Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (243 page)
SERVES 6
We prefer our tuna served rare or medium-rare. If you like your fish cooked medium, observe the timing for medium-rare, then tent the steaks loosely with foil for 5 minutes before serving.
3 | tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar |
2 | tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or rosemary |
2 | tablespoons Dijon mustard |
2 | teaspoons honey |
Salt and pepper | |
³⁄ | cup olive oil |
6 | (8-ounce) tuna steaks, 1 inch thick |
1A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL:
Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
1B. FOR A GAS GRILL:
Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. (Adjust burners as needed to maintain hot fire.)
2.
Clean cooking grate, then repeatedly brush grate with well-oiled paper towels until grate is black and glossy, 5 to 10 times.
3.
Meanwhile, whisk vinegar, thyme, mustard, honey, ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt, and pinch pepper together in large bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle oil into vinegar mixture until lightly thickened and emulsified. Measure out ³⁄
4
cup vinaigrette and set aside for cooking fish. Reserve remaining vinaigrette for serving.
4.
Pat fish dry with paper towels. Generously brush both sides of fish with vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Place fish on grill (hot side if using charcoal) and cook (covered if using gas) until grill marks form and bottom surface is opaque, 1 to 3 minutes.
5.
Flip fish and cook until opaque at perimeter and translucent red at center when checked with tip of paring knife and registers 110 degrees (rare), about 1¹⁄
2
minutes, or until opaque at perimeter and reddish pink at center when checked with tip of paring knife and registers 125 degrees (medium-rare), about 3 minutes. Serve, passing reserved vinaigrette.
Substitute 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano for thyme and add ¹⁄
4
cup chopped pitted oil-cured black olives, 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, 2 minced anchovies, and 1 minced garlic clove to vinaigrette.
Substitute 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley for thyme and add ¹⁄
4
cup minced fresh cilantro, 4 minced garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, and ¹⁄
2
teaspoon ground coriander to vinaigrette.
Substitute rice vinegar for red wine vinegar and 2 thinly sliced scallions for thyme. Omit salt and add 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger, and ¹⁄
2
teaspoon red pepper flakes to vinaigrette.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
In theory, the blazing-hot fire of a grill is perfect for cooking scallops with an extra-crisp crust and moist interior, but in practice they’re usually rubbery and overcooked by the time they develop a good sear, and they inevitably stick to the grate. For great grilled scallops, we needed to figure out how to build the biggest fire possible. The solution was a disposable aluminum pan—it allowed us to corral the coals in just the center of the grill for a tall, even, super-hot fire that gave us scallops with impressive char and juicy centers. Drying the scallops with clean kitchen towels before cooking helped ensure browning, and threading them on double metal skewers made them easy to flip all at once. To combat the problem of sticking, we lightly coated the scallops in a mixture of flour, cornstarch, oil, and sugar. With this simple coating, our scallops were crisp-crusted, moist and tender within, and released without hesitation.
SERVES 4
We recommend buying “dry” scallops, those without chemical additives. Dry scallops will look ivory or pinkish and feel tacky; wet scallops look bright white and feel slippery. If using wet scallops, soak them in a solution of 1 quart water, ¹⁄
4
cup lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons salt for 30 minutes before step 1, and do not season with salt in step 3. Double-skewering the scallops makes flipping easier. To skewer, thread 4 to 6 scallops onto one skewer and then place a second skewer through the scallops parallel to and about ¹⁄
4
inch from the first. You will need eight to twelve 12-inch metal skewers for this recipe. You will also need a deep (at least 2³⁄
4
inches) disposable 13 by 9-inch aluminum roasting pan.
1¹⁄ | pounds large dry sea scallops, tendons removed |
1 | (13 by 9-inch) disposable aluminum roasting pan |
2 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
1 | tablespoon all-purpose flour |
1 | teaspoon cornstarch |
1 | teaspoon sugar |
Salt and pepper | |
Lemon wedges | |
1 | recipe vinaigrette (optional; recipes follow) |
1.
Place scallops on rimmed baking sheet lined with clean kitchen towel. Place second clean kitchen towel on top of scallops and press gently on towel to blot liquid. Let scallops sit at room temperature, covered with towel, for 10 minutes. With scallops on work surface, thread onto doubled skewers so that flat sides will directly touch cooking grate, 4 to 6 scallops per doubled skewer. Return skewered scallops to towel-lined baking sheet; refrigerate, covered with second towel, while preparing grill.
2A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL:
Loosely cover cooking grate with large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Light large chimney starter mounded with charcoal (7 quarts) and allow to burn until coals are fully ignited and partially covered with thin layer of ash, about 25 minutes. Remove and discard foil. Meanwhile, poke twelve ¹⁄
2
-inch holes in bottom of disposable aluminum roasting pan and place in center of grill. Empty coals into pan.
2B. FOR A GAS GRILL:
Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes.
3.
While grill is heating, whisk oil, flour, cornstarch, and sugar together in small bowl. Remove towels from scallops. Brush both sides of skewered scallops with oil mixture and season with salt and pepper.
4.
Clean cooking grate, then repeatedly brush grate with well-oiled paper towels until grate is black and glossy, 5 to 10 times.
5.
Place skewered scallops directly over hot coals. Cook, covered if using gas, without moving scallops until lightly browned, 2¹⁄
2
to 4 minutes. Carefully flip skewers and continue to cook until second side is browned, sides of scallops are firm, and centers are opaque, 2 to 4 minutes longer. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and vinaigrette, if using.
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
GRILLED SEA SCALLOPS
1 | teaspoon grated lime zest plus 3 tablespoons juice (2 limes) |
1 | tablespoon sriracha sauce |
2 | tablespoons honey |
2 | teaspoons fish sauce |
¹⁄ | cup vegetable oil |
Whisk lime zest and juice, sriracha sauce, honey, and fish sauce until combined. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in oil until emulsified.
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
GRILLED SEA SCALLOPS
3 | tablespoons barbecue sauce |
1 | tablespoon ketchup |
2 | tablespoons cider vinegar |
2 | teaspoons sugar |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | cup vegetable oil |
Whisk barbecue sauce, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and salt together in medium bowl until combined. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in oil until emulsified.
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
GRILLED SEA SCALLOPS
2 | tablespoons champagne vinegar |
1 | cup packed fresh basil |
3 | tablespoons minced fresh chives |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
2 | teaspoons sugar |
1 | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
²⁄ | cup vegetable oil |
Pulse vinegar, basil, chives, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in blender until roughly chopped, 5 to 7 pulses. With blender running, slowly drizzle in oil until emulsified, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of jar as necessary.
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
GRILLED SEA SCALLOPS
8 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
1 | slice bacon, diced |
3 | tablespoons sherry vinegar |
3 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
1 | medium shallot, minced |
1 | tablespoon maple syrup |
2 | teaspoons Dijon mustard |
1.
Heat 6 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 2 tablespoons butter into hot butter to melt. Wipe skillet clean with paper towel.
2.
Cook bacon in now-empty skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate. Pour off any bacon fat into browned butter. Add vinegar, oil, shallot, maple syrup, and mustard to browned butter mixture; whisk until emulsified. Stir in reserved bacon.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Shrimp can turn from moist and juicy to rubbery and dry in the blink of an eye—especially when grilled. While grilling shrimp in their shells can shield them from the coals’ scorching heat, any seasonings are stripped off along with the shells when it’s time to eat. For tender, juicy, boldly seasoned grilled shrimp we decided to go with peeled shrimp and find a way to prevent them from drying out. We seasoned the shrimp with salt, pepper, and sugar (to help browning) and set them over a very hot fire. This worked well with jumbo shrimp, but smaller shrimp overcooked before charring. Because jumbo shrimp cost as much as $25 per pound, we wanted a less expensive solution. We created faux jumbo shrimp by cramming a skewer with several normal-sized shrimp pressed tightly together. Our final step was to take the shrimp off the fire before they were completely cooked (but after they had picked up attractive grill marks). We finished cooking them in a heated sauce waiting on the cool side of the grill; this final simmer infused them with bold flavor.
