Scallops Provencal with Winter Squash Timbales

"Cooking is an art and patience a virtue... Careful shopping, fresh ingredients and an unhurried approach are nearly all you need. There is one more thing - love. Love for food and love for those you invite to your table. With a combination of these things you can be an artist - not perhaps in the representational style of a Dutch master, but rather more like Gauguin, the naïve, or Van Gogh, the impressionist. Plates or pictures of sunshine taste of happiness and love."  - Keith Floyd, ‘A Feast of Floyd’

What a delicious, sumptuous meal - light, but very satisfying with lovely flavors, texture and color.

Scallops Provencal

My favorite way of cooking scallops. Thank you to Ina Garten for Barefoot in Paris - Easy French Food You Can Make at Home. I adapted her recipe to accommodate my black pepper-free, gluten-free diet.

Ingredients:

1 pound large sea scallops, rinsed, pat dry and sliced in half horizontally

Sea Salt

Cayenne Pepper

All-purpose Gluten-Free Flour, for dredging

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted Butter, divided into pats

1/2 cup Shallots (2 large)

1 clove Garlic, minced

1/4 flat-leaf Parsley, chopped

1/3 cup dry white Wine

1 Lemon, halved

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the scallops with salt and cayenne pepper, then toss with the flour. Shake off the excess flour and set aside on a plate.
2. Heat a large sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and place the scallops in a single layer in pan and lightly brown on one side, then lightly brown on the other side. This takes no more than a few minutes in all.
3. Melt the remaining butter in the pan along with the scallops, adding the shallots, garlic, parsley and sauté for another couple of minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops.
4. Add the wine, continue cooking for only another minute. Taste for seasoning.
5. Serve hot with a fresh squeeze of lemon on each serving.
6. Serves 2

Winter Squash Timbales (a dish formed in a mold or ramekin)

Thank you to my daughter for sharing this recipe, which she gleaned from The Vegan Table (page 236). A wonderful fall and wintertime side dish that is colorful, textured and nutritious!

Ingredients:

2 cups winter Squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2-1/2 cups Vegetable Stock (I use vegetarian bouillon and water)

1 cup Arborio Rice (do not rinse, and stir often)

1/4-1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt (depends how salty vegetable stock is)

1 tablespoon Olive Oil for sautéing 

1 large yellow Onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon minced Garlic

2 tablespoons fresh Parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh Thyme, finely chopped

2-3 tablespoons of sun-dried Tomatoes, finely chopped

Cayenne Pepper to taste (or Black Pepper)

1/4 cup Pine Nuts, toasted for garnish (optional)

Kale, washed, dried, chopped and steamed or sauteed

[Note: I used my food processor for the onion, then again to chop the garlic, parsley thyme, sun-dried tomato together. Worked nicely and saved time.]

Directions:

1. Lightly oil 4 ramekins, or oven-proof bowls or pans that can hold 1-1/4 cups.
2. Steam cubed squash until tender (10-12 minutes). Place in a medium to large mixing bowl.
3. In a large sauce pan, bring to a boil the rice in the vegetable stock. Add salt. Cover and reduce heat to low, cooking until the rice is tender, for about 20 minutes. Some liquid should remain. Stir often. Arborio rice becomes very thick.
4. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the onion, sautéing until it starts to turn golden brown and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the thyme, parsley and garlic and sun-dried tomato mixture, cooking another couple of minutes, then stir in the cooked squash. Remove mixture from heat.
5. To make the timbales, place 1/4 of the vegetable mixture in the bottom on each ramekin - pressing down gently to compact. Top with rice, once again pressing down to compact.
6. When ready to serve, run a knife along the inside edge of the ramekins and invert each one atop a bed of freshly steamed or sautéed kale on each dinner plate.
7. Garnish with the pine nuts and black pepper optional. I use Cayenne.
8. Serve as a side dish with Scallops Provencal. 

Bon Appetit!