Grilled Scallops with Roasted Tomatoes and French Beans!

August 21, 2008 by 37 Comments


If you love scallops, I’m certain you will love this dish! Every time I make it you will hear sounds like “Mmmmm!” “Oh, Wow!” “Yummm!” around my table, (me included).
Believe me, it isn’t any skill on my part, it’s very simple to make, it’s just that the flavors go so well together. You have the intense concentration of the tomatoes which have been roasted, balanced with the sweet and slightly smoky flavor of the grilled scallops, added with it all, are those thin french beans that still have a little bite to them, I’m telling you, it’s a match made in heaven!

The other great thing about this dish is the fact that the tomatoes and beans can be done ahead of time, even the day before. Scallops take no time at all, so I actually recommend you doing that, this way when the scallops are done, everything comes together so quickly.

Roasting the Tomatoes:

You must use those little tomatoes on the vine! I used the Campari ones from Costco, but you can get them almost any where. They have such terrific flavor already, and when you roast them they get even better. Take a foil or parchment lined baking sheet, cut each tomato in half, over a bowl lightly squeeze a little of the juice out, place cut side up , drizzle with olive oil, s&p, and crushed garlic. Roast in a hot 400 degree oven till they shrivel up and have a deep red color with still a little moisture.

Forgive me, I’m not sure how long it takes, I know its less than an hour and more than 20 min’s.

Again it depends how much moisture is inside, just keep checking. Let them cool, and gently lift them off with a spatula and pack them into a container till ready to use.

Scallops:

Good quality scallops, big ones, that are dry, you don’t want to put a wet scallop on the grill it just won’t sear right. So place them between paper towels to get any moisture out. Toss them with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook them on a very hot grill and don’t flip them till you get some good grill marks. I can’t tell you exactly how long they take, it depends on how thick they are.

But don’t over cook them OK!

French Beans:

Cook till crisp tender, rinse in cold water, put them into a Ziploc bag till ready to use.

Now when you’re ready to eat, take a large saute pan, cook some shallots and more garlic in olive oil till tender. Now take your roasted tomatoes, place them in the pan and heat then gently through, as well as the beans.

When scallops are done, just incorporate everything together! That’s it!


Buon Appetito!!!
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Grab A Cannoli, And Come Share My Blogoversary

August 14, 2008 by 89 Comments

Well it’s finally here, the 1st anniversary of Proud Italian Cook! I can’t believe a year has gone by already. I remember before I started this blog, I would browse the Internet and check out all of the food blogs out there, looking at all the beautiful photo’s and reading great stories , and learning about different cultures and food traditions. Having a passion for cooking I wanted to have my own blog but thought it would be impossible for me, how would I start it? How did they get those pictures on line? Remember, I’m from the non-techie generation!

One day my daughter was over and I was showing her some of my favorite blogs and I was saying to her that I wish I could have one of my own. Of course her response was,”I can set you up in about a half hour with your own blog!” What? really? I said. “Yeah, pick a name for it” In the meantime she was typing faster than the speed of light asking me what color background, what font, etc and all the other things you have to do to set up a blog.” Come on Mom! Pick a name I gotta go home” Are you kidding me? You’re just going to leave now? I said. As soon as I came up with Proud Italian Cook she was done with everything else. ” It’s all done, see? I gotta go now”. “Read up on it Mom, you can do it, Bye!”

Needless to say her phone was ringing off the hook from me, question after question, I even gave her my passwords so she could upload my photos from her house, she’s a night owl and so am I,
so many a night I’d be calling her to help me.

Then I noticed the answering machine going on a little more often then before, Hmmm, was that a hint? I did hear her say she created a monster once! So baby step, by baby step, I slowly learned about blogging.

All that being said, if it wasn’t for her, no way would I have started this! So thank you Vanessa! and the rest of my family, for putting up with me.

I’m looking forward to the year to come, maybe I’ll even figure out what bandwidth is, or how to do a widget, or even a gadget!!

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Fresh Strawberry Mousse! Something Pink, for the Chicago 3-Day, 60 Mile Walk for Breast Cancer!

August 11, 2008 by 37 Comments

This weekend in Chicago was the Susan G. Komen, 60 mile walk for Breast Cancer. My daughter, daughter in law, niece, and a few of their friends joined as a team, and together they walked 60 miles in 3 days along with thousands of others to fight breast cancer.

I did a post here about some of the highlights of it, and the training and fundraising part of it.

Day 1, at 6AM, Team Boob Patrol assembled together all fresh, motivated and ready for their 60 mile walk! some of the team names were hilarious, Babes for Boobs, Titty Commitee, and The Rack Pack, to name a few.
From left to right, Tenley (friend), Vanessa (daughter), Christa (daughter in law), Julie (niece), Elena (friend), Michele (friend).
Before they started their journey there were so many motivational stories they told of those who were walking and why. The loved ones that they had lost to this disease. Moms, daughters, wives, aunts, cousins, best friends, co workers. And then the survivors came in and thanked them all for doing this. Some of the survivors are pictured in the circle here with the flags, holding hands.
To watch over all these walkers there was a wonderful crew looking out for them every step of the way, here was an “angel”all in pink who rode along the walking route.
Day 2, This is one of the cheering stations set up for friends and family to cheer their walkers on. This one family set up a “red carpet” right on the side walk, complete with music as the walkers walked by. Everyone cheering, clapping, and thanking them as they passed. Cars that drove by were beeping there horns in support of the walkers. Police that were directing traffic had pink shirts on. Ambulance and fire department trucks were decorated with pink ribbons and encouraging words.
This is my Granddaughter all decked out to cheer her Mom on. She along with other kids, handed out freeze pops to the walkers as they walked by. Other people had bottled water, licorice, Tootsie Roll pops along the way.

Many of the walkers decorated their own shirts, some had names of those they were walking for on the back. This was done by my daughter in laws crafty sister.

We just loved this sign a man had made for his wife!

I have to say my son and son in law, did a terrific job to encourage and support their wives. They were both there acting as their private crew members for whatever they needed, bandaids a change of socks, shoes, whatever.
Here is one of 6 huge signs that my son placed daily on the walking route so his wife could see it and be motivated to keep going. He blew up pictures of her workmates (pictured here), her grandmother, her parents, and her sisters family, glued them on poster board and with the help of my DIL’s crafty sister wrote encouraging words to her.
These signs were so big he had to hammer them in the ground!
Day 3, The walk completed, hand and hand team Boob Patrol walked proudly into the closing ceremony together, relieved it was over,bistered feet, a little sore, but very proud of what they accomplished, as well as all of us, their family!

The closing ceremony took place in the parking lot of Soldier Field, what a sight to see when all the walkers took off one shoe, and raised it high above their heads in honor of those who have survived breast cancer. Not a dry eye was left!!

Victory to team Boob Patrol!!! You guys did it! Each and everyone of your family members are so proud of you!! Cheers to you!

In finishing, I had to show you a picture of this. Upon arriving home after her 3Day walk, my son had 60 pink flamingo’s placed in the front of their home. One for each mile she walked!

Wasn’t that sweet?
If anyone is interested after reading this post, the mousse I made was simply chopped fresh strawberries,that were sweetened to taste, folded into some freshly whipped cream that was flavored with some Amaretto, and placed into a white chocolate rimmed glass.
The ribbon was made out of warmed white chocolate, piped onto parchment, and immediately decorated with sprinkles.

 

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