Cara, Cara

The season for Cara Cara or blood oranges will be ending soon, and because we love both their color and flavor, we chose this dish that pairs them with scallops. To gild the lily we stayed on the citrus train and made lemon soufflés – woo hoo!

Of note in this recipe is the use of fennel pollen, which has a more intense licorice flavor and aroma than fennel seeds.  The pollen is a powder, but not a fine one.

Although Amazon sells fennel pollen, Sue’s was hand carried by her from Italy.  It was a deliberate search and a special “find”.

Fennel Pollen

As we discussed the menu, we decided an appetizer was in order. Meg suggested the Parmesan Crisps, and Sue readily agreed. It is, after all, cheese.  Why did we wait so long for something this simple and this good?? Ok, we are dim.

Parmesan Crisps

Ina Garten

Total Time:  16 min
Prep:  10 min
Cook:  6 min
Yield:  makes 30 crisps
Level:  Easy

Ingredients
4 ounces Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

Grate 2 ounces of the Parmesan using the side of the box grater that finely grinds the cheese and then grate 2 ounces of the Parmesan using the side of the box grater that makes long shreds of cheese, and then mix them together. Drop rounded tablespoons of the grated Parmesan on the parchment paper to make neat mounds. Bake in the oven for 6 minutes until golden.

Cool slightly and loosen with a metal spatula. Serve at room temperature.

Raw fennel, cleaned and cored

Scallops with Blood Orange, Fennel and Pistachios

Contributed by Michael Tusk
Food & Wine email
TOTAL TIME: 45 MIN
SERVINGS: 10

2 small fennel bulbs—halved, cored and very thinly shaved on a mandoline
2 blood oranges
6 tablespoons fresh blood orange juice
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
10 large sea scallops
1 teaspoon fennel pollen
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brined capers, drained and patted dry
1/4 cup sliced green olives
1/4 cup unsalted roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped

In a large bowl, soak the fennel in ice water. Peel the blood oranges with a sharp knife, being sure to remove all of the bitter white pith. Working over a bowl, cut in between the membranes to release the sections.

In a medium bowl, whisk the 6 tablespoons of blood orange juice with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Drain the fennel and pat dry. Add it to the dressing and toss to coat. Mound the salad on 10 plates.

In a large skillet, heat the remaining 1/2 cup of oil until shimmering. Season the scallops with salt and pepper and rub with the fennel pollen. Add the scallops to the skillet and cook over high heat until browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Add the butter and capers to the skillet. Turn the scallops over and cook just until white throughout, 2 minutes longer. Set the scallops on the fennel salad.
Cook the capers, basting them with the fat in the pan, until browned and crisp, 2 minutes. Scatter the capers, olives, pistachios and orange sections all around and serve.

Doesn't this just make your mouth water?

Ta  Da! 

We thought this meal merited a bit of bubbly, so to speak, and chose this Cava on the recommendation of Rebecca at our Total Wines store. It was the perfect complement to the richness of the scallops.

Berberana Cava Brut, Sparkling wine, Spain $10.79

Lemon Souffles

Source: “Great Desserts of the American West”, Frances Towner Giedt, Lone Star Books, 1999
Serves: 8

Ingredients

powdered sugar
1 c whole milk
1/3 c plus 1 T granulated sugar
1 T grated lemon peel
3 large egg yolks
¼ c fresh lemon juice
3 T unbleached all-purpose flour
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch salt
2 T brandy

Preheat oven to 400’.  Generously butter eight 2/3 c souffle dishes or custard cups.  Dust with powdered sugar and set on a large baking sheet.

In a heavy medium saucepan, bring milk, 1/3 c granulated sugar, and lemon peel to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and let stand 15 – 20 minutes to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks and lemon juice.  Gradually add flour, whisking until smooth.  Whisk in milk mixture.  Return egg-milk mixture to saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, cover surface with plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.  Gradually add remaining 1 T sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.  Stir brandy into chilled egg mixture.  Stir in half of the beaten egg whites.  Gently fold in remaining whites and div ide evenly between the pr3epared soufflé dishes.  Bake until puffed and browned, about 10 – 15 minutes.  Sift powdered sugar over each soufflé and serve immediately.

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We cannot emphasize enough the ease and what we see as the limitless possibilities for the cheese crisps. They would be perfect on a party tray, with soup, or on top of a salad. We only made a portion of this recipe (maybe we are dim). Just grate some cheese and make as many as you want, but make more than you think you will need, because they are irresistible.

The recipe for the scallop salad was written as an appetizer for ten people, one per person. We didn’t go that route. Really, one scallop per person?! We decided to serve it as an entrée and have a generous 4 scallops each. What a good idea.

What we loved most were all of the different flavor and texture elements of the salad; the crispness of the fennel, the tangy capers and olives against the sweetness of the blood oranges, a sprinkle of pistachios and the pure indulgence of the scallops. Perfection! We loved every bite!

The only thing we would do differently is cook the capers in the butter separately, because they didn’t get crisp.

Raw fennel was new to both of us, and we were surprised by the mild flavor. The addition of the fennel pollen was a nice layer of stronger flavor without overwhelming the scallops.

You could easily prepare everything for the soufflés except beating the egg whites ahead of time, making this an impressive dessert to wow guests. They were warm, beautiful,  fluffy and lemony. The amount of lemon zest and juice were nicely balanced with the small amount of sugar. We savored each bite with a sip of Cava. 

We are so grateful to be enjoying spring-like weather lately.  If you are digging your way out from a blizzard or just hunkering down, the bright, fresh flavors of citrus, scallops and fennel will remind you that sunshine is only a bite or two away.  Enjoy!