Eat, Drink, and Go!

I’d really been slacking on the kitchen gourmet life since Thanksgiving – plenty of leftovers had to be had, so busy this last week, yada yada yada. But last night, I wanted to go all in, strut my stuff around the kitchen, and make something nice to stand up to an amazing beer were planning to crack open. On the menu:

I got some nice, but relatively small scallops and was feeling kinda smokey. Luckily I had smoked olive oil and smoked sea salt for that! Be sure to pat the scallops dry, then lightly salt and pepper them. I used the smoked sea salt for this.

I got some quinoa going after toasting it with a little smoked olive oil. When making quinoa or rice or grains like that where you add water to all get soaked in, it’s good to toast that stuff a little first before adding the water with some seasoning. I also got the kale (Fancy Tuscan kale tonight) into the oven to crisp up with some smoked olive oil and smoked sea salt.

I wanted to jazz things up a bit, so I diced and sliced some beets and pear.

The diced part went into the quinoa and the sliced stuff I saved for plating. Once the quinoa had soaked up all the water, I added the pears and beets, letting it continue to steam.

Searing Scallops doesn’t take long, so once everything else was just about done, I put some smoked olive oil in a pan and got it hot for the searing.

I always put the scallops into the pan clockwise and mark where I started so I know the order in which to turn them. They take about two minutes on each side.

Yeah baby! Now the fun begins. Plating time!

I laid down a bed of the quinoa, beets and pears mix, and some crispy yummy kale on the side. I placed a slice of beet down and a scallop on top, then fanned out the sliced pear. This is easy – don’t be afraid to make things look pretty on the plate!! I think it makes it taste better. Hehe.

To top it off, I spooned a dollop of maple bacon onion jam on top of each scallop. Mmmm!!!

Then popped a few pistachios on top too, cause why not?

This was a delicious and healthy dish. So I don’t feel bad pairing it with a sinfully decadent beer that is almost as hard to find as a unicorn – Goose Island’s Bourbon County. Google it. Then go find it – if you like dark bourbon barrel aged stouts. Yes, it was way too heavy for scallops, but it wasn’t going to drink itself! And I only lightly sipped it with dinner, saving most of it for dessert!!!!

I hope your holiday season is starting out wonderfully. I promise to be better about blogging, I know it’s been quiet lately! Stay tuned to a round up of the bourbon barrel beers we’ve been trying lately!! Coming soon!!