A Pungent Pity Party For One

I am cooking for one. I haven’t mentioned it, because I didn’t see the point, and perhaps didn’t want to acknowledge that I am feeling a little bit sorry for myself, but my “other half,” is no longer in this country. He is still in the picture, so to speak, I just can’t see him. He is in the country of Rioja, the Mecca of paella and tapas; he is in Spain, near his daughter, embarking on a new job. And I am here, in my town, New York City, living in Bat’s house, riding Bat’s bike, wearing Bat’s shirts, wondering what to make myself for my dinner.

Before Sebastian and his daughter moved to Spain, Wednesdays were their night together, and before I moved in with him, I used to embrace Wednesdays as the day I could eat salmon. Bat hates salmon, but really. He threatens not to kiss me after I have eaten it. It is out of the question that I would make it when we are at home together. So Wednesdays, in my girlie Chelsea apartment, were Salmon Night. Salmon with kale, salmon with rabe, salmon with something green. No red meat, no starch, not because I frown upon either, but because I was cooking for one person, who likes salmon and greens.

Feeling uninspired today I decided to read a cookbook that Bat’s sister, Miranda, recently gave me: Nigel Slater’s Real Food. At first when I looked at the index in front, I thought, “This guy never mentions fish in here,” and fish is what I wanted for dinner, but then I figured it out: Fish is in there, but it shows up in tandem with Slater’s favorite food “groups”: potatoes, chicken, sausages, garlic, bread, cheese, ice-cream, and chocolate. For example: Baked Plaice with Parmesan Crumbs, or Smoked Mackerel and Potato Dauphinoise. Yum!

I decided on the Garlic Scallops because Bat doesn’t like scallops, so now is a good time to embrace them, and the Oyster Mushrooms with Roasted Garlic, because I thought both would be ideal cooking for one, because I love garlic, scallops and mushrooms of all kinds, and because let’s face it: who am I going to kiss?? It was only later that I realized I was in the midst of reading the “Garlic is Good” chapter of Comfort Me With Apples as I fell asleep last night.

I planned on getting two large diver scallops, or three smaller ones, but hit a snag at Fish Tales, where they sold them already grouped in half-pound containers.

“But I’m just me!” I lamented to Lewis, the hapless fellow behind the counter. “I don’t need half a pound of scallops. I am just One.”

Eventually Lewis took pity on me and went in the back to try to find the lightest “half-pound” possible, which contained four nice-sized specimens, and I too acquiesced. (The injustices of cooking for one!)

The air was warm still but misty, as I raced the rain home to cook my supper.

Adapted from Nigel Slater’s Real Food:
Serves 1

For the Mushrooms:
5 cloves of garlic
1 big clump of oyster mushrooms
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Several sprigs of thyme

Peel the garlic cloves and bring them to a boil in a small pan of water. Drain them, add fresh water and bring to a boil again. Let simmer for 5 minutes, then drain.

Nigel says to smear the mushrooms with butter. I got frustrated by their tenderness, so decided to season some olive oil and douse them with that. Season with sea salt and fresh pepper. Tuck the boiled garlic cloves around the mushrooms and scatter with thyme leaves.

Roast in an oven at 395 F for 20 minutes, basting the mushrooms in butter several times.

For the Scallops:
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
4 fresh sea scallops
1.5 tablespoons butter (he says 50g and I have no idea what this means. I eyeball it.)
4 cloves of garlic (should have halved it to 2, but forgot), peeled and finely chopped
1 small handful of parsley, roughly chopped
½ lemon (forgot to use it, didn’t need it)

Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan until it starts to sizzle. Season the scallops with sea salt and fresh pepper, then drop them into the oil (they will sputter). Do not move them for at least 1 minute. Check to see if they have gotten some color on bottom, then flip them and cook on the other side. They should cook for a total of 3 minutes or less!! Put the scallops on a hot plate (extra points for remembering to warm my plate in the oven).

Add butter to the oil—it should immediately froth—then add the chopped garlic. Swirl it around the pan and add the parsley. While it is all frothing pour it over the scallops and serve immediately (don’t waste time taking photos, like I did. Dig right in.)

Notes:
Lewis was right, I could eat four scallops, and happily did as they were perfectly cooked: boastfully browned, tender as can be and still a little raw in the center. As I mentioned above in the ingredients, 2 garlic cloves finely chopped would have sufficed, but I ate every last morsel of 4 minced cloves anyway, because, well, why not?!

Don’t over-salt the mushrooms (like I did). The first time I tasted them (when I realized I had forgotten the thyme and added it), they needed seasoning, and unfortunately I then overdid it.

Nigel (yes, it’s “Nigel” now, sine we are so well acquainted)  suggests mopping up the mushrooms’ fragrant buttery juices with lettuce. I found this odd, since I don’t’ usually think of lettuce as particularly absorbent. But he was right. The acid in the vinaigrette and the combination of fresh Boston lettuce and Frisee was essential to cutting the richness of my mushrooms, of which I made far too much for one lone girl such as me. And yes, there was garlic in my vinaigrette too.

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Tags: Garlic, Mushrooms, New York, Scallops, Seafood