Seared Scallops with Nettle Mint Pesto
I never liked scallops. Of course, now I realize that a big part of why I never liked them was that they were usually overcooked. Scallops should be very lightly cooked, seared, sauteed, or grilled. If you overcook them, you end up with something akin to shoe leather. But even when I started dating Mr. Cook Local, and he’d bring me to Bob’s Clam Hut in Maine, home of some of the best fried seafood in the country, I’d skip the scallops and go for the fried clam strips.
In my defense, the clam strips (and the clam bellies) are fantastic, but still, I never realized how much I loved scallops until we started buying them from Taylor Shellfish and cooking them ourselves. One of the things I really like about Taylor Shellfish’s scallops is that they’re pretty dryly packed. So you can be sure that your scallops are actually all meat and not a lot of injected water.
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I’ve really been enjoying Stinging Nettles lately, so when I was planning the menu for our much-belated housewarming party, I decided to come up with some sort of recipe that used them. I’d seen a spinach and potato frittata recipe in one of my cookbooks, so I decided to adapt that for the party.
Stinging Nettle Frittata
A few words about today’s ingredients. The potatoes came from Olsen Farms, the eggs from Skagit River Ranch, and the nettles were from Foraged and Found. Nash ‘s Organic Produce has been offering up nettles lately as well. If you [...]
I cannot believe I waited this long to try nettles. I’ve seen them at the farmers markets since I moved to Seattle almost almost 4 years ago now and I admit, the name scared me away. Stinging nettles. Stinging.
Nettle Tonic
Sting. Ouch. Why would I try those? Now that I’ve spent some time with them though, I really enjoy them in a wide variety of ways. I’ve made risotto and soup, and lately I’ve been having a lot of nettle “tea”. I put tea in quotes because technically there are no actual tea leaves in this [...]
The name doesn’t inspire confidence. Stinging nettles. Why would anyone want to eat something with the word stinging right in the name? How in the world did people ever decide that people should or could eat stinging nettles? Well, whatever the circumstances, I’m certainly glad it happened. Before we get to today’s recipe, let’s look into the stinging nettle just a bit more.
Nettles have a variety of medicinal properties.
Cream of Nettle and Sorrel Soup
Diuretic in patients with congestive heart failure. When brewed into a tonic or tea, it can be useful for fighting allergies. [...]
