Dinner At My House

The week before Thanksgiving, Naphy called me up to say, "Noah, let's make dinner at your house on Wednesday." This seemed like a brilliant idea. I've known Naphy since he was a meat and potatoes/one-glass-of-OJ-one-glass-of-milk-with-every-meal kind of youth. These days though, I was not surprised by his request for fish. It even turned out that we were right on the same page craving scallops. So after work I headed over to Green Grape Provisions for the fish. Because it was going to be me and Elizabeth, and Naphy and his lady friend Becca, a meal of scallops was going to be pricey. Instead, I decided on a scallop appetizer and a sexy looking fillet of organic (but farm-raised) Salmon for the main course.

At home I already had a butternut squash ripe for the roasting and few choice ingredients my mom had brought down on my folk's last visit: a bag of 'Forbidden' black rice from Lotus Foods and a jar of the aptly named FiCoco, a fig and cocoa spread. Here's how the meal went down:
We marinated the Salmon in an Asian-style sesame ginger BBQ sauce, preheated the oven and put the rice on. I chopped up the butternut into cubes, dressed it in olive oil, red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and salt/pepper. I put that in the oven at 325 for about 15-20 minutes, until a I could easily pierce it with a fork. Once it was done, I took it out, covered it and turned the oven up to 425. Meanwhile, we threw together a salad and then put the salmon in for about 25-30 minutes.

Once everything was underway, I started preparing the scallops. Naph chopped up a bunch of shallots and we carmelized those in our tiny cast iron pan. The last time I made scallops, I wasn't completely satisfied with the searing, so this time I was more patient in letting the oil heat up. I cooked the scallops for about 2.5 minutes a side. Then I smeared the FiCoco spread on a plate, placed the scallops on top and then garnished it with the shallots and some fresh chive.

I usually broil salmon, not bake it. But this turned out great, especially with its healthy slathering of bbq sauce. It was a delicious meal, eaten in wonderful company. My own criticism was that the meal, taken as a whole, was too sweet (the bbq sauce, the wonderful flavor of the roasted butternut, and the FiCoco) but still quite enjoyable. Thanks Naphy for making it happen. I encourage anyone who so desires to call me up and invite yourself over for dinner. I would happily oblige.