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: Cold Entree

Good Morning, Foodies! Lauren here!

This week, we thought we'd feature a cold entree. I, however, don't do many cold meals (ahem! I blame the husband), so finding something that sounded yummy that is served cold posed a little challenge for me. I stumbled across a noodle dish, and since Asian food usually goes over well in our house, I gave it a shot.

Here's a link to the original recipe.

I did amend the recipe a bit. Whenever I follow recipes like this, I always find I don't have enough sauce, so I doubled the amount of everything, except the peanut butter.

Additionally, I added Sriracha (It's heaven if you like things spicy) and garlic. I knew I'd add sesame seeds and chow mein noodles at the end for garnish and flavor.

Tip: Never do anything just for garnish. Everything on the plate should be purposed to eat and add flavor. End of rant.  

Mix the ingredients together and bring to a simmer.

Another tip: taste and adjust. I found it was still a bit too much like liquid peanut butter, so I added more of my favorite ingredients. People often tell me they can't cook or stray from a recipe, but that's just not true. You know what flavors you like, right? Then, start there. That being said, I added more garlic and siracha.

The recipe calls for pasta noodles, but I chose Pad Thai noodles (they were on sale and I love them).

 Boil your noodles (always salt your water, but never put oil in the water or this Italian will judge you from afar). Normally, you don't rinse pasta, but it's okay to rinse Pad Thai noodles. Then, toss the noodles with the sauce; dish on a plate; and garnish with scallions, cucumbers (I julienned mine) and chow mein noodles.

Final thoughts:

1. If you want to make this recipe officially vegetarian, use vegetable stock/broth instead of chicken.
2. I added shrimp for protein, but you could do chicken or beef, too. 
3. You can serve this cold, at room temp, or hot. Because you can serve it at any temp, it makes a nice party dish or something to take on a picnic.

Enjoy!