche and my leftover crabmeat mixture, the cold tomato mixture from last night's artichoke stuffing, and a cold tomato concoction from the other night when I thought I was going to do Chilies Rellenos for Cinco de Mayo, but that, unfortunately, tanked and bombed.

It's really too bad I do these dishes at night, because in the sobering light of day, my photographs would be spectacular. My white plates would be ... WHITE. But I do the best I can under the circumstances.

First I roasted my pepper ...

... until nicely charred.

Then I plunged the hot pepper into ice water and easily scraped off the skin.

I had some creme fraiche I'd made the other day.

I chopped my roasted pepper and added that to the creme fraiche in my Magic Bullet ...

... and I Magic Bulleted away until I had a nice pink-hued creme fraiche which I topped with crushed red pepper.

I liked this picture of my lemon.

Dixie played in the pool all day while I did yard work, so she's very tired and lazy - too tired to stand up to drink out of her bowl.

I rinsed and dried my scallops and seasoned them with freshly ground pepper and lemon zest.

I heated my pan, added butter and olive oil (light), and seared the scallops, maybe 2-3 minutes each side.

I heated up my leftover crabmeat mixture in a little butter.

Scallops are looking mighty fine.

Seared scallops with crabmeat mixture from the other night, tomato/pepper/onion mixture on the left between the aspargus, the tomato stuffing mixture from the artichokes at top right, and roasted red pepper creme fraiche on the scallops, and asparagus sauteed in butter.

This was excellent. The heat of the sweet scallops melted the creme fraiche a bit so that it kind of drizzled down the sides of the scallops.

Here's the tomato/onion/pepper salsa I originally made for my chilies rellenos, but that's a sore subject which I won't talk about again.

I used two roma tomatoes, half of an onion, and a slice of green pepper.

Diced all ingredients.

And sauteed in a bit of butter. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Now enjoy the close-ups of our meal:

Seared scallops with roasted red pepper creme fraiche.

Crabmeat atop seared scallop in front. Red pepper creme fraiche on scallop in back.

Oooh. More crabmeat.

Crabmeat on top scallop. Roasted red pepper creme fraiche melting on bottom scallop. I love scallops just by themselves, but these sauces added a new dimension of flavors and tastes, elevating this dining experience to a new level.

The Breakfast That Ticky Missed.

Ahhhh ... Ticky, Ticky, Ticky. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Just look at what you missed.

Sunday morning for breakfast I wanted something special, something different, something "outside the box," so to speak. (And I hate that expression.) Oh heck, I wanted to "push the envelope."

I was inspired by my creme fraiche/lime/cilantro dip for this part of this recipe. I pulled out my plain creme fraiche, (Plain creme fraiche? An oxymoron if I ever heard one. Let's say unadulterated creme fraiche, or virgin creme fraiche, or unadorned creme fraiche.) an orange, and Mr. Hawthorne's sourwood honey.

A tablespoon or two of honey in the creme fraiche.

I zested an orange ...

... and added that to my honeyed creme fraiche.

I'm doing fried plaintains. Here are the ingredients for my batter: just club soda and Bisquick.

One cup Bisquick and 3/4 cup club soda. I love the bubbly foamy.

Then I thought to add in vanilla, the good vanilla, of course. (Nod to Ina. Wink to shrikes)

I sliced my plantains and put them in the batter.

I heated vegetable oil in my pan, then added the battered slices of plantains. Do not crowd the pan. Just do a few at a time.

I fried them on both sides, then I drained them on paper towels.

And here's breakfast fare for the Hawthornes. Fried plantains sprinkled with powdered sugar, with assorted fruits, and an orange-honey creme fraiche.

Now, I know everyone recognizes the strawberries, the blackberries, the blueberries, and the raspberries (which I could have done without since I am not at all a fan of raspberries). But does anyone know what that other mass of matter is on the left? Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of it before I peeled it and plated it. But thank goodness for Google Images. Here it is. Upon first looking at the fruit, Mr. Hawthorne thought it was an artichoke. I guess he didn't look very hard, since it didn't have leaves like an artichoke, although when I looked at the image on the link above, I can see why he might have thought it was artichoke. Here's another picture. Anyone know what it is? ... Respectful pause while my readers ponder ... It is a cherimoya. And here's more interesting information about the cherimoya. And more. What did it taste like? To me, it was like custard, taste-wise and texture-wise. Daughter Hawthorne floved it. But alas, the Hawthorne Household won't be having this fruit on a regular basis. When Ticky and I went to Harris Teeter on Saturday, we were looking in the produce department and came upon this item. The description described the taste as mango, maybe strawberry, and some other fruits I can't remember. It didn't have a price on it, but I wanted to try something different. I tossed it in my cart and it wasn't until I scanned the item at checkout that I found the darn thing was over $5.00.

I thought this a very pretty presentation and found it to be delicious. When I make it again, and I most certainly will, I will substitute bananas for the plantains. The plantains didn't have the flavor I expected of them. I thought they would taste like bananas, but they didn't. They just looked like bananas. And I actually thought I was buying bananas, when I picked up the plantain which was right next to the cherimoya. Note to self: Put on your glasses when shopping the produce section at Harris Teeter. Definitely, bananas would put this over the top. If you like plantains, then go with them. But bananas would be absolutely divine.

As for the batter, it was everything you'd look for in a batter - light, crisp, fresh, and complementary to the food it was encasing. Plus it had that hint of vanilla in it. This was an excellent batter and one that I'll use again (sans vanilla), for fish, for vegetables, for ... you name it. OK, so I Sandra-Lee'd it with the Bisquick. Just kill me now. The soda water is what put the batter over the top. As I said, an excellent batter.

Molten Nutella Truffle Chocolate Lava Cakes With Sweet Vanilla Creme Fraiche And Creme Anglaise.

Rosie is entering a contest!

Please check out a new blog, Dessert Wars, created by Reeni of Cinnamon Spice And Everything Nice blogdom with her friend Christine of The Cupcake Bandits blogdom. These lovely ladies are sponsoring a dessert challenge. Every month this year. Rosie is chomping at the bit. Here's January's challenge: The theme of the month is ... Go Nuts Using Nutella.

I think I can take on Nutella. (Nutella's website on above link.)

And as noted in the Rules, I need to post a list of the prizes:

-Whisk and cupcake necklace from Moon & Star Designs

-The Smartshopper Electronic Grocery List Organizer

-Beanilla Sampler Pack of Vanilla Beans

-Lenox Personalized Musical Cupcake

-1,000 ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes

-Endless Vanilla and Cinnamon Extract -Unlimited Layers: A Recipe for Turning Your Passion into Profits -$50 Gift Certificate to Theme Kitchen -$50 Coupon Redeemable for Organic Valley Products -$50 Coupon Redeemable for Organic Prairie Products

For the contest,

I made a Molten Nutella Truffle Chocolate Lava Cake with strawberries, toasted hazelnuts, powdered sugar, creme Anglaise, and a sweetened vanilla creme fraiche. Click right there on the red link to see my entry on Dessert Wars.

The lovely part of this is when you slice into the chocolate cake and the molten Nutella Truffle oozes out. That's my favorite part.

These are also known as chocolate lava cakes or chocolate volcano cakes.

You know you want a bite. Right NOW.

Shall we start with the Nutella Truffles?

Ingredients for my Nutella Truffles:
 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 TB butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces cream cheese
 1/4 cup Nutella
 In a double boiler, melt the bittersweet chocolate and the butter in the cream. Remove from heat and stir in the cream cheese and the Nutella. Chill for 1-2 hours. Roll into balls. Keep refrigerated until ready to place into the cakes. For Nutella Truffles on the side, roll in toasted hazelnuts.

Cream, butter, and chocolate in double boiler.

Mix well.

Remove from heat and add in cream cheese. Stir to melt.

Add in Nutella.

Stir to combine. Chill for 1-2 hours.

When chilled, scoop out tablespoons full of the Nutella mixture.

Drop on a metal plate for faster chilling and set back in fridge.

When chilled, roll into neat balls and keep chilled until ready to use.

Now, on to the my little chocolate cakes.

Here's my mise en place for 6 individual chocolate cakes:
 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
 1 stick unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 1/4 cake flour
 1 tsp baking powder
 And forget that there's a 1/4 cup of heavy cream up there.
 That was for the Nutella Truffles and for some reason (stupidity?) I left it in the mise. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter 6 5-ounce ramekins. Melt 4 ounces of chocolate and stick of butter in double boiler. Whisk to blend. Remove from heat. With an electric mixer, beat eggs and yolks. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add in vanilla and continue beating, until light-colored and light. Fold melted chocolate and flour and baking powder mixture alternatively into egg mixture in about 3 additions. Ladle into ramekins. Place a Nutella Truffle ball in the middle of each ramekin. Bake for 15- 17 minutes or until cake is firm to the touch. Let sit for about 5 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the inside of each ramekin and invert onto a plate. Garnish with strawberries, toasted hazelnuts, powdered sugar, Creme Anglaise, and Creme Fraiche with sugar and vanilla. For my chocolate cakes:

Bittersweet chocolate, not sweetened or semisweet, and butter in the double boiler.

Melt and whisk to combine. Remove from heat.

Start beating eggs and yolks. Start on low and move up the speeds.

You want it to get light-colored like this.

Slowly add in sugar, beating.

Get it light and thick.

Add in vanilla.

Beat away.

I added a teaspoon of baking soda to the flour.

Alternatively, fold in flour ...

... and chocolate in about 3 additions.

Ladle into buttered ramekins.

Place a large Nutella Truffle in the center of each ramekin.

Ready for the oven. When I bake anything, I always place it on a baking sheet in case of spills.

400 degrees. 17 minutes.

I love the molten center.

I had previously made the Creme Fraiche.

1 cup of heavy cream. Squeeze in about a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Add in a tablespoon of buttermilk. Stir. Cover with a paper towel and let sit at room temperature overnight.

The next morning, stir, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface, and refrigerate. As is, this can be used in place of sour cream. And it's much nicer than sour cream. Richer. Better flavors. Creme fraiche is multi-dimensional. It has depth. Store-bought sour cream is just that and nothing more. One should make their own creme fraiche and discern this for one's self.

I wanted a slightly sweet, tart version of Creme Fraiche, so I used 1/4 cup of the Creme Fraiche, about a tablespoon of sugar, and a 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Mix well. Now for my

Creme Anglaise, also, previously made.

My mise en place for Creme Anglaise: 1/2 cup skim milk 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 1/2 cup sugar 4 large egg yolks, room temperature Combine the milk, cream, and split and scraped vanilla pod and seeds. Cook over low/moderate heat just until small bubbles form around the rim. About 5-6 minutes. In another bowl beat the egg yolks and gradually beat in sugar. Whisk in half of the hot cream mixture, very slowly, in a thin stream. You do not want scrambled eggs, so go slow (ly). Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture thickens, about 4-5 minutes. It will coat the spoon. This is heaven on a spoon.

Milk, cream, and sliced, scraped pod and beans.

Scald the cream/milk/vanilla. Just to bubbles around the edge of the pan.

4 egg yolks. Ready to be beaten. Now, watch the color change.

Start beating on slow, then gradually go up each level to high.

Gradually add in sugar, beating. Keep going. Lighter and thicker.

Beat away until almost white and thick.

Slowly stream in half of hot cream mixture into egg/sugar mixture, beating away. Remember: NO scrambled eggs, please. Thin stream. Beat constantly.

Add beaten mixture back to pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thickened. About 5 minutes.

Strain into container, pressing vanilla through strainer, holding back on pods.

To plate:

Invert a chocolate cake onto the plate. Slice some strawberries and fan out. Sprinkle toasted hazelnuts, and give a dusting of powdered sugar. Perhaps you might want to top it with a chilled Nutella Truffle rolled in toasted hazelnuts. Drizzle with creme Anglaise and sweet vanilla creme fraiche.

If you follow my directions for this, you will love me.

Here's Mr. Hawthorne's construction, with the strawberry slices in the molten center.

Place a chilled Nutella Truffle rolled in toasted hazelnuts in the volcano vent.

Creme Anglaise on the left and sweetened vanilla Creme Fraiche on the right.

Ahhhh. Yes! Truly divine.

I'm also submitting this to World Nutella Day, hosted by Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso, which will be on February 5.