So what have I been doing for the past couple of weeks?
Working my ass off. Trying to figure out what’s been causing the utter exhaustion and skull-vise headaches I’ve been experiencing which, apparently, have little-to-nothing to do with my misbehavin’ thyroid. Surviving the bloodbath at work. Not going to the gym very much at all. Trying to learn rudimentary C# programming, with moderate (but nonetheless exhilarating) success. Contemplating how (and where (and with whom)) I’ll be spending the rest of my life.
And eating. Lots and lots of eating.
And thinking, too, but I’ll get to that later, since the thinking involves a lot of what I like to call CUT IT OUT! stuff, and it’s important enough to want to get it right, so let’s focus on the eating thing for now, okay?
Here’s a little meal that’s freakin’, awesomely delicious and, from what I can tell, not at all bad for you. And, as I have in the past, I’m going to present the original recipe with some edits in italics:
Scallops and Eggplant Parmesan
(Serves 4 2)
- 1.5 lbs 400 g Bay Scallops
- 6 4 Fresh tomatoes chopped into wedges with juice
- 3 cloves Garlic chopped
- ¾ ½ cup White wine
- 4 3 shallots chopped
- ¼ cup Fresh Parsley (Italian!)
- ¼ cup 2 tbsp Fresh Oregano (or dried)
- 4 Tbsp Olive oil + more to drizzle
- 1 large Eggplant sliced ½ inch (8 6 slices)
- 1 pinch Saffron
- 1 ¾ cup fresh Parmesan cheese grated
- Heat grill to high heat.
- Lightly drizzle eggplant slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill eggplant slices for 1 minute 4 minutes on each side and put aside.
- Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in sauté pan until hot. Sprinkle scallops with salt, pepper and saffron threads, sauté on high heat for 3 min. and set aside.
- In the same sauté pan add 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic, shallots and tomatoes and sauté for 4 min. Add wine and oregano and simmer until sauce has thickened (approx. 7 min). Put sauce aside to cool.
- To assemble, place one piece of grilled eggplant in baking dish, top with 6-7 scallops cover with one spoon of sauce and sprinkle with 1 tbsp parmesan cheese. Top with another slice of eggplant and repeat one more time stopping with the parmesan cheese. Assemble four individual stacks in baking dish and bake at 350°F for 15-20 min. Top with parsley and serve.
And this is what it looks like:
You’ll die from deliciousness…
…and, no, you don’t have to be drunk and/or high to make and/or eat it, photographic evidence notwithstanding.
10 comments
Sorry to hear you are still feeling poorly and that there has been a blood bath at work. I’m working on the old job skilz myself in the hope that when the ax starts swinging at my place of employment, I’ll survive the cuts.
The eggplant parmesan sounds very good. I may have to assay one myself for dinner this evening. I’d like to think I would be able to stretch it out to a 2 or 3 meals and not just sit down and eat the entire thing straight out of the baking dish.
Good to have the Cordon Chef back in his kitchen…
Nothing like making a nice big home-cooked meal to help when other things in life are irritating. Hang in there, man.
Oh, B. Drink well too, as in water. This is not meant to sound dumb; drinking lots and lots and lots of fresh clean water is a good thing to do, and may even help (a little) with the head. Plus, extra pee breaks at work, so more ninety-second pauses for brain to rest. kiss get better.
Sounds delicious! I would be happy to photograph this dish and see what I can get out of it image wise. Perhaps it will appear in my next post of photo samples.
It sounds great except for the scallops. And the eggplant. Two of my never-eat-them foods. Other than this – fantastic!
I got to back up Cora on the water suggestion. When I finally got into the habit of drinking a lot of water at work, I didn’t feel so dragged out at the end of the day. That, and I live in New Mexico now; I’d turn into human jerky if I didn’t.
I’ll have to try this recipe at some point though…
Hey B, if you’ve already eaten all of that delicious looking parm and need something else to cheer you up, this should do the trick:
http://ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/04/youve_already_lost.php
Om nom nom! For BOTH dishes in that pic!!
Good luck, man. I for one miss your online presence and I hope you’re taking care of yourself.