Seafood Risotto Smackdown: Scallops vs. Oysters

This should really be two posts, as I've lately been playing with both Scallop Risotto and Oyster Risotto. Which works best? Find out below.

My seafood risotto recipe is very similar to the Sausage and Mushroom risottos I've done before with a few key differences, namely the complete lack of sausage and mushrooms. Also, I use seafood.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
32 ounces seafood stock
1 cup Arborio rice
Bay scallops or shucked oysters (usually a half pound)
1 T shredded parmesan cheese
1 T butter (if you're using the scallops)

If using scallops, pan fry scallops in butter for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Then set aside.

If using oysters, broil until edges start to curl. Most online recipes say for one minute, but my toaster oven broiler needed 5-10 minutes. Set aside, while saving the extra liquid.

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about five minutes. Add the rice to the pan and cook for about a minute. Gradually start adding seafood stock and stir over high heat for 20 minutes. Once the rice is cooked add in the seafood for the final minute or two. (Here, if you’re using oysters, also add in the liquid from the oysters. Mmmn, oyster juice!) Finally, add in the Parmesan cheese to bind it all together.

2 servings

As for the battle between the oysters and scallops, in a bit of an upset, the scallops win handily. In general, I've always preferred oysters to scallops, but I think scallops just work better for risotto. Tonight was the first time I used oysters, while I've had the scallop risotto two or three times before. The oyster risotto was very good, but the scallop risotto was amazing.

Sometime, if the planets align correctly, I also hope to try this recipe with lobster. I'm thinking that will be pretty good too.

Spaghetti with Anchovies, Garlic, and Chili

I got this recipe from the student cookbook Jody gave me, and it was so good that it was almost as if someone came into my apartment and cooked me a meal. It was also the hottest thing I have ever cooked for myself.

4 T olive oil
4 garlic cloves, halved
1 red chili, quartered (Next time, a half a chili will be quite enough.)
Spaghetti
Small can of anchovies
freshly ground black pepper (Actually, I forgot to add this.)

Cook one serving of spaghetti. In a small saucepan, heat oil and gently cook garlic and chili until golden brown. Remove chili and garlic. Add anchovies to oil and cook for about two minutes. Add 1/4 pint of water (or half cup -- thanks, Internet) and boil until pasta is ready. Whisk with fork to break up anchovies, if needed.

Drain pasta and pour over sauce. Toss well and sprinkle with black pepper (or not as the case may be). This is meant to be two servings, but I didn't think anchovies would last all that long, so I used all the sauce over one serving of pasta. Jody did tell me the oil would be flavored with the garlic and chili, but I was shocked at how much flavor there was.

I'm definitely trying this again, though next time with only half the chili.

Battling Risottos

Joe's becoming the Master of All Things Risotto so I'm taking a stab at retaining my risotto "cred" with this PLUS... I finally got to cook with saffron which has been on my Hundred List for ages. This was loosely taken from the Epicure Bella Cucina cookbook.

5 1/2 c vegetable stock (or a lighter chicken stock as I used)
3-4 threads saffron (YIPPEE)
2 T butter
1 1/2 c arborio rice
2 t VE Toasted Onion (or the 3-Onion crack)
1/3 c dry white wine (okay, the cookbook lists this as optional but in my world, wine is not optional when it comes to risotto, it is a hard fast rule. The other hard fast risotto/wine rule is that you are not limited to "dry white wine", you can of course use the last half cup of the wine left over from dinner the night before)
1/2 c frozen peas, thawed
Bunch of cooked shrimp
Good sized handful of pecorino cheese (the shrimp and cheese are just me, the cookbook stops at peas but along with the risotto/wine rule, there is also a risotto/cheese rule that I won't go into here today)

Heat the stock and saffron up to a gentle simmer and reduce temperature to keep hot.

Melt butter into a pan, add the rice and onion and cook for about 2 minutes or until the rice begins to turn translucent. Add the "optional" wine and stir until the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Then comes the fun part...

Step One: Add a ladle full of the stock to the rice in the pan. Stir until the stock is absorbed.
Step Two: Repeat step one.

Continue until you've run out of stock and/or the rice is al dente. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese then stir in the peas and shrimp. Cover for about 5 minutes, give it a stir and serve it.

I think the only thing that I would really change would be to take the tails off of the shrimp, I didn't mind so much but I don't think that Meag really got into it like that.

Oh yeah, and the saffron? I must sheepishly admit that I'm not sure I could taste it. I would have to make the whole thing again without the saffron and see if I could taste a difference. What I do know is that it was mighty tasty. K,J

Screwed Up Scallops

Rinse about 20 large sea scallops (about a pound in total) in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and set aside. Cook 3 slices of bacon until they're crisp, drain on paper towel and reserve the drippings in the pan. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

Sear the scallops in the drippings over med-high heat (tending towards high heat for a good sear) about 2 minutes/ side until lightly browned. Remove from the skillet and keep warm.

Deglaze the pan with about 1/2 cup of dry, white wine (although I used a Gewurztraminer this time because I had it open from the Longest Risotto In The World) and add about 1/3 c of chopped shallot or red onion (I used red onion this time) and about 1 t of minced garlic (yeah, a teaspoon. Like that's going to be enough! I actually used closer to 1 1/2 T but, say it with me now "I like garlic!")

Simmer for about 2 minutes or until the onion is tender and the wine has evaporated a bit. Add about a half cup of prepared Alfredo sauce (I realize that this is the part where you say "Now you tell me that I need Alfredo sauce! Well, shame on you for starting a recipe before reading all of the way through it first.) Add some lemon zest (or juice in a pinch) and mix it well. Add the bacon back to the pan and then gently stir the scallops into the sauce. Season with a little fresh pepper and you're good to go.

I served this over fettuccine noodles (it seemed to go with the Alfredo sauce part of the meal) and it was some tasty, I tell you.

I've called them Screwed Up Scallops because I'm still getting used to the new pan and I ended up browning the bacon a little more than I should have so, instead of the lovely creamy light sauce that I had the first time that I made this, I ended up with something considerably... browner. Still wicked tasty but... browner.