Dinner for Mom

My mom was in town from Nashville this past weekend. She treated the MP and I to a really good (but could have been better) dinner on Saturday night. On Sunday, it was my turn to treat...

Our menu was salad, turnip gratin (which came out tasting great, even though the turnips felt a little rubbery when I was chopping them), and scallops with a lemon dill cream sauce.

I have to say, the scallops came out fantastically. They were so buttery, and not overcooked at all...which has not always been the case for scallops served by yours truly. The key was taking them out of the pan a little bit before I thought I should. I dredged them in flour, and seared them in butter, then made the sauce in the pan drippings. I knew they would continue to cook a bit more after I pulled them out of the pan...though it was hard to trust that instinct.

The sauce was tasty and simple. When I pulled the scallops from the pan, I added 1c sav. blanc wine and let it cook down a bit. To that I added 2T chopped fresh dill, 1 T grated lemon peel and about 1T lemon juice. Then I added 3T of unsalted butter and about 1/4 cup of cream and whisked that mixture until it was heated through. The sauce was a nice, thick consistency. I warmed the plates - a great way to keep delicate foods like seafoods warm to the table - and plated the scallops, spooning some sauce on them to serve.

I had made our dessert earlier in the day. The chocolate pear upside down cake that I made for dessert was fantastic. The caramel, pear, and chocolate seemed an unlikely combination...but it turned out great. I could have cooked the cake for a little less than the 55 minutes or so that I did, but it did take longer than the 40-45 that the recipe calls for. The caramel took some time to make, and I was very worried about burning it, but all in all...I think this was worth the wait.

The only other thing I wish I had a picture of was our apple ebelskivers that we made on Sunday morning. They tasted great and were so pretty on the platter with sifted sugar and cinnamon on them. They were served with whipped cream with a bit of salt and 1/4c maple syrup added. The flavors blended so unexpectedly to me.

We had a great weekend - and a warm and cozy kitchen!