Scallops with Shallot Butter and Roasted Kabocha

Last night I went to Provisions and found some beautiful dry scallops that had just come in. At $21.99/lb, these mollusks are no steal, but if you think about it, scallops are rich that so you don't need that many and getting them at a restaurant, it's going to cost you about $23 a plate whereas I could make a meal for two people at home for just under $20.

I had a nice Kabocha squash which I prepared a la The Flexatarian Table. First setting the oven to 450 degrees, I sliced the squash in half, scooped out the seeds and cut it into slices about 1 inch thick (on the skin side). Next I took 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper and a pinch of salt and mixed them together in a big bowl. I tossed my Kabocha slices in the bowl then laid them out on a baking tray. They only took about 25-30 minutes to get nice and caramelized (but I turned them a few times, always checking with a fork to see if they were ready).

In the mean time, I heated a medium cast iron over medium high heat and a small pan on low heat. To the small pan, I added a half a stick of butter and a medium shallot, stirring occasionally. I put a tablespoon of olive oil into medium cast iron, then tossed in my scallops (which I had salted and peppered). You should flip scallops only once, but since they are a such meaty and delicate treat, each side need only cook for about 3-4 minutes.


Then bam! Throw some baby greens on the plate with balsamic, the squash and the scallops and dose em with the shallot butter (as exhibited above). Simple. All in about 35 minutes. Delicious.

The Joker's Fall

Fall is more than in full effect. This is evidenced by my trip to the farmer's market last weekend as well as the passing of another Halloween. Have you even seen purple cauliflower before, or the aptly named cheddar cauliflower next to it?

Notice the echoes of nature's bounty in my Joker costume. Coincidence?

New Tomorrow

A few weeks ago in an interview with Joe Klein of Time Magazine, Barrack Obama said this:

The biggest problem with our energy policy has been to lurch from crisis to trance. And what we need is a sustained, serious effort. [...] I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it's creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That's just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board.

For us to say we are just going to completely revamp how we use energy in a way that deals with climate change, deals with national security and drives our economy, that's going to be my number one priority when I get into office, assuming, obviously, that we have done enough to just stabilize the immediate economic situation.

I know I have been shouting out Michael Pollen a lot, but the fact that Obama a) actually READS and b) read the article Pollen wrote addressed to the next president (which I previously posted about here) is awe-inspiring. While many questions remain to be answered concerning how Obama will fair as our 44th president, it is a thoughful passage such as this one that makes me think that this historic day is truly the beginning of new era. And that Change is not a campaign slogan but a wind that will alter the course of our nation.

As American as Apple Pie

Can Obama bake his pie and eat it too? As you can see here: YES HE CAN!

Letter From Buenos Aires

My boy Nick just moved down to Buenos Aires. My brother was going through the city on tour so they met up for dinner Friday night. Through the benevolence of a mysterious lady, they were whisked away from the tourist trap steakhouses to a real 'porteno', a local football club that also served dinner to its players and their families.

From Nick: "So we walk up to the place and its a hole in the wall indoor football field and just some tables lined up to the side. After some of my bullsh*t spanish, we get a table. I ask the guy, we just want to eat well, give me your special dish. Obviously, it's beef. Also, the menu was basically three entrees: Beef, Chicken, Pork. We all got beef, some fries, a little salad, $3 bottles of wine. It was amazing. In general, Argentina has ill beef, but they cook the sh*t out of it. This was perfectly done, the fries and salad were also great quality. It was the kinda of place Tony Bourdain goes to and you think, why can't I ever go to places like that? And it was less then $10 per person."

From Jesse: "Oh my local grub! So good, so simple! This is living!" This is further evidenced by the kitchen of Eros:
Thanks guys.

From the Omnivore's Dilemma

"So much about life in a global economy feels as though it has passed beyond the individual's control -what happens to our jobs, to the prices at the gas station, to the vote of the legislature. But somehow food still feels a little different. We can still decide, every day, what we're going to put in our bodies, what sort of food chain we want to participate in. We can, in other words, reject the industrial omelet on offer and decide to eat another. This might not sound like a big deal, but it could be the beginning of one. Already the desire on the part of consumers to put something different into their bodies has created an $11 billion market in organic food. That marketplace was built by consumers and farmers working informally together outside the system, with exactly no help from the government."

Presidential Eats

Great slideshow from the Huffington Post showing Obama and McCain eating their way through America.
Here McCain and Palin eat BBQ at the legendary Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City. Yeah, I've been there! Arguably the best BBQ in the country. Certainly one of the best BBQ meals I've ever had. Good taste, guys.

Obama drinking a Yuengling! Finally, I'm convinced. I've been undecided for so long...