Fennel Seared Scallops on Creamy Fennel and Rosemary Pasta on CBC

This morning on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with guest host Laurie Hoogstraten, I presented the following dish using Nature's Farm pasta, Scallops from Gimli Fish, butter from Notre Dame Dairies, and love.  

Fennel Seared Scallops on Creamy fennel and rosemary pasta
2 scallops per person (large dry scallops are available at Gimli Fish)*

ground fennel

butter

drizzle olive oil

salt and pepper

1 pkg Rosemary and fennel pasta (from Nature's Farm and available at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)
1-2 shallots, sliced
1 tbs butter (Notre Dame Butter)
drizzle olive oil
1/2 - 1 cup cream, depending on amounts
1/2 cup (+) white wine
splash Pernod or Ouzo
salt and pepper, to tastes

Prepare sauce by sautéing shallots in butter and olive oil.  When soft, add the cream, wine, Pernod and season, to tastes. 

To sear scallops:  dry scallops off on a paper towel and dip in seasoned ground fennel.  Bring a pan to medium-high heat with butter and olive oil, to prevent burning.  Brown (sear) scallops on both sides when ready to serve immediately.

When ready to serve, prepare pasta and toss with sauce.  Top with seared scallops. 

*Dry scallops are an excellent quality scallop as they have not been injected with a type of saline preservative.  Dry are preferable as they can brown, whereas the wet scallops won't. 

Enjoy!

Turkish Sticky Figgy Pudding, aka Fig Meshnun, on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

 Tomorrow, on CBC's Weekend Morning Show, with host Nadia Kidwai, I will be presenting the following dessert.  This was a huge hit at my former restaurant and I made this by popular demand today.  The cakes/puddings, can be prepared in advance, as can the butterscotch sauce, to make your holiday feast easier.

Always use the best ingredients for baking.  We have such great eggs, from Nature's Farm, butter, from Notre Dame Dairies, and flour, from Prairie Flour Mills. There are very few local flour mills in Manitoba.  Try out the flours from Tall Grass Bakery and Prairie Flour Mills!

Fig Mešhnun

Sticky Dried Fig Pudding (Fig Mešhnun)

1/2 pound dried figs, finely chopped

2 cups boiling water

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3 ounces butter (at room temperature) (I used Notre Dame Butter)

9 ounces superfine sugar

3 free-range eggs (I used Nature's Farm eggs, available at the St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)

1 teaspoon ground ginger
9 ounces flour

Butterscotch Sauce

8 ounces butter

7 ounces heavy cream

12 ounces brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and butter 12 five-seven ounce metal molds, a 10-inch square cake tin or a 10X8 inch jelly-roll pan.

Put the figs, boiling water, and baking soda into a bowl, then stir well and leave to stand for 20 minutes.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Mix the ginger into the flour, then sift onto the mixture and fold in.  Stir in the fig mixture and pour into the buttered molds.  Bake for 15 minutes.

While the puddings are baking, make the butterscotch sauce.  Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally, but not too much or it will crystallize.

After 15 minutes baking, spoon a bit of the sauce on top of each pudding and then return to the oven for 5 more minutes, or when a skewer comes out cleanly.

To serve, unmold the puddings onto dessert plates, then invert them so the sticky surface is on top.  Serve with extra sauce.

Enjoy!