Free Day

A day off. A day off from school AND from work. I haven't had one of those since last Thursday. And before that it had been a couple months. It was something for me to celebrate, and celebration meant it was time for another great meal. I got to spend my morning at the market. I attended a coffee event there, won some incredible green beans, shopped around and ended up with some great looking bay scallops. I made a pearled barley risotto, steamed some asparagus and made a balsamic reduction to go with them. Appetizer was 2 small steamed and broiled artichokes with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Dessert was lemon chiffon pie.

 

So what are you going to need to make this meal? A whole bunch of stuff.

Appetizer:

2 Artichokes

Juice of 1/2 of a lemon

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Dressing:

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 cup olive oil

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

juice of 7 kumquats

1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. + 2 tsp. brown sugar

3 oz. balsamic vinegar

Entree:

Risotto:

1/3 of a medium yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. olive oil

3/4 c. pearled barley

2-1/4 c. duck stock*

water, if needed

pinch of salt and pepper

*I realize you probably don't have duck stock. You can use chicken stock instead. I used duck stock because that's what I had on hand.

Asparagus:

However much asparagus you want to eat.

Scallops: 

6 oz. of bay scallops

pinch of salt & pepper

1 tbsp. butter

2 tsp. olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

Balsamic Reduction:

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Dessert:

The pie is a recipe for another day. Relax.

So let's cook.

Start by setting up your steamer and tossing in your artichokes and squeezing the lemon juice on them. These can be done beforehand because they will be reheated when broiling. They should steam until the stems are rather soft (not mushy, though), which is about 35-40 minutes for small artichokes. You'll have to feel them out. While they steam you can reduce some balsamic vinegar and build the vinaigrette.

To reduce the vinegar, bring it to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally, but more frequently as time progresses. You should reduce it until you have 1.5 oz. of balsamic syrup in your pan (a fourth of what you started with).

For your vinaigrette, start by making a mayonnaise sauce. Whisk the egg yolk until light in color. Add the mustard and VERY slowly add the oil. Whisk vigorously and constantly while you do this. You're building mayonnaise. You have to be careful. If it's made wrong, it's nothing worth eating. And to make it wrong, all you have to do is add your oil too quickly or not whisk furiously enough. I should know, I've done it wrong 4 times and have unfortunately wasted a lot of oil because of it. If it's started wrong, it will not end right, not matter how hard you try. I like to start by adding oil a half teaspoon at a time until I see the texture change from liquid to a gelatinous state. If you don't notice this change by the time you've added 2 oz. of oil, stop. The mixture has split and you unfortunately can't recover it. Get a new egg and start again. Once you get this change though, you can add the oil a little more quickly, whisking furiously while drizzling the oil into the mixture. Then add the rest of the ingredients, whisk to combine, and boom, delicious creamy vinaigrette. Sorry I don't have pictures. It's hard to add oil, whisk, and navigate a camera all at once. And by that I mean I simply don't have 3 hands so it's actually quite impossible. Maybe I'll have a roommate make a video of it sometime.

Now that that's sorted out, get your risotto started. Preheat your pan to low heat, add oil to coat the pan and saute the onions on low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant.

 Add the barley and toast until fragrant. Add 3/4 cup of stock. Reduce to medium heat and stir constantly. As the stock absorbs into the barley (and some water evaporates), you'll need to add more. Add it 1 oz. at a time, making sure to keep the mixture in the pan hydrated but not soupy. It should not be quick to spread around the pan as you stir it. Oh, and stir it constantly. Risotto is a dish of rice that is cooked in such a way that it acquires a creamy texture. The only way to properly develop that texture is to stir it extremely often during the cook time (if not constantly), which agitates the grains and releases starch. This dish takes about 40-50 minutes to cook, so it's a test of your patience. Continue adding stock until you run out. Taste it. If the barley is tender, you're done. If it's tough, cook it longer, adding water instead of stock as you go. In the end it should not spread out much when put on the plate, and it should look something like this:

 Gravy-like liquid and tender pearls of barley with huge flavor from all that stock. Delicious. If you want to make it separately, shred some asiago cheese on there and you have a really fine treat.

Turn on your broiler. Slice your artichokes in half, drizzle oil on them, broil them for about 5 minutes. Until they're warm and get some color.
Start your steamer again and put your asparagus, cut into 1.5 inch segments on a 45 degree bias, into the basket. It only takes something like 5 minutes to cook, so taste pieces often after 4 minutes.

While your asparagus cooks, put the risotto on a plate, immediately clean your good pan (unless you have multiple good pans, in which case I'm jealous of you) and heat the oil and butter in it on medium high heat. You should not see any browning in the oil. If it browns, your pan is too hot. Season the scallops with just a bit of salt and pepper. You'll be searing the scallops, so you want want them to sizzle as soon as they hit the pan. If you're unsure of the temperature, test it by simply touching a scallop to the pan briefly. Did it sizzle beautifully? Yes? Wonderful. Put the rest in the pan. Stir them around after 20 seconds (nothing should be stuck to your pan but they might need a little nudge from a spoon to budge) and tilt your pan so the oil goes to one side (away from the scallops) and baste the scallops by spooning the hot oil over them. They'll be done within another minute or so. Taste one. It should be tender and practically melt in your mouth. I've been lucky enough not to have overcooked (at least not terribly overcooked) any of my scallops so I'm not quite sure what they'd taste like if they were overdone. I imagine they'd be tough and chewy, as most things are when overcooked.

What a relaxing day. I can't believe some people get two days with no obligations (in a row even!) every week! Must be nice. I'd be cooking some mad food with all that time. Whatever. I make food like it's my job whether I've got a day off or not.

Thanks for reading!