Рецепт Gemelli with Spicy Scallops and Snap Peas
You might want to hide
after what I turned up...
read on...Here’s
a food writer’s dilemma for you: Say you
discovered a great recipe so full of flavor and so easy to make, you literally
jumped on your MacPro and started to extoll its praises the morning after you
made it. You were taken, not just with
its ease of preparation, but with the price you paid for its key
ingredient. And its pedigree impressed
you: The Chef who created the recipe had
a reputation as a 2013 “Rising Star” semi-finalist for a James Beard Award and
was the winner of StarChefs.com 2013 New York Rising Stars Award. You were unfamiliar with his restaurant but
quickly discovered that the New York Times’ Pete Wells had given it 2 stars in
2012. Then you probed a little deeper
and things got very dicey.
the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch app for my I-Phone. It’s free!
You take it along and whenever you order fish in a restaurant or go to
the fishmongers, you can quickly check the status whenever you want to.
But if you stupidly leave your phone at home,
it’s no help at all. Which is had
done. I purchased my fish. Only the next day did I go to http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx, the web page that,
like the app, helps people make educated choices about what fish to eat and
what to avoid. Their recommendations are
based on both what is healthy for our oceans and for ourselves. Since fish stocks are diminishing at an
alarming rate, they rank fish as “Best Choices” and point out ones to “Avoid”.
But they don’t leave you hanging:
There’s a “Good Alternatives” given too.
Much to my surprise and disappointment, the fish I used the first time I
made this dish was rated “Avoid”. They
could have added “Abysmal” to the rating. It turns out that not only is this
fish in short supply and overfished, the method used to catch it, bottom
trawling, ‘results in high levels of accidental catch and damage to the sea floor’. But what explains why this fish was so
modestly price at one of the best fishmongers in New York? At 9.99 a lb., it was practically tilapia-priced. Perhaps, every other seafood-conscious New
Yorker had used the Seafood watch app and caused the fish to be
un-sellable. But that was not the only
thing my research turned up.
"B"s are often hidden behind plants
but here's a creative way of
hiding one. Right
under Mr. Wells’ review of our Rising Star Chef’s restaurant was a shocking
link: the 2 star place had been shuttered by the Health Department in July
because “Inspectors observed food held at dangerous temperatures, contaminated
food and food ready for consumption touched with bare hands” the department
The restaurant’s owners blamed the July heat and said their walk-in
refrigerator struggled to maintain a constant temperature. I might cut the guy some slack but I read
on. The reason the inspectors were there
in the first place was because the restaurant had received a “B” grade and 23
violation points when it was last inspected in January. Now we’re not talking
about the cringe-worthy Chinese Take-Out place around the corner from us where the “B”
is no surprise. This is somewhere where
the cheapest bowl of pasta is $18. And where Zagat’s gives the average cost of
a meal with a drink and the tip is $59. I felt ripped off even though I’d never even been to the place. But then there was the recipe…
Here was a bowl of pasta, using the corkscrew
shaped Gemelle that was topped with an unconventional sauce. The heat of
habanero chilies was tempered with a little garlic, a splash of vinegar and
tiny bit of sugar. The fish cooked in
olive oil and lemon for just minutes. Crisp snow peas and some butter were
added the last three minutes. It was
ambrosia in a bowl. What was a fellow to
do? Back to the Monterey Bay Seafood watch.
The “Alternative” to the fish I used was the scallop; and scallops are a
“Best Choice”. Farmed, they’re raised
with minimal environmental impact. And
wild caught scallops also make the list because they’re filter feeders that
live on tiny particles filtered out of the waters they live in. They actually improve water quality and
clarity. So back to the kitchen I went
and made the dish I am sharing with you today.
What was the fish that caused the entire ruckus? Skate.
That strange sea world creature that’s as docile as it is frightening to
look at. Look, but don’t eat skate,
please. And as to that 2 stars “B” rated
restaurant? If you’re dying to know,
you. I just want to cut its Rising Star
Chef a break for giving me the bare bones of a dish this good. Here’s the recipe:
Recipe for Gemelle with Spicy Scallops and Snap Peas
Serves 4. Takes 30 minutes to make.
- 1 teaspoon seeded and minced habanero chile
- 1 teaspoon Champagne vinegar
- 1 pound sea scallops cut in half or 1 lb of
- bay scallops
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive
- oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 pound sugar snap peas, thinly sliced
- crosswise
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- In a small bowl, combine the habanero, vinegar and sugar.
- In a medium
- bowl, toss the scallops with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and the lemon juice and
- season with salt and pepper.
- In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al
- dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
- Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, add the habanero, garlic and
- remaining 2 tablespoons of oil; warm over moderate heat until fragrant, 2
- minutes. Spread the scallops in the skillet and cook over moderate heat,
- without stirring, until nearly white, 4 minutes. Gently fold in the sugar snap peas, butter and 1/4 cup of the pasta
cooking water and cook until the peas are crisp-tender, 3 minutes.
Fold in the pasta until it is coated; add more pasta cooking water if
the pasta seems dry. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the pasta to bowls,
drizzle with olive oil and serve.