Fish on Fridays

I feel I haven’t posted too many food entries lately, and that’s likely for two reasons:

- I’ve been starting seedlings and working in the yard more, preparing for the growing season.
- I realize I’ve been putting together a lot of workaday meals lately. You know the sort: thaw some bone-in chicken or the like the night before, broil it, add a veg, salad, complex carbohydrate. Serve leftovers the next night. Wet, lather, rinse, repeat.

Sure, we all do this from time to time. The meals are not uninspired, nor are they so plain. But sometimes we serve them to serve their purpose.

However, with the advent of Lent, it’s fish on Fridays. As an Italian-American, I grew up with that rule [nearly] every Friday. And we go meatless probably more often than most American families, with an ever-growing repertoire of grains, beans and any invented combination thereof. But with the Lent rule in place now, I’m feeling my cooking oats again.

Today’s Scallops in a Beurre Blanc

Dry white wine
Shallots, minced
1 pinch saffron (if desired)*
up to ½ stick unsalted butter
Plain yogurt (heavy cream is classically used in order to stabilize the sauce; you can use plain yogurt for tang if you’re careful not to break it.)
Sea salt & white pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon**

Butter or Olive Oil
1 lb Scallops dusted with fine flour
S & White P

Treat and combine the first six ingredients as you would for a beurre blanc; reduce. Add the lemon juice last. If it is reduced with the other liquids, I find the result to be too lemony. Season to taste.

Pan sear your scallops (bay or sea).

Finish with sauce. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley or chives and serve immediately.

It was delicious – and quick, as most fish dishes can be. It felt good to get my favorite glass-lidded sauté pan back in circulation, breathe in the steam of that simmering Sauv Blanc [with a glass for the cook, of course], manically chop and top with fresh parsley and serve with a flourish in its steaming, aromatic broth. Crusty bread is not optional, but mandatory here.

More adventures begin next week. I just finished “On the Line: Inside the World of Le Bernardin.”

*Note on saffron: I like it – not just for flavor, but for the creamy extra color it imparts. If you want to be generous with the saffron (and who doesn’t?), then go ahead – and try substituting Champagne for the wine. You won’t be disappointed.

**Note on lemon vs. white wine vinegar: This is a taste issue. The lemon is the acid in the sauce, as would be the vinegar. Depending on the fish, I could go either way. It depends on your audience.

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