Scallop Rosettes with Avocado and Creamed Tandoori Chayote
I love, love, love my plain seared scallops with just a little butter and lemon, and Kara loves them even more, but I wanted something different. When I stumbled across a recipe with my new favorite vegetable-like fruit, chayote, I had to go for it (though the recipe was truly rewritten with chayote standing in for the harder to find hearts of palm). I made my own tandoori seasoning from spices like ginger, coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika, etc. Tandoor actually refers to a type of oven that is usually a large cylindrical shape, and it's a blast to watch the popular flatbread, naan, cooked in them—the dough is just flung against the side, suspended vertically, until it's cooked. Yum. Anyway, the spice we call tandoori can vary quite a bit (just like curry and various other Indian spice blends) and many versions have additional warm spices like cinnamon and cloves, but I stuck to more savory flavors for this. There's a dollop of avocado-tomatillo and lime puree in the center of the dish to cool the spicy Indian flavors, and the red garnish is slivers of pickled cherry peppers. The scallops are sliced along the equator and simply baked, no seasonings needed. A fun and delicious dish based on a protein we eat as often as we can afford in this house.
Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms with Rosemary Breadcrumbs
Since I was taking a risk with Kara's absolute favorite seafood, I made something a little more predictable I knew she'd love. While these mushrooms roasted in the oven, I fried rosemary from our garden in some olive oil until it got nice and crispy and then it was tossed with panko toasted in the remaining oil, which all goes on top of the goat cheese stuffed in the 'shrooms when they come out. A nice little appetizer that definitely served its purpose.
I hope to see all my old audience back and ideally this blog finds its way to a few new eyes and curious taste buds as well. Here's to more culinary adventures!
