Date I
made this recipe: September 17, 2012
Pasta Presto – 100 Fast &
Fabulous Pasta Sauces
by Norman Kolpas
Published
by: Contemporary Books
ISBN: 0-8092-4676-7
Recipe: Scallops and Mushrooms in Martini Cream – p.
16
Many
people often dream about being a restaurant reviewer because “how fun would
that be, right?” Well, often it’s not –
fun, that is. Not only do you have to
find people to go with you (not as easy as you think), but you have to make
repeat visits and then, of course, you have to write about it.
Some
reviewers pride themselves on waxing poetic about the food while others, like
my late friend, Tall (Carol), can summarize a dish in one word for example, “goopy.” Yes, folks, with one word, Tall told you
everything you needed to know about the taste of a dish and if you want to be
cool you’ll add this to your food vocabulary as well. But you should know that
“goopy” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just means the dish is rich, often
containing cream or cream cheese or just cheese – or maybe, if you are
extremely fortunate all three. This is
the essence of “goopy” in “Tall World.”
It was oh-so-good going down but after a while, she’d feel guilty about
eating it and would switch back to something healthier to “cleanse” the system.
This dish –
Scallops and Mushrooms with Martini Cream
- is goopy but in a good way. I can
almost see Tall downing the dish then stating she was full (as was I) and that
it was “goopy” but then I hope she’d also give me her other trademark
phrase: “This is exxxxxxxxxxx-cellent.” Just so you know “This is exxxxxxxxxxx-cellent”
was high praise coming from her. So was
“I can’t believe I ate it all, but it was sooooo good!”
The reason
I’m telling you about Tall’s food critic comments is that today’s book was from
her collection. She didn’t have as many
cookbooks as I have, maybe a dozen compared to my 1,460 books (and counting)
but they were reflective of her cooking interests. She tended to make things
that she could freeze in bulk and the majority of her recipes were geared
toward healthy eating. In the summer,
she grew many of her own vegetables and used them in numerous ways in various
dishes. And that is why, when she was first diagnosed with cancer, she was so
mad because she was always so careful about diet and exercise. Sadly, cancer doesn’t give a rat’s rump about
these things. It was also very sad that
her cancer manifested itself just outside of the stomach area making eating and
drinking very difficult in the first stages of cancer and at the end of her
days, impossible. There is nothing
sadder than seeing someone wanting to eat and enjoy just the smallest taste of
food only to be denied that pleasure by her body.
Without her around, I cannot ask her which of
the recipes on the pages she bookmarked she actually made. She either made Chicken with Lemon-Caper Cream on page 36 or she made Turkey
And so I
was all set to make one of her bookmarked items when I saw this recipe for Scallops and Mushrooms in Martini Cream
and decided that this was definitely it.
When it came to imbibing alcoholic beverages Tall was first a beer
drinker and then a wine connoisseur but then she was introduced to a classic
martini (perhaps by me, but perhaps by one of her other friends) and we were
off and running. I must confess that my
martinis are rather killer as I make them as dry as dry can be and by that I
mean sans vermouth, but she adapted well to my version of paint thinner.
So
“martini” cream sauce it was and how fitting was that?! It’s like I was meant to make this dish. That said, I do think that the cream sauce
might have scared her off from making it herself because of the “goopy”
factor. I wish I could say the richness
of the cream sauce was offset by the gin and vermouth but alas, no, but no
matter, it was the idea of a martini that was important here. Still, if I had to make it again, I would
play around with the alcohol quantities, likely upping them just a wee
bit. And it should go without saying
that I should keep increasing the booze quotient whilst sipping on my own
chilled martini, no? (Shaken, not
stirred, “up” as opposed to on the rocks and with an olive or two.)
Now I also
taught my husband to enjoy a good martini (and yes, there is such a thing as a
“bad” martini) and he was all over the recipe and we both ate until we were
stuffed. And then of course, we paused
for a moment of silence and guilt, remembering my fallen comrade and how we
enjoyed something which she could not, in her last stages of cancer, enjoy
along with us.
If she had
lived, I would have told her about this recipe and had she made it herself, I’m
pretty sure she would have pronounced it “exxxxxxxxxxx-cellent.” I hope you find it excellent as well.
Scallops and Mushrooms in Martini
Cream – serves 4-6
½ cup (1
stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces
button mushrooms, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
6 medium
shallots, finely chopped
4 medium
garlic cloves, finely chopped
4½ cups
heavy cream
2
tablespoons gin
1
tablespoon dry vermouth
¾ teaspoon
salt
¾ pound
bay scallops
Pasta –
angel hair, spaghettini or vermicelli
In a
saucepan or skillet, melt the butter over moderate heat. Add the mushrooms, shallots and garlic; sauté
until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the
cream, gin, vermouth, and salt. Raise
the heat and gently boil until the mixture is thick and reduced by a third t a
half, 15 to 20 minutes.
Stir in
the scallops and simmer 2 to 3 minutes more (for larger scallops, 4 to 5
minutes more). Serve immediately over
cooked pasta.
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