Chilean Sea Bass and Wild Scallops with Shiitake Risotto and Fresh Asparagus | Scott’s Seafood, At Home

Another gray day at the RGBistro. Might this be a strawberry coming out of the bloom?!?!

This guy’s a little farther along…

…and this one’s getting closer!Some pincushions, coming into their peak flowering moment amongst the herbs.

Ever seen a coriander (cilantro) flower? We kind of let this one go by accident, but it’s so pretty; maybe we should do this on purpose?

Poll: How many of you eat better at home than you do at a restaurant?

Around here, and with rare exception, Friday night is always date nite. Recently,  we had tickets to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, so we had dinner at the nearby Scott’s Seafood in Costa Mesa.

While the dinner we split (Chilean sea bass) was fairly good, we both agreed we could do this at home, and for a lot cheaper. After all, after you throw in the beef carpaccio and beet salad we had to start, and the bottle of wine we ordered to split, dinner was somewhere in the three-digit range.

Chilean sea bass and wild scallops with Meyer lemon shiitake risotto and asparagus.

 As you can tell by today’s RGBistro garden photos, the day was a little dreary. So mid-morning, I went on a kitchen-quest for ingredients to make a nice bowl of soup. Unfortunately, as it was 9 AM, and I only had 6 cubes (3 cups) of stock left in the freezer, I needed a Plan B. Luckily, I knew the Irvine Farmers’ Market was rockin’ and rollin’ through 1 PM, so I took a quick shower, pulled $20 out of Mr. RGBistro’s wallet and went off to find lunch.

Note: I know it’s bad (it’s overfished), but I’m a sucker for Chilean sea bass. It’s my all-time favorite fish. And I found some. From the nice lady who traveled all the way from the Smart Fish Co. in Los Angeles (about 35 miles away). I also found some wild scallops. And some asparagus. And I knew we still had Meyer lemons on the tree. An idea started to take place…

So I made one more market run (to pick up shiitake mushrooms) on the way home. I dropped the market bags on the counter at 11:45 AM, and had lunch on the table at 12:45 PM.

At $9.76 per serving, it’s much cheaper than what we’d get at Scott’s Seafood, and in Mr. RGBistro’s opinion, it tastes just as good. Enjoy!  [K]

We certainly eat just as good, if not better, at home than at a restaurant. How about you?

RGBistro Notes:

- It’s hard to make risotto for just two servings, so the risotto makes four servings. Save leftovers for another meal, like pork chops and green beans.

- I added a pinch of chopped parsley and thyme to the risotto; they were leftovers on the counter from the night before.

- My risotto has “green stuff” in the photo. That’s shaved asparagus stalk, blanched at the same time as the asparagus in the recipe, then dried on a paper towel.

Another RGBistro lunch…

with Chilean sea bass…

wild scallops…

shiitake risotto…

   

and fresh asparagus.

Click here to view a printable version of this recipe.

Chilean Sea Bass and Wild Scallops with Shiitake Risotto and Fresh Asparagus

~

~ Serves ~

2

~ Ingredients for Sea Bass and Wild Scallops ~

• Approx. 6 oz. Chilean sea bass
• Approx 6 oz. wild scallops
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. butter
• Grind of salt and pepper
• Juice from one Meyer lemon
• 1 tbsp. flour
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• Optional: ¼ cup dry white wine

~ Ingredients for Asparagus ~

• Small bunch asparagus (yield 6 oz. after trimming)
• Grind of salt and pepper
• 1 tsp. olive oil

~ Ingredients for Risotto (serves 4, save leftovers) ~

• 1 tbsp. olive oil and/or butter
• 1 small sweet onion
• ¾ cup Arborio rice
• 3 cups chicken stock
• Optional: ¼ cup dry white wine
• 2 oz. shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tbsp. butter
• Zest from one Meyer lemon

~ Preparation ~

Preparation Time: 1 hour

1. Preheat oven to 425 ˚F. In a small saucier, bring 3 cups of chicken stock to a simmer. Bring second pot of water (5” inches full) to boil (to blanch asparagus).
2. While oven is heating, stock is simmering and water is boiling, do some prep work: Lay sheet pan out with aluminum foil. Rinse sea bass and wild scallops and pat dry with a paper towel. Make sure you get all the water out. Zest the Meyer lemon, then squeeze the juice into a bowl. Dice onion. Slice mushrooms. Rinse asparagus, then bend until it breaks near the bottom end, discard the bottom end. In the sink, set out metal bowl with cold water and ice. Optional: shave off asparagus sides with a potato peeler. Optional: Open a bottle of dry white wine.
3. Prepare risotto: In a third pot, sauté sweet onion in 1 tbsp. olive oil and/or butter over medium heat until the onion is translucent; about 10 minutes. Add in Arborio rice, lemon zest and white wine, cook for one more minute. Ladle in chicken broth from simmering pot (about ½ cup) and stir once. Keep an eye on the rice; once all the liquid is mostly absorbed, add another ladle (every few minutes), until rice is tender and cooked (about 20-25 minutes). Meanwhile, in small skillet, sauté shiitake mushrooms in one 1 tbsp. butter until cooked, about 10 minutes, then stir into rice. Set aside the small skillet used to sauté mushrooms; you’ll use that to prepare the lemon-cream sauce that goes over the fish.
4. Prepare asparagus: While rice is cooking, blanch the asparagus in boiling water for one minute, then transfer to ice-bath to cool. Then drain, toss with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil and set in single layer on one-half of sheet pan.
5. Prepare sea bass and scallops: Heat large skillet. Add in 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil and let it get really hot. (Turn off your smoke alarm.) Wet your fingers. If you flick a little water onto the oil, it should make an angry sizzle. Once the oil is hot, gently place the sea bass and wild scallops onto the pan, leaving space in between each piece. Don’t touch it again until it’s nicely seared. Grind generously with salt and pepper. Then flip it over, place it back on a different part of the skillet (that wasn’t previously used) to sear the second side. Once the second side is seared, transfer to empty half of the sheet pan. Transfer to oven with asparagus to finish in the oven for 5-8 minutes.
6. By now, the risotto should be done. Put a lid on it to keep it warm.
7. While sea bass, scallops and asparagus are finishing in the oven, make a pan sauce.
8. Prepare pan sauce: Using skillet that was used for sautéing mushrooms, make a roux by melting 1 tbsp. of butter with 1 tbsp. of flour. Stir it with a small whisk. Then add in white wine and lemon juice. Stir briskly for a few minutes, then remove from heat and stir in cream. Salt and pepper to taste.
9. Plate risotto, asparagus, sea bass and scallops. Then drizzle about 1 tbsp. of the lemon pan sauce over the sea bass and scallops. Serve immediately.

Nutrition content per serving: 451 calories, 30.5g carbs, 37.5g protein, 18.5g fat, 2.5g fiber

Cost per serving: $ 9.76 – $ 10.76

Source: Rustic Garden Bistro

Table decoration – purple ranunculus from the garden.

Tagged as: Asparagus, Chilean sea bass, Meyer lemon, Mushroom, Scallops