The Freshman Cook: February 2011

Today we are making Seafood Scampi for 2. This scampi is a mix of my husbands favorite seafood, shrimp, scallops, and crab.  Because these are his favorite, I thought this dish would make the perfect Valentine’s Day meal. When I went to buy the ingredients for this meal, I bought a little big. What I mean by that is that I bought a lot of extra, planning on using the leftover in future meals. For instance, I bought a large bag of scallops, a big bag of shrimp, and a huge amount of king crab legs. It is not necessary to buy like I did. I bought my ingredients at Sam,s Club, but you can by all of the same ingredients by going to the seafood counter in your local grocery store, and just buying the amount you want. Here is my list of ingredients: 2 scallops 4 colassal shrimp 1 king crab leg angel hair pasta butter garlic loaf of Italian bread cut into slices Begin by melting 2 tablespoons of butter. As that is melting, begin cleaning your shrimp. I bought shrimp that was uncooked, but deveined. You need to peel the shell off, and then I like too devein the underside of the shrimp also. I like to use a small paring knife to devein the shrimp. It gives me more control because of its’ small size.
Once your butter is melted, add about 1 teaspoon of garlic, and let it simmer in the butter. Add more if you are a die hard garlic lover! This garlic butter will be used for your garlic bread. Make sure you keep an eye on the butter and garlic, as you don’t want your garlic to burn. Your scallops don’t need any prep at all. Just take them out of the bag, and they are ready. Your crab will be ready to use as soon as you get it out of its’ shell. Just crack the shell, pull out the crab, and get ready to cook. Put your water on to boil for your pasta. Also slice your bread from the loaf, coat it with garlic butter, and put it on a baking sheet ready to go into the oven. Put 3 tablespoons of butter and 2 teaspoons of garlic in your frying or saute pan. Start by cooking the scallops first.
The scallops take the longest, but not by much. Turn the scallops over a few times, and as soon as the scallops begin to get a little flaky, add the shrimp.
See how the scallops are just beginning to get a little brown? They should look like this. Aren’t they a thing of beauty?!!
Your scallops and your shrimp should be browning nicely. As they become browned and nearly finished, add the crab. You only want to heat the crab slightly.
See how pretty everything looks! Turn the pan off, and get your bread slices and put them in the oven under the broiler.
Drain and plate your pasta. Then place your seafood pieces on top of the pasta, and pour the butter garlic mixture over the top.Sprinkle with parmesan, mozzarella, or your favorite cheese.

Bon Appetit!

Tomorrow~ Day 3~Valentine Petit Fours

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