Scallops with Forbidden Rice

Scallops with Forbidden Rice

Sometimes I just crave certain foods. One of these is scallops. I love these small slices of heaven. Normally we wrap the scallops in bacon and put them on the BBQ, The crispy bacon is so good with the scallops. But one night dining at our local steakhouse I had their scallops with forbidden rice. OMG - it was so yummy. It was sweet, spicy, crunchy and soft at the same time. So today I tried to copy the dish from memory. And to be honest, I think this is a pretty good replica. I hope you like it.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 4-6 scallops

• butter and extra virgin olive oil for searing

Sauce:

• ½ can coconut milk

• 3-4 teaspoons green curry paste

• 1 jalapeño

• ½ cup frozen petit peas

• ½ teaspoon lemongrass paste

Forbidden rice:

• ½ cup forbidden rice

• ¾ cup water

• salt

Topping:

• tomato chutney

• frisée salad

Directions: 

Start cooking the rice according to instructions on your rice. I cooked mine for about 35 minutes.

Prepare the sauce. Mix all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. The Vitamix blender heats the sauce, but if using another blender heat the sauce. This is way to much sauce for the dish, but You need some volume to use the blender. 

Heat your skillet over high heat, add oil and butter. When the fat begins to brown and smoke sear the scallops for 1½ minutes on each side. The scallops should have a ¼-inch golden crust on each side, while being translucent in the center. 

Serve immediately. 

The Danish version:

Kammuslinger med Sorte Ris

Ingredienser:

• 4-6 kammuslinger

• Smør og olivenolie til stegning

Sauce:

• ½ dåse kokosmælk

• 3-4 tsk grøn karrypasta

• 1 jalapeño

• 1½ dl frosne ærter

• ½ tsk citrongræspasta

Ris:

• 1½ dl sorte ris

• 3 dl vand

• salt

Pynt:

• tomatchutney

• frisée salat

Start med at koge risene efter instruktionerne på pakken. Jeg kogte mine i ca 35 minutter. Herefter lod jeg risene trække i gryden i ca. 10 minutter.

Tilbered saucen. Bland alle ingredienserne i en blender indtil du har en jævn sauce. Jeg bruger en Vitamix blender, som kan varme samtidig med den blender. Så hvis du ikke bruger en Vitamix, så opvarm saucen lidt inden serveringen. Der er for meget sauce i forhold til ris og kammuslinger, men dette skyldes, at der skal en vis volumen til, når man blender.

Sæt en stegepande over på høj varme, tilsæt olie og smør. Når smørret er blevet brunt kom kammuslingerne på panden og steg dem ca. 1½ minut på hver side. Du skal helst ende op med en gylden overflade på hver side og en lidt gennemsigtig midte. 

Server med det samme.

Baked Salmon - the best ever!

Baked Salmon.

I love baked Salmon, the soft moist mild fish. It's so easy to make and is perfect to serve when you're having guests. Serve it with a cream sauce and pasta, sour cream dip and fingerling potatoes, the options are never-ending.

You can cook salmon in many different ways, but baking it like this is by far my favorite one, and properly one of the most healthy. 

Serves 3. 

Ingredients: 

• 3 pieces salmon, portion sized

• 1 lemon

• salt

• 1/2 cup wine or water

• 1/2 teaspoon canola oil (for greasing the baking dish)

Direction: 

Salmon ready for the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the skin and bones from the salmon.

Place the salmon fillet in an oven-safe baking dish greased with oil. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon on top of the salmon and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Slice the other half of the lemon in slices and lay them on top of the fish. Add wine or water to the baking dish. Bake in the oven for roughly 12-18 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness. 

Enjoy. 

Fish cakes - fiskefrikadeller

Fish cakes.

Fish cakes was a lunch dish in my home growing up. They were bought pre-made and they were very uniform and had a weird texture.

Back home in Denmark I bought a store-made batter and fried up the fish cakes in a skillet, making this an easy and healthy meal. Living in California we have a lot of fish available but no store-made fish cake batter. 

We tried several recipes before I came up with this. 

Serving 4

Ingredients:

• 400 g true cod
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 dl whipping cream
• 1/2 bunch of dill
• 75 g salmon
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• butter and oil for frying  

Directions:

Put the cod in a food processor and grind coursely. Add the salt and pulse until it gets sticky. The idea is to bind the moisture so that the fish cakes don’t fall apart. Add the egg, flour and cream a little at a time and pulse until combined.

Cut the salmon into small cubes (max 1cm X 1 cm). 

Place the fish batter in a bowl and stir in the salmon and chopped dill.

Let the batter rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 

Using a spoon and your hand, make plum-size cakes and fry them in a mixture of half oil and half butter in a skillet, until golden brown on both sides.

Enjoy!