The Minimalist Cooks Dinner (15 page)
Read The Minimalist Cooks Dinner Online
Authors: Mark Bittman
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Use 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar in place of the Worcestershire sauce; omit the lemon juice.
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Use 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard and 1 tablespoon water in place of the Worcestershire sauce.
Shrimp
TIME:
20 to 40 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
Next to scallops, shrimp are probably the easiest animals to cook, and the fastest. This dish is among my favorites, great grilled in the summer, but also perfect when broiled or roasted. Despite its name, it isn’t fiery hot, but the addition of a fair amount of paprika gives the shrimp a bright red color that makes people think they’re eating spicy food, but without getting the tops of their heads blown off.
1 large garlic clove
1 tablespoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon medium-to-mild paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1½ to 2 pounds shrimp, peeled (and deveined, if you like)
Lemon wedges
Start a hot charcoal or wood fire, preheat a gas grill to the maximum, preheat the broiler with the rack close to the heat source, or preheat the oven to 500°F.
Mince the garlic with the salt. Mix in the cayenne and paprika, then make into a paste with the oil and lemon juice. Smear the paste on the shrimp. Grill, broil, or roast the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes a side, turning once. Serve immediately or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.
| WINE | A gutsy red, like Zinfandel or Côtes du Rhône |
| SERVE WITH | Simple Green Salad , Tomato Salad with Basil , Raw Beet Salad , or any other fresh salad |
THE REAL KEY HERE
is fresh paprika, not that tin you inherited from your mother. After you buy it, taste it; if it is hot, use half a teaspoon.
YOU CAN LET
the shrimp sit in the spice paste for hours. (In fact, I like to dump both shrimp and paste in a covered plastic container, shake them together to coat the shrimp, then carry the container to a party and grill the shrimp there.) But you can also just mix the two together right before cooking.
IF YOU DON’T WANT
to grill, broil the shrimp, as close to the heat source as possible; turn them once. Or roast them at 500°F (or the maximum temperature for your oven), shaking the pan once or twice. In either case, cooking time will be 5 to 10 minutes.
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Substitute chili or curry powder for the paprika, peanut oil for the olive oil, and lime juice for the lemon juice.
a la Plancha
TIME:
20 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
The scallop counts among its assets not only great flavor and texture but speed in cooking. Since scallops are shucked right after harvest, and the muscle separated from the viscera, they are the safest bivalves to eat raw, or rare. This makes the scallop ideal for fast cooking, because even a large scallop needs only to be browned on both sides. A good sear on the outside caramelizes the shellfish’s natural sugars and leaves the interior cool, creamy, and delicious.
I like this traditional Catalonian method.
A la plancha
refers to the large, flat griddle used to sear the fish. A cast-iron or nonstick skillet works equally well, as long as the pan is very, very hot.
1½ pounds sea or bay scallops
1 garlic clove, peeled and lightly crushed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Minced fresh parsley
Toss the scallops and the garlic on a plate and drizzle with the oil and vinegar; sprinkle with salt and pepper and turn over a couple of times. Go about your business for 5 minutes.
Put a large, preferably nonstick, skillet over high heat. When the skillet smokes—this will take a couple of minutes—add the scallops (leave the liquid behind), a few at a time. By the time you’ve added the last scallop, the first one will probably be browned on one side, so begin turning them. Cook until brown on both sides but still rare in the center. (You must work more quickly with bay scallops—add them a few at a time, and turn them quickly; you may even have to work in batches to keep them from becoming overcooked.)
Serve hot, drizzled with the juices from the plate and garnished with the parsley.
| WINE | Albariño (the great Spanish white); light, dry Gewürztraminer or Riesling; crisp Muscadet; or real Chablis |
| SERVE WITH | 60-Minute Bread , good store-bought bread, or Olive Oil Croutons ; Simple Green Salad (make the dressing with sherry vinegar) |
PREHEAT THE SKILLET
for at least 2 minutes before beginning to cook—it should be so hot that the scallop’s muscle contracts quickly enough to literally jump when it hits the surface.
TURN ON YOUR
exhaust fan if you have one; this generates a fair amount of smoke. (Fortunately the cooking time is minimal.)
REAL BAY SCALLOPS
, available only in winter, are best. Otherwise use sea scallops. Always ask for “dry” scallops: those that have not been soaked in preservatives.
Shrimp or Squid
a la Plancha:
This technique works perfectly with both shrimp and squid. Keep the cooking time especially short for squid or it will become tough.
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Vary the kind of oil, vinegar, seasoning, and garnish as you like. For example, use peanut oil with scallions and ginger, then garnish with a drizzle of soy sauce or cilantro for a completely different take.
with Tomatoes
TIME:
20 to 30 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
You can never go wrong by adding a little crunch to scallops when you sauté them. Usually, you dredge them in flour, cornmeal, or bread crumbs before adding them to the hot pan, and it’s something that most everyone seems to like. But you can take that crunch and give it an intense flavor by dredging the scallops directly in a spice mix. Although you can’t do this with everything—dried herbs don’t get crisp, and some spices are far too strong to use in this quantity—it works perfectly with curry powder, which not only seasons the scallops and their accompanying sauce but gives them the crunch we all crave.
3 medium ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
1½ to 2 pounds large sea scallops
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons curry powder, or to taste
½ cup heavy cream, sour cream, or yogurt, optional
Juice of 1 lime
½ cup washed, dried and chopped fresh cilantro
Core the tomatoes (cut a cone-shaped wedge out of the stem end), then cut them in half horizontally. Gently squeeze out the liquid and shake out most of their seeds. Chop their flesh into ½-inch pieces and set aside. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes. While it is heating, sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper and spread the curry powder on a plate.
Add the oil, then quickly dredge the scallops lightly in the curry powder and add them to the pan. About 2 minutes after you added the first scallop, turn it—it should be nicely browned (if it is not, raise the heat a bit). When the scallops are all browned and turned, cook for another minute, then add the tomatoes and the cream if you’re using it (if you are using yogurt, lower the heat immediately; it must not boil).
Heat the tomatoes through, then taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Sprinkle with the lime juice, stir in the cilantro, and serve.
| WINE | Inexpensive, rugged red, like Zinfandel or Syrah from California, no-name wine from the south of France, or Chianti |
| SERVE WITH | Easy Rice or Stir-Fried Coconut Noodles ; Simple Green Salad |
SINCE YOU’RE USING
a large quantity of curry powder here, it should not be super-hot. (This is obviously a matter of taste, but I prefer a mild, sweet curry.) The powder itself must be fairly fine; if it is too coarse, the resulting crust will be gritty rather than crisp.
DREDGE THE SCALLOPS
lightly in the curry, not as heavily as you would in flour.
KEEP THE SCALLOPS
rare; they’re at their best that way and perfectly safe, as long as they’re fresh.
Chile Scallops with Tomatoes:
Use ground chili powder or any other spice mix in place of the curry.
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Cilantro is the natural choice here—it marries perfectly with the lime and curry powder—but basil, especially the fragrant, minty Thai basil, is a more surprising and equally delicious option.
with Almonds
TIME:
15 to 20 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
Scallops are tender, fast cooking, low-fat, and flavorful—a natural choice for weeknight cooking. There are dozens of simple scallop preparations, beginning with searing the scallops and serving them with lemon, and continuing with those recipes that rely on pan sauces, quick additions to the skillet after the scallops are cooked. These take advantage of the plentiful caramelized sugars left behind by the seared scallops, integrating them into the sauce and making sure that none of the mollusks’ original flavors are lost. Here, a small handful of almonds adds contrasting texture as well as rich, deep color. The procedure is easy—for a 15-minute dish you cannot do much better.
