Caramel Glazed Sea Scallops

I like scallops but never make them at home. I watched Paula Deen make this recipe a few months ago and decide it looked like a good first attempt for scallops. I know the key to good scallops is to not over cook them. I was a little concerned because this recipe didn't give a cooking time. These were wonderful! The caramel glaze is a perfect compliment for the scallops.

Caramel Glazed Sea Scallops
Recipe courtesy of Paula Dean

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter
12 large sea scallops
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine oil and butter to saute pan over medium heat. Salt and pepper the scallops and add to the pan. Coat the scallops with the sugar. Allow scallops to brown and caramelize on both sides.

Spoon the glaze over the scallops and serve.




My notes on this recipe: The original recipe called for making a glaze with sugar, water and corn syrup but didn't really state what to do with it. It also said to make in advance and set aside. Mine ended up getting too hard. You don't need it, the glaze they cook in makes plenty.

Beautiful Gardens

We took a trip to Kansas City this past weekend to visit our good friends, Karen and Larry. The midwest has been experiencing perfect weather. Our weather has been more characteristic of fall than August. Saturday was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 70's. We knew we wanted to spend the day outside taking advantage of the weather.

Powell Gardens is a botanical garden just east of Kansas City. As we were driving there, I tried to remember my last trip to the gardens, Mother's Day, 15 years ago? It made me realize, once again, just how fast time flies. My son, Justin, who was in his early teens on my last visit, will turn 30 this year.

Perfect Summer Salad

Our tomato plant has produced the best slicing tomatoes. A fresh, juicy sliced tomato is a great summer salad. To make the salad even more perfect, fresh basil and mozarella. I miss these wonderful flavors during our cold winters.

Insalata caprese (the salad from Capri) The salad was created in the 1950s at the Trattoria da Vincenzo for regulars out for a light lunch.

Caprese Salad

Large tomato, sliced
Fresh Basil Leaves
Fresh Mozarella
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

Slice the tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place basil leaves on top of tomatoes, slice mozarella and place on top of basil. Drizzle olive oil over all. Chill until serving time.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

My husband has a banana almost every morning for breakfast. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get bananas that are at the right stage of ripening? They always seem to be too green or too ripe. Either way we seem to have some leftover at the end of the week that are too ripe for our tastes.

My fallback recipe for leftover bananas is Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread. While this is the best banana bread I've ever eaten, I am in the mood for something different. I love peanut butter and bananas, I can take a spoon, a jar of peanut butter and a banana and ENJOY!! I searched and found a recipe on All Recipes for Peanut Butter Banana Bread. After reading the reviews, I decided to make some changes and make muffins instead of bread.




Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Adapted from All Recipes

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F . Line 12 muffin tins with paper muffin cups..
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir in peanut butter, bananas, flour and baking soda until blended. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

My notes on this recipe: I would like even a little more peanut butter flavor in these muffins, I would increase the peanut butter to 3/4 cup. Keep a close eye on the baking time, at 20 minutes they are done and any time over 2o minutes would cause them to be dry.

What's in a Name?

My husband's sisters name is Rosemary. Since rosemary seems to be the theme of many of my recipes of late, I wondered what Rosemary means. The name Rosemary comes from the Latin, word ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". For centuries rosemary has been a symbol of friendship and rembrance, often used in wedding bouquets.

Our neighbors, Greg and Amy brought us the most scrumptious dinner on my second night home from the hospital. Greg said the chicken dish was nothing fancy but a dish that everyone really likes. I think it's fancy enough and he was so right, we loved it. When Tim returned the dishes, I asked him to ask for the recipe. The recipe from Canadian Living's Country Cooking magazine, Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon. The notes on the recipe describe it perfectly, "Although this recipe seems very simple, the combined flavors are sophisticated and intriguing".




Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon

6 chicken breasts
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced

Pat chicken dry. Place in a shallow glass bowl or plastic bag. I use a tupperware container I've had this container for years and it works so well for marinating. The design of the container allows you to turn it over to marinate all sides.

Whisk together all of the ingredients, pour over chicken, turning to coat all sides. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Arrange chicken pieces on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes of until chicken is no longer pink inside. Alternatively, grill over medium heat until chicken is cooked to a temperature of 170 degrees.

Blueberry Lemonade

Did you know today is National Lemonade Day? Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day than a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade. Although the weather is more like fall than summer here today, I still wanted to honor the day. I decided to try a twist on regular lemonade and make blueberry lemonade.



Blueberry Lemonade

3 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cups cold water
Ice cubes

Combine blueberries and sugar in the blender until well blended. Strain blueberry mixture. Add the lemon juice and cold water. Serve over ice.

This recipe also makes a great cocktail, add a shot of vodka or rum to the lemonade.
Cheers!!!

Anise Candy

Another favorite from Schmidt's Bakery is Anise Candy. Schmidt's sells this at Christmas time and every year my mother in law phones in her order for 30+ plus bags. Everyone in my family, except me, LOVES this candy.

I found some Anise Oil and decided to see if I could duplicate this sweet treat. I can't remember the last time I made hard candy. I had forgotten just how LONG it takes to get to the hard ball stage. I am sure our humid weather played a part in the timing.

The family reviews are in and while they said the candy was good, it just wasn't Schmidts.




Anise Candy

2 cups sugar
1/2 white corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon anise flavoring
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

Boil sugar, syrup and water until a candy thermometer registers a hard crack stage.

A candy thermometer is essential for this process. Be prepared, this takes a long time, approximately an hour.

Remove from heat; add flavoring and food color, stir but be careful of the fumes when the oil is added.

Pour onto a greased cookie sheet, let sit a few minutes, score and cut once slightly hardened.