Made From Scratch Tuesday 3/20

Want to know what the best meal in the world is? A meal someone else cooks for you! The other night, one of my friends made an amazing meal. I knew I had to put the recipes up here, so here's today's guest post, by Audrey.

When I was growing up, in Massachusetts, we always had fish on Fridays whether or not it was Lent. My grandmother was an Irish Catholic from Southie and I guess that’s just how things always were. Now that I’m an adult living in Indianapolis, I have pretty intense seafood cravings that can only be satisfied one way. I refuse to eat frozen fish, so I headed up to one of the few local fish markets we have in town that sells fresh to pick up some supplies.

Unfortunately, the pickings were slim by the time I got there – it was, indeed, a Friday during Lent. I bought a beautiful Chilean sea bass, the last three scallops in the city, and a dozen clams to steam before heading over to Jen’s house to cook for her and her husband. One of the major advantages of being such close friends with your usual blog author is that she feeds me all the time. I owed her.

Herb Crusted Chilean Sea Bass

Grated Lemon Rind

Bread Crumbs

1 Small Handful Fresh Parsley – chopped

2 Cloves Garlic - minced

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1 Chilean Sea Bass Filet with skin on(about 1 lb)

Olive Oil

Mix bread crumbs, lemon rind, parsley, garlic together and spread on plate. Brush fish with olive oil on top and bottom. Press fish to breadcrumb mixture and place on cast iron skillet. Bake in 400 degree oven for 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before removing from skillet and slicing into servings.

Sea Scallops with White Wine Garlic Sauce

(This recipe may be at least partially stolen from somewhere else)

1 T Olive Oil

Sea Scallops

2 Garlic Cloves – Minced Fine

2 c. Chardonnay (inexpensive is fine, we used Fat Bastard)

3 T Fresh Lemon Juice

1 T Butter (optional)

Chopped Parsley for Garnish

Heat skillet with olive oil on high until oil smokes and place scallops in pan. Flip after 2 minutes to sear the other side for another 2 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and pour wine into pan. Remove scallops after another 2 minutes and add lemon juice, garlic, and butter (if you so choose. I’ve done it both ways and it’s always great). Reduce by half and pour over scallops. Garnish with parsley and serve.

New England Steamers

1-2 doz. Fresh Clams

Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic – Chopped Coarsely

3 Pearl Onions – Chopped Coarsely

½ Bottle Chardonnay

Enough Water to Cover Clams

Small Handful of Fresh Parsley

Melted Butter and Hot Water Bowls for Serving

In the bottom of a pot (that has a lid), sautee garlic and onions in olive oil until they are soft. Add wine, water, clams, and parsley to pot and steam with lid on high until clams just begin to open up (usually about 5 minutes, but as long as 10). Remove from pot and discard any clams that have not opened up in 10 minutes (DON’T EAT THESE ONES!). Serve with hot water and melted butter.

I also served these up with asparagus (because it’s one of my favorite veggies). I like to grill my asparagus with a little oil or butter, some coarse sea salt, and a little lemon juice. I just roll them around every 2 minutes or so to keep them from burning. A little crispness is fine.

I’m not sure I’ve paid my debt back to Jen yet, but I’m sure this is a step in the right direction.

Now it's time to link up all of your creations!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. The post has to be made from scratch.
3. The post you link up MUST CONTAIN A RECIPE! 
4. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.