Seared Scallops with Spicy Honey Citrus Glaze on Celery Salad

Again, I am using what is on hand.  I have lots of green peppers, so that is what I am using.  This glaze is amazing.  I can think of several ways to use it.

Seared Scallops with Spicy Honey Citrus Glaze on Celery Salad

 Glaze:
1/2 cup orange blossom honey
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
1 1/2 teaspoons hot chili sauce

Salad:
2 cups finely chopped celery (about 4 large stalks)
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
1 cup finely chopped orange bell pepper (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Scallops:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 large sea scallops, side muscle removed
Chopped fresh chives

For glaze:
Stir all ingredients in small saucepan over medium heat until heated through. Set aside. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm before continuing.

For salad:
Mix all ingredients in large bowl. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

For scallops:
Preheat broiler. Melt butter with oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in garlic. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Cook scallops until browned on 1 side, about 1 minute. Turn scallops over and cook 1 minute. Spoon 1 teaspoon glaze atop each scallop. Place scallops in broiler until glaze browns, about 1 minute.

Divide salad among 4 plates. Top salad on each plate with 3 scallops. Drizzle remaining glaze over. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

Almond Citrus Salad

Month of salads, just getting started!  This might seem like a summer salad, but today in Tennessee it could pass for June.  Florida citrus fruits are in season and I found some lovely Gulf shrimp.  I marinated the shrimp in the same citrus dressing before grilling and served a skewer of shrimp with this salad.  Another yummy variation would be to use sesame oil and rice wine vinegar for an oriental flavour.

Almond Citrus Salad

1/3 cup orange juice
2 T white wine vinegar
2 T vegetable oil
1 T honey
2 t grated fresh ginger
1/4 t salt
1/8 t red pepper flakes
4 c segmented citrus of your choice
1/4 c finely chopped red onion
6 c lightly packed spinach or romaine leaves, torn into bite-size pieces
2/3 c slivered almonds, toasted (see note)

To make dressing, in the container of a blender, combine juice, vinegar, oil, honey, ginger, salt and pepper flakes.   Blend to mix thoroughly.   In a bowl, combine fruit, onion and dressing.   Set aside at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.   To serve, line four individual plates with spinach.   Spoon fruit mixture with dressing over salad greens, dividing equally.   Sprinkle almonds over salads.

Note: To toast almonds, spread in an ungreased baking pan. Place in a 350-degree oven and bake 5 to 10 minutes or until almonds are light brown; stir once or twice to assure even browning. Note that almonds will continue to brown slightly after removing from oven.
 

Serves 4

Wild Rice and Dried Cranberry Savoury Crisps

I love the idea of wild rice in a bread or cracker and I think it is vastly under used.  Dried cranberries are a natural 'go with'.  For sweetening, I used maple syrup which is another natural for this combination.  I love the rustic aspect of this recipe.  The raw whole almonds are roughly chopped, the wild rice is fully cooked and then cooled thoroughly and dried before adding and the dried cranberries are roughly chopped before adding.  Recipe is adapted from one by Dinner with Julie.

Wild Rice and Dried Cranberry Savoury Crisps

2 c  all purpose flour                      
1 1/2 t  baking soda
1/2 t  salt
2 c  buttermilk
1/4 c  maple syrup
1/2 t  vanilla
1 c  chopped dried cranberries
1 c  cooked wild rice, chilled and dry
1/4 c  sesame seeds
1/4 c  coarsely chopped raw almonds
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease 2 standard size loaf pans.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Mix buttermilk, maple syrup and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients.  Add the wild rice, cranberries, sesame seeds and almonds  and stir until just blended.

Pour into loaf pans and bake for about 35 minutes.  They should be springy to the touch when done or a skewer comes out clean when stuck into the centre of the bread.

Cool thoroughly or overnight.  Slice so thinly as to be almost lacy. Cut each slice in half (width-wise) and lay on a cookie sheet.  Crush sea salt over the top of each piece as they are laid out on the cookie sheet. Bake again at 300F for about 15 minutes.  Flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes or until crispy and golden.

Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 8 dozen.

Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

Pamela of Cookies with Boys decided on Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies for this week's Tuesdays With Dorie baking.

Rather than using molasses, I used sorghum.  I had a jar of it in the pantry.  These cookies are nice and crisp rather than being soft.

Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

2 1/2 c all purpose flour
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground allspice
pinch of cracked or coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c molasses (not blackstrap)
1 large egg

about 1/2 c sugar, for rolling

1.     Whisk together the dry ingredients.
2.     With a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy.  Add the brown sugar and beat for about 2 minutes.  Add the molasses and beat to blend.
3.     Reduce the mixer to to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until the flour and spices disappear.  Don't over beat.  If necessary, beat in the last bits of flour by hand with a rubber spatula.  You will have a smooth, very soft dough.
4.     Divide the dough in half and wrap each piece in plastic wrap.  Freeze for 30 minutes, or refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  The dough can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days.
5.     Centre a rack in the oven and preheat to 350F.  Line  baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.  Put the sugar in a small bowl.
6.     Working with one packet of dough at a time, roll the dough into 24 balls.    One by one, roll the balls around in the bowl of sugar, then place them on the baking sheet.  Dip the bottom of a drinking glass into the sugar and use it to press down on the cookies until they are between 3/8 - 1/2 inch thick.  If they are flattened too thinly, you won't get the nice crackled look on the top.  These cookies spread so be sure they are about 2 inches apart on the sheet, after being flattened. 
7.     Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, or until the tops feel set to the touch.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and, if the cookies have spread and are touching, use the edge of a metal spatula to separate them while they are still hot.  Let the cookies cool for a minute and then transfer them to a rack to cool to room temperature.

8.     Repeat with the second batch of dough.

9.     The cookies will keep for at least 1 week in the cookie jar.  Wrapped airtight, they can be frozen for up to 2 months.  Makes 4 dozen.

Apple, Pecan and Chicken Salad

 This is fun.  My month of salads is giving me a challenge.  Yesterday was the sushi challenge for The Daring Cooks so I thought that was close enough to salad, right?  Actually the rice in the sushi has vinegar on it.

Making salads from the pantry challenges the creative juices.  Today I want to use some chicken that I is in my freezer and some pecans that are in the pantry.  Here we go!

Apple, Pecan and Chicken Salad                 Serves 2

1 chicken breast

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced

1/4 c whole pecans, toasted

romaine or spinach leaves

1/4 c diced celery

1/4 c diced red onion

1/4 c sour cream

1/4 c mayonnaise

juice of 1/2 lemon

Season chicken with salt and pepper and saute in a little olive oil until done.  Dice chicken.  Dice apple and toss some lemon juice to prevent darkening.  Toast pecans.

Blend sour cream, mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Toss chicken, apple, onion, celery with the dressing.  Let sit in refrigerator for an hour.

Lay down greens.  Top with chicken mixture.  Garnish with slices of apple and pecans.

Cajun Style Corn & Tomato with Fried Okra Warm Salad

 Continuing with my month of salads, I am foraging through my refrigerator.  This recipe assumes a ripe tomato but I only have a green one and  I have a jar of home canned okra.  This salad is a take-off of a popular southern side dish.

The fried okra are like the croutons.  They were great.  Be sure to rinse very well because okra is slimy.  Overall, however, it is not a salad that I would make again.  Is there a rule that we can only post our successes???

 Warm Salad of Cajun-Style Corn and Tomato with Fried Okra               Serves 2

1/2 onion, sliced thin

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus additional for frying the okra

1 cups fresh corn kernels including the pulp scraped from the cobs (cut from about 1 ear of corn)

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1/2 c shredded baked ham

2-3T water

1 c okra, rinsed well, patted dry
1 egg, slightly beaten

cornmeal seasoned with salt and pepper for coating the okra

In a heavy saucepan cook the onion in the butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until it is golden, add the corn, the tomato, shredded ham and water, and cook the mixture, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper and cool to room temperature.

Cut the okra into 1/4-inch-thick slices, dip in beaten egg then in a bowl toss it with the seasoned cornmeal, and shake it in a coarse sieve to remove the excess cornmeal. In a deep skillet heat 1/2 inch of the additional oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it fry the okra in batches for 1 to 2 minutes, or until it is golden, transferring it with a slotted spoon as it is fried to paper towels to drain. Serve the corn mixture topped with the fried okra.  Serve with a biscuit.