Taste and Tattle Tuesday: Pea Risotto with Scallops

Hi Everyone! Today Lauren is presenting her spin on Tyler Florence's Sweet Pea and Scallop Risotto.

For the full original recipe, click here!

1. The first step is to make the puree. Set it aside.

2. Next, I get the chicken stock or broth warming up. I also start cooking some bacon. This recipe doesn't call for bacon, but I think it adds a nice salty element. Note: if you want to make this vegetarian, use vegetable broth/stock and forget what I said about bacon.

3. Next, you'll need to prep your celery, shallots, and peas (if frozen, let thaw). I choose to add a bit more celery and shallots than the recipe calls for. I love shallots, and I like a little bit of crunch.

4.  Saute the celery and shallots in a bit of olive oil. Then, add in the rice and make sure the rice gets coated in the olive oil. Tip: I do this with my Spanish rice, too! It just makes the rice better :)

5. Once step four is done, start adding a cup of stock at a time. Once the first cup is absorbed, add another. Repeat. You may or may not use all of the stock the recipe calls for.

6. Season with salt and pepper. It's important you add a bit, taste, and then, if necessary, adjust. At first, I'm pretty light with both because you can always add more.

7. Stir in the Parmesan and butter. Tip: use any Italian cheese you like. I prefer to use Pecorino Romano.  I also add more cheese than the recipe calls for.

8. Lastly, fold in puree and whole peas. Take off heat, cover, and set aside.

If you want to add scallops, you have a few more steps. If not, you're done!

9. Make sure you pat the scallops with paper towels, and then season on both sides with salt and pepper.

10. Warm a pan that contains a bit of olive oil and butter. Remember, never put anything in a cold pan. Do not crowd the scallops and do not add too much oil. If you do the first thing, they won't cook well. If you do the second thing, they will boil/poach versus sear.

11. Do not touch your scallops until you're ready to flip them. I wait for them to look a little less translucent halfway through, and then I flip them. I suggest using a fish spatula, if you have one.

12. I let my scallops rest on a paper towel.

 Then you're ready to plate your whole meal, and voila!

It's a fairly inexpensive meal that will blow people away. It's also easy to do, so don't be scared.

If you try this, please let us know. We'd love to hear about your experience with this recipe. Enjoy!

Taste and Tattle Tuesdays: Restaurant-Style Salsa

Hi all! Colette here!

It's hard to believe September is just around the corner. With Labor Day coming up, here's a great side dish to bring to your end-of-summer pool parties and BBQs. I actually made and served this salsa at a party I hosted last weekend, and many people left asking me for the recipe. Well, here it is!

Colette's Restaurant-Style Salsa

What makes a salsa "restaurant-style" in my mind? For one thing, freshness. Ripe tomatoes and hand-squeezed lime juice are a party in your mouth, unlike canned/preserved salsas from a jar. (Don't get me wrong -- I'll eat pretty much any kind of salsa all the time. But fresh is best). Another thing is that it tends to be less chunky -- it's pureed, not chopped. That's how I make mine.

Ingredients

This is only some of what I used, thought what is pictured above is enough for an awesome salsa!

Four (4) large, ripe tomatoes
Three (3) small limes
One (1) whole jalapeno
One (1) jalapeno, seeds removed*
Two (2) tablespoons chopped white onion
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Two (2) tablespoons cilantro leaves (pre-chopped is fine)
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Tools

Knife
Cutting Board
Food Processor (small) 

Directions

(1) Gather and prep all of your ingredients. You can choose to chop a whole onion yourself or be lazy like me and buy the pre-chopped kind from Henry's. *wink* Make sure as you chop one jalapeno, the seeds stay inside, and on the other, you remove all the seeds.

Why de-seed a jalapeno? Most of the spice in peppers comes from the seeds inside. While the flesh of jalapenos is also spicy, removing the seeds will take the heat down a notch. Now, I like my salsa flaming hot, so I'd normally use 2-3 whole jalapenos. But like I said, this was for a party, and I wanted to please a lot of palates.

(2) Add some of the ingredients to the food processor. I don't mean just pick and choose -- I mean add a little bit of each ingredient that you have. This will allow everything to blend better. Start with about 1/3 of each ingredient that you have chopped/prepped (tomatoes, jalapeno, onions, cilantro). Squeeze the juice from one lime over the ingredients:

 (3) Pulse/chop for one minute. Repeat until all the ingredients are blended together:

That's it! Smooth and spicy, it's perfect for any party. 

Enjoy!