Today I am proud to introduce the newest member of the 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group,
Kym from Free Spirit Eater. Kym's food is always on-point and her photography outstanding. However, her words are most engaging. She weaves tapestries of experiences and rendezvous with foods. She writes from the heart, with never-ending passion.
We are sharing with you a
simultaneous guest post, so when you are done here, flip on over to Kym's awesome site for my
Tagliatelle Carbonara.
Hey there pretty awesome people!
I assume you’re awesome because Laz over here is one of the coolest food bloggers (maybe even the coolest) I’ve come across in the blogging biz. I am in awe with his technique and impressed by his recipes. Never lacking flavor, color and sensuality in a dish, Lazaro’s recipes are the embodiment of food porn. The sort of dishes I can help but drag my chef fiancé away from the kitchen to drool over with me.
Well, enough ass kissing. Here’s a shortened version of how my blog began.
Girl “runs away” from home to pursue her dream of going to culinary school.
Girl meets boy in culinary school.
Girl graduates, gets engaged, becomes a line cook, but still doesn’t feel fulfilled.
Girl discovers intense fulfillment in combining her lifelong passion of writing with her biggest love, food, as her deep infatuation with photography begins to evolve.
I believe there can be sensuality, arousal and seduction in even the simplest of dishes. Marrying the right colors, depth, presentation and of course taste is what can turn a casual meal into a “casual encounter”. I’ve had love affairs with dishes and even written poems about the burning desire for butter as if she were a temptress. I blogged about a
crepe eating session in a parking garage as if it were mid-afternoon rendezvous, leaving the scene of the crime re-buttoning my pants and composing myself, yup, the dessert crepe walk of shame. After having a love/hate relationship with food most of my life, I began to see it in ways most normal people would frown upon. I’ve compared dieting to the 5 stages of death, talked about ingredients as if they were the sexy maid who just won’t stop teasing me and even questioned myself and others on what their final meal would be.
We all know pomegranates are considered the fruit of the gods, as well as an aphrodisiac. Basically any succulence that comes from the sea is exciting and downright seductive. Place the flavors together and picture this..
Cuddling close with your honey while being consumed with the unmistakable aroma of perfectly seared scallops. You wipe a drop of the scarlet pomegranate reduction running down the side of her lip. As you kiss her you taste the savory sweet layers of flavor left behind from the Thai papaya salad. The flavors in this dish are meant to excite your palate and tantalize your significant other. Sure V-day already passed, but it doesn’t mean you can’t make your sweetie’s heart beat faster from what she thought was just an ordinary appetizer.
We luckily found the inspiration to create this Thai papaya salad from Leela over at
She Simmers.
Pan Seared Scallops w/ Thai Papaya Salad & Pomegranate Reduction
- 6 Scallops
- 1/3 cup of shredded papaya
- 1/2 tsp of fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp minced ginger
- 1/4 tsp minced chilies
- 2 cilantro leaves, chiffonade
- 2 mint leaves, chiffonade
- 1/4 tsp brown sugar
- 1 cup of pomegranate juice
- 2 wonton wrappers
- 2 cups of canola oil + 1 tbs separate
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Procedure:
- Place 2 cups of oil in a medium sized pot over medium high, this will be your wonton frying oil.
- Combine papaya, fish sauce, ginger, chilies, cilantro, mint, and brown sugar, let sit for 5 minutes for flavors to infuse.
- Pour pomegranate juice into small pot over high heat, keeping an eye on it until it reduces into a thick syrup, remove from heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil into a medium pan over high heat, season your scallops with salt and pepper. When pan is hot, sear scallops for 1 1/2 minutes on both sides for a medium temperature (this also depends on the size of the scallops).
- Your frying oil should be hot by now, if you have a thermometer, it should be between 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit, make sure to test your oil with a small piece of wonton skin.
- Have a plate with layers of paper towel ready. Fry both wonton wrappers until golden brown, remove from oil and place over paper towels, allow to cool, season with salt on both sides.
- Now add a spoonful of pomegranate reduction on a plate, place scallops over the reduction, and top with Thai papaya salad, and crushed fried wonton skins. Serve warm. Serves two people.
Please hop on over to Kym's fantastic site for my
Tagliatelle Carbonara.
That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!
