Week 7: Love-Inspired (Whereby I Screw Up Everything)

So this was a simple plan. It is our traditional V-Day dinner. My wife loves scallops. She has taught me that there is great food that never even had a face, scallops are one of those. I love steak, especially a nice ribeye. Therefore, this is love-inspired.

And look at these scallops! They were amazing. They were big. They were dense. They were the best scallops I think I have ever purchased.

The steak was thick and marbled. I sprung for Prime as well.

I salted the scallops and steak and stuck it in the refrigerator for about an hour. The salt helps draw out some moisture. The refrigerator helps to dry it out. Both of which are helpful when pan-frying to get a good sear.

We reheated some Pão de Queijo (leftover from Sunday) as appetizers as we waited on the potatoes to cook. Unfortunately, that was the best part of the meal. Reheated Pão.

I attempted to make mustard-roasted potatoes from smittenkitchen, which my wife had made with success before. FAIL. Burned to a crisp due to my inattention and a pesky, unreliable oven thermometer. (Yes. I have a separate thermometer. No. I didn't pay any attention to it once I put the potatoes in.)

We ended up throwing about 2/3 of them away.

 I cooked the steak for three minutes on each side in the cast iron, pulled it off and set it to rest for ten minutes.

I cooked the scallops, so that everything would be perfectly timed. Potatoes would come out, scallops would be hot, steak would be rested, greens would be done.

While the picture may look good, I didn't rinse the scallops off and must have been heavy handed with the salt. They were too salty, to the point where they were difficult to eat alone. I cut into the steak and it was rare. Not what my wife would call yummy. So that had to go back on the stove. The potatoes, as you saw, burned. Pretty much a complete failure on V-Day. grrrr.