Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times (12 page)

3.
Serve, drizzled with the juices from the plate and garnished with the parsley.

VARIATIONS

Shrimp or Squid
a la Plancha

This technique works perfectly with both shrimp and squid. Keep the cooking time especially short for squid or it will get tough.

• Another option is to vary the kind of oil, vinegar, seasoning, and garnish as you like. For example, use peanut oil with scallions and peeled fresh ginger, then garnish with a drizzle of soy sauce or fresh cilantro for a completely different take.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 MINUTES

YOU CAN NEVER
go wrong by adding a little crunch to scallops when you sauté them (see the
following recipe
for another example). Usually, you dredge them in flour, cornmeal, or bread crumbs before adding them to the hot pan, and it’s something that most everyone seems to like. But you can take that crunch and give it an intense flavor by dredging the scallops directly in a spice mix. Although you can’t do this with everything—dried herbs don’t get crisp, and some spices are far too strong to use in this quantity—it works perfectly with curry powder, which not only seasons the scallops and their accompanying sauce but gives them the crunch we all crave.

1.
Core the tomatoes (cut a cone-shaped wedge out of the stem end), then squeeze and shake out their seeds. Chop their flesh into ½-inch pieces and set aside. Put the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes. While it is heating, sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper and spread the curry powder on a plate.

2.
When the oil is hot, work quickly to dredge the scallops lightly in the curry powder and add them to the pan. About 2 minutes after you added the first scallop, turn it—it should be nicely browned (if it is not, raise the heat a bit). When the scallops are all browned and turned, cook for another minute, then add the tomatoes and the cream if you’re using it (if you are using yogurt, lower the heat immediately; it must not boil).

3.
Heat the tomatoes through, then taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Sprinkle with the lime juice, stir in the cilantro, and serve.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 15 MINUTES

IF YOU CAN
find the rare (and shockingly expensive) true bay scallops from Nantucket or Long Island, by all means use them in this dish, but reduce the cooking time. Do not, however, try this dish with the tiny calico scallops (sometimes mislabeled as bays), which, despite your best efforts, will overcook before they brown.

1.
Put the oil and half the butter in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the scallops with salt and a bit of cayenne. When the butter foam subsides, add the scallops to the skillet, one at a time (or all at once if you’re using bay scallops), and turn the heat to high. Cook for about 2 minutes or until brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side for another minute or two. (Scallops are best when rare in the center; if you like them more well done, cook for another couple of minutes.)

2.
Transfer the scallops to a plate and keep warm. Add the nuts to the skillet and, still over high heat, cook, stirring, until dark brown, just a minute or two. Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to a syrup, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining butter; when it has thickened the sauce, pour over the scallops, garnish if you like, and serve.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 MINUTES

REAL BAY SCALLOPS
—which come from the waters between Cape Cod and Long Island—are in season through the winter and are an amazing treat (they’re also amazingly expensive). Though you can eat them raw, they’re also good cooked, but simply . . . very simply.

1.
Preheat the oven to the maximum, at least 500°F. As it preheats, put a roasting pan large enough to hold the scallops in one layer in there. When the oven is hot, add the butter and return the pan to the oven. Cook, shaking the pan once or twice, until the butter has melted and begun to turn brown.

2.
Immediately add the scallops and cook, undisturbed, for about 3 minutes. Remove the pan, add the shallot, and stir. Return to the oven for about 2 minutes, or until the scallops are done (they should be tender and not at all rubbery; do not overcook). Season with salt and pepper, stir in the herb, and serve.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 1 HOUR, LARGELY UNATTENDED

THIS IS AMONG
my favorite dishes using this plentiful but still underappreciated cephalopod. (The term, which is also used for octopus and cuttlefish, describes sea creatures whose “feet” grow from their heads.) Like many people, I’m a fan of fried “calamari,” but that dish is best suited to restaurants because of squid’s tendency to spatter when deep-fried. Although sautéing and stir-frying are good, fast techniques for squid, they, too, tend to be messy. A gentle braise in flavorful liquid and seasonings is the perfect alternative, and this one, with its Provençal spirit, is delicious and warming.

1.
Put 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet that can later be covered and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly browned. Add the squid and stir, then lower the heat and add the wine. Stir, add the thyme, and cover.

2.
Cook at a slow simmer until the squid is tender, about 45 minutes. Uncover, season to taste, raise the heat, and cook until most but not all of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the remaining olive oil, garnish if you like, and serve.

VARIATIONS

Add fennel seeds or crushed red chiles to alter the flavor entirely, or try one of these additions:

Squid in Red Wine Sauce with Potatoes

Add some crisp-sautéed potatoes or croutons of bread to the finished dish for a contrasting texture.

Squid in Red Wine Sauce with Tomatoes

Add a few chopped tomatoes (canned are fine) to make the sauce a bit thicker and more plentiful. In this case, you might as well serve the dish over pasta.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 15 MINUTES

THOUGH YOU CAN
just shove the crabs under the broiler in this recipe, this slightly more complicated procedure works best: Preheat a large roasting pan in the broiler for ten minutes or so. When you’re ready to cook, put the crabs in the pan, adjusting the broiler rack so that it’s two or three inches from the heat source or as close as you can get it (in my oven, this means propping the roasting pan on top of another pan). The crabs will be done in less than 5 minutes. Remember that some oven broilers work best if the door is ajar, which will keep the element from cycling off and make cooking time faster, not slower.

1.
Preheat the broiler, adjusting the rack so that it is just beneath the heat source; put a large nonstick roasting pan or skillet in there to heat up for about 10 minutes. Or start a grill, adjusting the rack so that it is about 4 inches from the coals.

2.
To broil, place the crabs, top shell up, in the pan. Broil until they are firm and their tops lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Brush lightly with olive oil if you like, sprinkle with salt, and serve with lemon wedges.

To grill, brush the crabs with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill, turning once or twice, until browned and firm, 5 to 10 minutes. Brush with olive oil and serve with lemon or, if you like, melted butter.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 40 MINUTES

BOILING OR STEAMING
lobster is the simplest cooking method, and it may seem like the best when you consider that plopping a lobster into a pot of boiling water is also the easiest way to kill it. Fortunately, there is a way to “parboil” lobster to kill it that will then allow you to grill or broil it without overcooking. The technique outlined here is easy, foolproof, and perhaps even humane.

Make sure you boil plenty of water for the first step. You want to cook the lobsters barely but quickly. And have an ice-water bath ready to stop the cooking.

1.
Start a grill if you’re using one. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Plunge the lobsters into the water (one or two at a time if necessary) and cook just until they turn red, about 2 minutes. Remove the lobsters and plunge them into an ice-water bath to stop the cooking. (You can do this several hours in advance and refrigerate the lobsters until you’re ready to proceed.) Split the tails down the middle of their soft sides so they will lie flat.

2.
Preheat the broiler if you’re using it. With either broiler or grill, adjust the rack so that there will be about 3 inches between the lobsters and the heat source. Broil or grill the lobsters with their flesh side facing the heat until they are hot and their shells just begin to char, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve hot, warm, at room temperature, or cold, with the melted butter, mayonnaise, or a basic vinaigrette.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

SOME PEOPLE ARGUE
that a true paella must contain only meat or seafood, never both, that a true paella can be prepared only in a paellera, or that true paella must be cooked outdoors over wood. Perhaps they’re all right. What’s clear to me is that you can produce a fabulous rice dish I call paella in just over half an hour, which makes it a great option for weeknights.

1.
Preheat the oven to 500°F or as near that temperature as you can get it. Warm the stock in a saucepan along with the saffron if you’re using it. Put an ovenproof 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. A minute later, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

2.
Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until glossy, just a minute or two. Season liberally with salt and pepper and add the warmed stock, taking care to avoid the rising steam. Stir in the shrimp and transfer the skillet to the oven.

3.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is dry on top. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

VARIATIONS

Shrimp is my first choice for this dish, but the alternatives are numerous. As long as the pieces are less than ½ inch thick, anything will cook through in the time it takes for the liquid to evaporate. Try any combination: