A Sunday Supper

So fresh, so good!

Our first tomato from our garden.

Arugula, Avocado, Tomato & Egg

Seared Coriander Scallops with Bok Choy and Hoisin

One of the things I love about Market is recipe swapping!  This one came from a great customer & friend of ours.  Thanks, Diane.  We asked where to get fresh scallops & she suggested here:



So, Freddie & I took the Mayport ferry over & found this market.  We picked up these fresh scallops for our supper.  (A good tip for the Seafood Market: Ask what was brought in that day.)

This recipe created a beautiful, delicious dish!  Next time I make this, I would double the bok choy. 

Seared Coriander Scallops with Bok Choy & Hoisin

2 servings

3/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 tbsp hoisin sauce **

2 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger

10 large sea scallops

1 tbsp coriander seeds, coarsely crushed

2 tsp oriental sesame oil

2 baby bok choy, each cut lengthwise into eighths

2 tbsp water

Whisk orange juice, hoisin sauce, and ginger in small bowl.  Pat scallops dry on paper towels.  Sprinkle coriander seeds over top of scallops, pressing to adhere.

Heat sesame oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat.  Add scallops, coriander side down, and cook just until opaque in center, turning once, about 1-1/2 minutes per side.  Transfer scallops to plate.  Add bok choy & 2 tbsp of water to skillet; saute until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Using tongs, divide bok choy between 2 plates, then top with scallops.  Add hoisin mixture to same skillet; boil until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 2 minutes.  Drizzle sauce over scallops & bok choy.

** I substituted a homemade hoisin sauce, as follows:

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 Tbsp peanut butter

1/2 Tbsp honey

1 tsp white vinegar

1/16 tsp (think that would be a quick dash!) garlic powder

1/16 tsp onion powder

10 drops chinese hot sauce (skipped since we are wimps)

1/16 tsp black pepper

Since we really enjoyed the recipe, I'll buy hoisin sauce next time.  I believe this recipe originated from www.epicurious.com

Tomato Bisque

Our neighboring vendor at market, Olive Affairs, was serving samples yesterday of their tomato bisque soup.  Served cold as gazpacho, it was extremely refreshing on our very humid (but happy) Market Day. 

A pleasant surprise when we took a bite...our mini cucumbers plus red onion & celery were chopped up in it!  We came home & made some ourselves.

No-Knead Wholegrain Bread

I love to experiment with new recipes.  Most we enjoy but do not use again.  Here and there, one surfaces that gets a special place in my personal cookbook.  This one definitely made it!  I bake bread every week & use the same recipe.  However this time, I wanted to bring a loaf to some special friends of our's.  I had come on this recipe in the magazine "Mary Janes Farm" & thought that I would give it a try.  It was fabulous (& extremely simple).  The outside crust is crunchy & the inside is soft & chewy.  The only key is thinking ahead, as the dough rises for a long time.  I adapted a few things from the original recipe.

No-Knead Wholegrain Bread

3 cups flour, plus a little extra

1/4 cup oats

1 T flax seeds

1/8 cup quinoa

1/2 tsp dry yeast, heaping

1-1/4 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp sugar

Cornmeal, as needed

Add yeast to 1-1/2 cup warm water. (It justs needs to be warm enough to dissolve the yeast.  Too hot, the yeast is killed.  I microwave my water for 40 seconds & then add yeast.)  Whisk & let sit.  In another bowl, combine flour, oats, flax seeds, quinoa, salt & sugar.  Whisk water/yeast mixture again.  Once completely dissolved, add to the dry ingredients.  Add another 1-1/2 cup water -- room temperature.  Dough should be shaggy & sticky.  Add more water if needed.  Cover with plastic wrap & let rest 12-18 hours at room temperature.  (The dough needs to rise slowly.)  Preheat oven to 350 F with a 3 qt Dutch oven inside.  While heating, lightly flour a work surface and scrape dough onto the flour.  Sprinkle a bit of additional flour onto the dough (only enough so you can work with it.)  Fold the dough over itself a couple of times.  Let rest until oven is preheated.  Remove the pan & sprinkle cornmeal in the bottom.  Place the dough in the pot & set lid on top.  Bake for 35 minutes with the lid on.  Remove lid & bake an additional 10 minutes, turning the oven up to 400 F.  When bread is browned on top, remove it from the pot & cool on a rack.

Watercress Soup

One of our British customers has given us fabulous ideas for watercress.  One website she suggested was watercress.co.uk   A friend of hers wrote a cookbook, The Ballymaloe Cookbook.  In it is a perfect watercress soup recipe.  We have made it -- eaten it both hot & cold.  We have used the traditional cress:

And, the upland cress variety:

The upland has a much more peppery taste & I would suggest it for this recipe.

Watercress Soup

2 oz butter (1/2 stick)

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped potato

5 cups chopped watercress

2-1/2 cups water

2-1/2 cups creamy milk

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp thick cream

salt & pepper

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan.  When it foams add potatoes & onions & turn them until well coated.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper.  cover & sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes.  Add the watercress, water & milk.  Boil until soft.  Liquidize (we put ours in a food processor).  Do not overcook or vegetables will lose their flavor.  Beat in the thick cream mixed with the egg yolk just before serving.  It must not boil again, or the yolk will curdle.  Garnish: a spoon of whipped cream & a watercress leaf.

NOTE:  In the summer, the soup is super chilled!



Okra Season

Here's my first okra of the season!  We no longer grow tomatoes & okra in our greenhouses so I decided to plant a few in my own little garden.  Last week, I got to pick my first one!  I read that you can store them unwashed in a Ziploc bag for up to four days in the refrigerator.  This will work well while I "collect" of few!  Next year, I think I'll plant a couple more plants. 

My absolute favorite way to eat okra is extremely easy to prepare.  Chop off the stem end & then slice them crosswise about 1/4" thick.  Put them in a mixing bowl & sprinkle them with coarse cornmeal.  The cornmeal sticks to the "goo" giving them a good coating.  Sprinkle with salt.  Then, put a very small amount of oil in a non-stick pan & saute them until brown.  Delish!!