Just the Two of Us

Over the weekend QB and I made a recipe from our fun new(lywed) cookbook called  Cooking for Two: Perfect Meals for Pairs by Jessica Strand given to us by QB family friends.

Now, suffice it to say that I cannot keep mentioning every single wedding gift we received because they are all fantastic.  Many are lovingly used each day and we think of the people who donated to the cause and thank our lucky stars for your kindness.  The nifty PUR water filter is just one example (you know who you are - ha!).  No name dropping here...

Moving right along.  Lately, my taste buds have clamored for scallops in a fierce sort of way and the front cover of this book has great upsell value.

We took a stab at the seared scallops on a bed of fresh English pea and mint puree.  

We started out with frozen peas 

(I'm not a huge fan of peas in the first place 

because the canned kind have a funky taste to me

and I avoid them like the plague.  

I have now seen the light.)

The peas were cooked for about a minute.

We chopped up the freshest mint we could find at this time of year (...) and stuck it in a blender with garlic and salt & pepper to taste.

 

You guessed it:  it got blended right up. 

Look at the pretty specks of mint!

Now at this point, I realize the sight of the photo above might lose a few people.  Granted, you'll no doubt come up with a few analogies about what this looks like. Nooope, just keep it to yourself.  I get it.

The truth is, it smells - and tastes - really good and fresh. (trust me)

We then got the pan ready for the scallops.  

Instead of using lemon juice, QB wanted lime - it was a good judgment call.  

 There was some remaining flavored olive oil in the pan from sauteing some mushrooms, we threw in a little hot paprika and let that heat up for a minute.

 

Look at it!  Just look at it!

  

Next time we should get fresh scallops.  The ones we got were frozen and just fine, for convenience's sake, but it made me wonder about getting better.

Mine didn't turn out the pretty brown like the picture (whose ever does except show-offs) but it was still delicious!!  The smell in the kitchen was wonderful.  

We served the scallops with sauteed mushrooms and raw red bell peppers - good flavor combo.  The butter from the scallops ran into the pea mixture and that was GOOD.  QB made a note to add more garlic to the pea mixture next time.  I must concur.