Baked Giant Scallops with Home Fries

Scallops are so expensive in restaurants and it is not always cooked correctly.  So I like to buy my own and experiment with different recipes.  I remember the first time I cooked them, it was a disaster.  If the pan is not hot enough, you will end up with steamed scallops.  So make sure the oven or pan is pre-heated before cooking scallops.


Ingredients for Scallops

• 8 giant scallops
• 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs 
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sharp paprika
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

Directions 

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees F.
2. Pour 3/4 of the melted butter into a baking dish. Coat the scallops with melted butter in the dish.
3. Combine bread crumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese and the rest of the melted butter together.
4. Sprinkle the mixture onto the scallops and bake for about 20 minutes or until the scallops are firm.

Ingredients for Home Fries

• 3 small red potatoes, cubed
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain completely.
2. Heat 1/2 the oil in a cast iron pan and saute onion until it is translucent.
3. Evenly spread the potatoes onto the pan and move it around so the onion is incorporated into the potatoes.  (If you don't, they will burn on the bottom of the pan)
4. Cook until the potatoes have a crust on the bottom.
5. Drizzle the rest of the oil on top of the potatoes and flip them so the other side can form a crust.

I used the cast iron pan for the potatoes because it heats up higher than the other pans and will fry up the potatoes faster.

Baked Tilapia with Roland Bruschetta Spread

Lightly season the tilapia.

Roland Bruschetta consist of red peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic and eggplants.  It is sweet and tangy. It goes very well with crab cakes and apparently with my tilapia dish.

Tilapia is one of my favored fish, the taste is mild and it is not overly fishy.  This is an extremely fast and tasty dish.  It is also healthy!


Ingredients

• 2 filet of tilapia
• 1/8 teaspoon Hungarian smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Roland Bruschetta for topping

Directions

1. Season the tilapia with paprika, salt and pepper.
2. Rub oil over fish.
3. Broil for about 6 minutes or until the fish is done.  You know it is done when it flakes off.
4. Top it with as much Roland bruschetta as you like.

Scallops on a bed of Spinach

Season the scallops with paprika, salt and pepper.

Since I am using a cast iron pan, I am able to sear all the scallops without steaming it. The cast iron pan retain the heat and sear it very well without lowering the pan temperature.

The spinach was amazing! I will cook it just the spinach just as it is and serve as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 10 scallops
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 5 cups of fresh baby spinach
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon white wine
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Hungarian Sharp Paprika
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Season the scallops with paprika, salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Sear the scallops in oil over high heat for 6 minutes on each side.
3. Set aside, in the same pan add onion and garlic to saute for about 6 minutes. 
4. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, then add the mustard. 
5. Since I was making the good in an 8 inch pan, I cooked the spinach in increment. As soon as the spinach start to wilt, add more to the pan until all the spinach is cooked.

I love cooking with my cast iron pan, I am able to sear 10 large scallops without steaming it.  I once used a non-stick pan and sear about the same amount of scallops and it ended horribly! I ended up steaming the scallops instead of giving it a nice tasty crust. The cast iron pan retains the heat beautifully and I was able to sear everything without steaming it.  I highly recommend a cast iron pan.

Fish Stew

Cut Tilapia into bite size chunks.

Toss in this amazing marinate.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Tilapia
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice concentrate
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Hungarian Sweet Paprika
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground fresh pepper
• 1 teaspoon chilli pepper
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 16 oz canned diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a bowl combine lemon juice concentrate, water, cumin, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Cut tilapia into bite size chunks and add it into the bow of marinate for about half hour. Toss every 10 minutes so it is evenly coated.
3. In a large pot cook the onion for about 5 minutes with oil.
4. Then add the fish and marinate into the pot.
5. On top of that, add tomatoes, chilli pepper, chicken stock, and coconut milk and stir.
6. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Add cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes until all the flavor is combined.

Serve over rice.

This fish stew is amazing.  I got the recipe on Allrecipes.com but changed a lot of the ingredients to what I have and what I like. The original recipe asked for a whole can of coconut milk, that is just too heavy to me.  So I used a portion of it and added chicken stocks. I did not have fresh lime but always have concentrated lemon juice so I used that instead.  I did not have peppers on hand so my recipe has none. Still, this is a an amazing fish stew and will definitely make it again.

 I absolutely love the marinate and is currently pondering what else I can use it on.

Scallops

These huge scallops were amazing as an appetizer or over a bed of pasta.


Ingredients

• 8 sea scallops
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/3 cup Kraft Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• lemon juice

Directions

1. Wash and dry the scallops with a paper towel.
2. In a bowl, mix in oregano, parsley and chili powder into the Parmesan cheese.
3. Cover the scallops in Parmesan mixture.
4. Pan sear the scallops for about 5 minutes each side until it is golden brown.
5. Season the scallops with fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.

I used a cast iron pan to cook the scallops because cast iron pan heat up really well. Do not crowd the pan, cook the scallops in batches or you will steam it instead of searing a crust on it.  I made that mistake once overcrowding the pan and ended up with steam scallops instead.

Pan Seared Salmon

Salmon is one of my favorite fish because it is so easy to cook.  You can steam, pan sear, broil it in the over or even make it into patties.  I seasoned this with a touch of garlic powder, salt and pepper.  You can not use too much of garlic powder because it is very strong and can easily over-power your food.  I pan seared the salmon on both side until it is done ( about 8 minutes each side) and served it over a bed of spinach and rice. I like my fish well done, I can not eat fish that is a little bit raw on the inside.