Recipe Summary

Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

Sea Scallops:
8 large sea scallops, trimmed of foot at base of each scallop
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, chopped
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated or a few pinches ground
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
A handful flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Tournedos:
A drizzle olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tournedos (fillet of beef steaks, each 1 to 1 1/4-inch thick)
Grill seasoning blend or coarse salt and cracked black pepper
2 slices good quality white slicing bread, toasted and buttered
1 /2 cup Madeira or Sherry
2 sprigs fresh tarragon, chopped, 1 tablespoon
Vegetables:
1 pound thin asparagus spears, cut tender tips into 2-inch pieces
1 (15-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1/4 lemon, juiced
A drizzle extra-virgin oil
Salt and pepper
Buttered toast
Edible flowers, available in fresh herb section of produce department, for garnish 

How to cook  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Toss scallops with melted butter, garlic, shallots, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Transfer to shallow casserole dish. Combine extra-virgin olive oil and bread crumbs. Scatter bread crumbs over scallops and place in the casserole. Bake scallops 10 to 12 minutes or until bread crumbs are deep golden and scallops are opaque.

Heat a small skillet over medium to medium high heat. Coat pan with oil and butter and add room temperature fillet of beef steaks. Meat will sear in hot pan. Cook beef 4 minutes on each side for medium. Season meat with grill seasoning or coarse salt and pepper once meat is fully cooked so the salt will not draw out juices prematurely. Let meat rest 5 minutes for juices to redistribute. Return pan to heat and deglaze, using liquid to combine any pan drippings. Add Madeira, reduce by half, and add tarragon to the pan. Set aside.

Steam asparagus tips in 1/4 inch boiling water for 3 minutes and drain. Return tips to warm pan and combine with drained artichoke hearts, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Heat mixture through and remove from stove.

To serve, place steaks on buttered toast and drizzle with Madeira sauce. Gently transfer 4 baked scallops to platters and finish plates with lemon dressed artichoke hearts and asparagus tips. Edible flowers make a delicate, colorful garnish. 

Wine Suggestion: a cold Rosé Wine: a Marestagno 2004 VDP Corsica - Grenache

Bon Appetit

Brice

This 23rd of November it's Thanksgiving. The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a large meal, starring a large roasted turkey.

This recipe comes from Rick Bzdafka. Rick grew up in the Polish community just outside of Cleveland where, among other things, cooking poultry with sauerkraut is common. The sauerkraut plays the same role as the cranberry sauce it replaces, its sweet-and-sourness cutting through the fattiness of the stuff and gravy.

Ingredients

Turkey:
1 (12 to 16-pound) turkey
2 (1-pound) loaves homemade-style white bread, ends and crusts removed
1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
3 medium onions, finely chopped
3 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried sage
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon celery salt, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for sprinkling
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing
Salt
Sweet or hot paprika, as needed
Chicken stock, as needed

Sauerkraut:
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans sauerkraut, drained
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons juniper berries
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium onions, finely chopped

How to cook

To prepare the turkey, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Rinse the turkey under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Tear the bread into small pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the parsley, onions, celery, sage, thyme, celery salt, and pepper and mix well. Stir in the butter.
Lightly fill the cavity of the turkey with some of the stuffing (a general rule of thumb is 1/2 cup stuffing per each pound of turkey). Butter a covered baking dish large enough to hold the remaining stuffing loosely and set aside.
Tuck the wings under and tie the legs together. Brush all over with additional butter and sprinkle with salt, pepper, celery salt, and paprika, as desired.
Place the bird in a large roasting pan, and pour enough chicken stock into the bottom to reach 1/4 inch up the sides of the pan (add more to replenish while roasting, if necessary). Roast for 12 to 15 minutes per pound or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F on a meat thermometer in the leg-thigh joint. Baste with the butter and juices every 30 minutes, for the first 1 1/2 hours.
Prepare the sauerkraut while the turkey is roasting. Combine the sauerkraut in a large saucepan with the sugar, vinegar, caraway seeds, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauerkraut has absorbed some of the liquid and is very dark, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Remove the cover from the sauerkraut and increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the onions. Return the cover and set aside until ready to serve.
About 1/2 hour before the turkey is done, spoon out a small amount of the turkey drippings and spoon over the stuffing in the baking dish. Cover the dish and bake while the turkey finishes cooking.
Transfer the turkey to a cutting surface or large serving platter and cover loosely with foil. Let rest for 30 minutes before carving. Gently reheat the sauerkraut, stirring to mix in the onions, over low heat until warmed through, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot with the turkey and stuffing and pan gravy, if desired.

Wine Suggestion: a Riesling A. Scherer 2004

Bon Appetit

Brice