By Dana McMahan
FoodConnect Louisville
dana@foodconnect.com

Showing Off with Scallops

I had to have some scallops Sunday. I started thinking about these sweet sea delights and couldn't get them out of my head. My seafood store was out of them (!) so we trekked across town to Whole Foods and shelled out $21 a pound for six huge fresh sea scallops.

I knew I had to do something special with such an expensive treat, and had something totally different in mind than my husband did. So began the showdown. I'll save his plate for another day, but mine was pretty impressive if I say so myself (and I'm usually not the main cook of the family).

I started by making candied pumpkin seeds. These seemed to be all the rage in NYC when I was there a couple of weeks ago. I just heated a couple tablespoons of butter in a griddle pan and added two Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and ginger and 1/4 tsp of cayenne, then tossed 1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds in and let cook about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile I roasted some tiny cubes of butternut squash for about 20 minutes and boiled 1/2 cup of orzo. I tossed the squash with the drained orzo in olive oil and added fresh mozzarella balls, rosemary and salt.

Once the pumpkin seeds were ready I transferred them to a bowl and cranked up the heat in the pan I'd cooked them in, and cooked the scallops in the same spicy-sweet butter. They didn't take long and the butter gave them a beautiful caramelized crust. I served the candied seeds alongside the squash with the orzo salad on the side. As a special treat I included a spoon of my expensive brought-home-from-Italy balsamic vinegar. It's so thick it barely trickles out of the bottle.

This dish was a winner. If I ever have to cook for someone I really want to impress (David Lebowitz, come on over!), this is on the menu.