Cooking Our Favorite Restaurant Dishes at Home
Gothamist likes the homegrown feeling of Little Giant. Two cooks in the open kitchen, an owner hosting and serving. On a lazy weekday night, it's pretty easy to get to know everyone. With a small two person kitchen, the simple and comforting foods are usually the best at Little Giant. Gothamist remembers simply seared scallops with roasted hazelnuts. A side of soybean succotash with corn and other great summer vegetables. We can't forget the smokey bacon flavor in a side of crusty, gooey mac and cheese.
Take all of these highlights from Little Giant, combine them together, and you have this week's Gothamist Recipe.
Curry Seared Scallops
edamame bacon succotash, roasted hazelnuts
Gothamist used Aleppo Pepper here instead of the chili flakes, but they'll give a little background spice we really liked in this dish. Hunt it down if you can.
Ingredient Shopping List
Recipe serves two people with extra succotash.
1 red bell pepper
1 ear fresh corn
1 clove garlic
1 bag frozen blanched edamame
1 bunch parsley
1 lemon
1 small onion
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon butter
10 large, fresh scallops (about 5 pp, depending on size)
kosher salt
olive oil
fresh ground pepper
1 bag of blanched whole hazelnuts
Freshly ground curry
2 strips bacon
Estimated cost of ingredients: $22 at Fairway
Roast Hazelnuts
Preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Spread our nuts on a foil-covered sheet pan and sprinkle with salt.. Roast for 12-15 minutes until a golden brown. Shake the nuts in pan and make sure they pick up salt. Set aside and let cool. Slice each nuts in half or pulse in a food processor.
Prep the Succotash
Take the corn off the cob. Chop 1 clove garlic. Cut a red pepper in half. Remove the top stems, remove seeds. Remove white inner membranes. Dice ¾ of your red pepper into a large dice. Take about a cup of your frozen edamame and place in a bowl. Cover with room temp water to de-thaw for about 15 minutes. Drain water from beans and set aside. Chop a handful of parsley, leaving about 2 tbls.
Get a hot pan on the stove and add 2 (or three) strips of bacon. Sauté until crisp. Set aside on paper towels. Drain the pan of fat but do not clean and reuse this pan for succotash. When cool, crumble bacon.
Make the Succotash
In the bacon pan, add a touch of olive oil and place on medium heal. Add onion, red pepper and chili flakes and garlic with a pinch of salt. After two minutes of sautéing add corn, a pat of butter and squeeze of lemon juice. After butter melts, add parsley. Taste to check seasoning. After a minute, take off heat and set aside.
Seared Scallops
Pat the scallops dry with paper towels. Season the scallops on both sides with salt, pepper and a pinch of the curry powder. Spread the curry across each side of the scallop until there is an even, light coating. Get your reserved succotash on low heat at this point.
Set a large saute pan over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Once the oil is hot, place the scallops in the pan and saute on the first side for about 2-3 minutes. Flip scallops and cook on other side for another minute. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and let cook another 30 secs and remove from heat.
Place your succotash on the plate and place your scallops on top. Serve right away.
