Grandkids Sleepover With Seafood

Our two nearest grandkids, Matthew and Sophia, are moving to Maryland in June and we had some things for their Dad, so we invited them down for a sleepover – one of Matthews favorite things to do. We had a meal planned for the adults, believing we could always fix the kids a PB&J sandwich, but surprisingly they liked pasta and Matthew liked shrimp, so we were good to go.

Bev had gotten a good deal on sea scallops the other day and we had shrimp in the freezer and fresh asparagus from the garden, so a meal was born. We started with salad using fresh lettuce, green onion, and radishes from the garden, then cooked the entrée.

Neighbor, Pat, was alone for the evening so she also joined us and since she and Eric are both cooks, I demonstrated the proper pan heating technique and like I had been, they were amazed as the scallops freely moved around the pan while developing the perfect crust.

After sautéing, the scallops were set aside and covered and I added ½ cup of white wine to deglaze the pan, followed by ½ cup of homemade shrimp stock, 1 stick of butter, the juice of two lemon wedges (three would have been fine) and about a teaspoon of garlic from the garlic press (more would have been fine).

When the butter melted, I added the asparagus and cooked for a few minutes then added the shrimp and cooked until pink. When I flipped the shrimp, I added the scallops back to the pan for a few minutes of warm up and to coat with the sauce.

I had added the pasta to salted boiling water when I started the scallops. When the shrimp were done, I removed the asparagus and seafood to a covered plate and transferred the pasta from the water to the skillet with a slotted spoon (ala Giada) – I wanted a little of the pasta water for thickener. After a toss to coat the pasta, I plated it, topped with parsley, green onion, and grated Parmesan, and got this.

It was very good and hit in the middle of everyone’s differing taste (garlic, lemon, shrimp doneness, etc) and the best part is I didn't use a recipe. Next time it will be capers in place of garlic to change it up a little.  One of my cooking goals has been to make seafood dishes that I’d serve to company and I now have a few that I’m comfortable with.

Sophia is picky about what she'll eat, but Matthew always knows what he wants for breakfast, so next morning, it was moist scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and chocolate milk - one of the benefits of a sleepover with Meme and Grandpop.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago: Sirloin & Bean Burrito

Larry