Baked Scallops and Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce

This is a scallop recipe that we've made many times. Deedy made this for dinner on Valentine's Day.

Ingredients

3/4 lb sea or bay scallops
1/2lb medium mushrooms
3 Tbls olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 Tbls bread crumbs
3 Tbls onion, minced
1 Tbls parsley, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse scallops in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and reserve stems and caps. Brush a shallow 9" diameter baking dish with t tablespoon of olive oil; preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the scallops with the flour and arrange them with the mushroom caps, in a single layer in the dish. Pour the wine into the dish along the edge. Finely chop the mushroom stems and mix them with the bread crumbs, onion, parsley, garlic, pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Sprinkle this mixture over the scallops and mushrooms. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake until the mushrooms are soft and the scallops are cooked through, about 30 minutes. Serve warm, or cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Black Pepper and Parmesan Shrimp

A few years ago, Deedy found a salad dressing called "Black Pepper and Parmesan Dressing". Unfortunately, it's been a long time since we've seen this particular dressing. We like to marinate shrimp with this dressing and throw it on the BBQ. I bought a mixer last year that came with a recipe book and lo-and-behold, a recipe for the dressing. It's not exactly the same, but it's definitely our favorite way to cook shrimp.

Not all shrimp work with this. We always look for the shrimp that is cleaned, uncooked, with the shell on. Some shrimp we get with the shell on, the shell is too soft. Others are just right. The shells, after cooking, are nice and hard and easy to peel off of the shrimp. The other problem is that not all people we've shared this with have had shrimp with the shells on. So they chomp away, make wierd faces, spit out shrimp parts, and wonder what in the world is the deal.

For the shrimp, we've found the best ones at Trader Joes and Safeway in the seafood section.....frozen.

Here's our favorite recipe:

Ingredients

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
1 oz Reggiano Parmesan, cut in 1/2" or smaller cubes
1 shallot, about 1oz, peeled, cut in 1/2" or smaller pieces
1 clove garlice, peeled and smashed
1/2 tspn kosher salt
1 tbl Dijon-style mustard
1/4 tsp Wocsestershire sauce
2 tbl light mayonnaise
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup canola or other flavorless vegetable oil

Directions

Place the whole peppercorns in a blender jar. Blend for 10 seconds. Some peppercorns will be pulverized, some will be cracked and crushed; remove and reserve. Place the Parmesan cubes in the blender jar; blend for 20 seconds; scrape sides of blender jar. Add shallot, garlic and salt. Blend for 10 seconds; scrape sides of blender jar.

Add remaining ingredients in order listed; blend for 10 seconds. Add reserved black pepper; blend for 5 seconds. Transfer dressing to a resealable container and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer to allow flavors to develop. Keeps for one week in regrigerator.

BBQ Part

This is the part that's not in the book. We cook the shrimp directly over hot coals that has a few pieces of hickory or misquite that's been soaked in water. The shrimps cooks fast, but with the shells on, it protects the meat from burning. So, don't worry if the shrimp gets black. That's only the shell. The shrimp will cook in minutes, turning once or twice. Put the shrimp in a bowl and serve hot.

Make sure you've got wet towels nearby, your hands will be dirty while eating these.