Show & Tell: Kitchen Adventures... Seafood Beginnings

Good evening Humble Readers... I know I haven't posted much lately (not a whole lot to tell just now) but I have been around, keeping tabs on all of you. :) I wasn't sure until just a couple of hours ago what I would use for my Show & Tell post this week. But I'm excited about this one for a lot of reasons, first and foremost that I am getting braver in my cooking.

Seafood has always been a bit daunting to me. It's always seemed to be so easy to screw up and so expensive, that I was scared to try much of anything. A few years ago I started with salmon. I became fairly proficient at several different ways of serving it... poached, baked, grilled, fried, oven roasted with maple glaze. Then I moved on to shrimp. I have yet to buy shrimp in their shells, and almost always the precooked, frozen shrimp. Last fall I started experimenting with tilapia and halibut... and am happy to say that I think I have that pretty well sorted out.

So today it was time to try something new... scallops! Tonight I thought I would keep it simple. This recipe made two very substantial servings (my Beloved and I have hearty appetites). Also, keep in mind that I like things very lemony... so feel free to cut back on the lemony-ness if you like.

Lemon & Saffron Risotto with Scallops & Shrimp

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 small onion, diced
• olive oil
• 3.5 cups chicken stock
• .5 cup lemon juice
• .5 tsp saffron threads
• 1 lemon, zested
• butter
• 8-10 fresh scallops
• shrimp (I used cooked, shrimp... and I really don't know how much I used. It was about 1/3 of the pink bag from Cos.tco)
• dried dill
• grated parmesean cheese
• frozen peas

Combine lemon juice and chicken stock in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once stock is boilng, reduce to a slow simmer. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and half tbsp butter, and saute the diced onion. When the onion is translucent but not browned, add rice and cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Start adding stock one ladle full at a time, stirring constantly. As the rice absorbs the liquid, add more stock. When you have added about half of the stock to the rice, add the saffron to the stock. When you have added all the stock to the rice, reduce heat and stir often. Risotto will be done when it's creamy in texture and al dente (like pasta). When the risotto is almost finished, start to heat up a small skillet with some olive oil and a small amount of butter. Dust the tops of the scallops with just a bit of dill and add to hot pan. When the first side is browned, turn the scallops. While the scallops are finishing off, add shrimp and frozen peas to the rice (it won't take much to heat them through). Add the juice of half the lemon to the risotto, and the other half to the scallops. Plate the risotto, garnish with parmesean and lemon zest, and top with the scallops.

I know that risotto seems a bit finicky and time consuming, but once you get the hang of it, it's so easy and so worth it.

Now, don't forget to head on over to Mel's place and check out what the rest of the class is showing.