I only mention the locale, because it is the epitome of rural southwest. Salina was established as a trading post by "Pierre" Chouteau two hundred years ago on the western edge of the late 18th century French territories in America. That means smack dab in Indian territory and the Osage Indian tribe. Today the small burg now has demographics rich in western culture, the Osage as well as relocated western Cherokee tribes, and sits on the edge of an Army Corp of Engineer lake, outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. That is where my Grandmother decided to call home, after she and her husband retired. There trailer home was circa 1960's chic. By the 1990s it was on it's last legs, or wheels, in this case.
Cooking in Grandmother's home was always a challenge. The cooking utensils, pots and pans were limited. The larder was always bare. A trip to the market meant choices were either a long drive into Pryor to a national chain grocery or accept what the market would bear at the local coop. For this weekend I was team cooking with my Cousin Steve, a great chef in his own right. And the customers were Grandmother and my own Mother. A rather demanding set, but also forgiving of presentation faux pas or delivery delays. As it turned out, Steve and I created a memorable meal, that received rave reviews from the Two Marys. In large part, that small success was due the teamwork created with Cousin Steve and also to an aluminum griddle from Grandmothers kitchen!
A long introduction to one of my favorite styles of cooking. A La Plancha, or flatiron grilling. This style is very popular in Spain, but can also be found in almost every culture that aspires to having an ethnic cuisine. Cooking a la plancha is simple. Remember I mentioned that Grandmother did not have a Sur La Table assortment of cooking implements. This style of cooking is very flexible in where you setup your kitchen. You can cook over the range top, an outdoor camp fire or your backyard grill.
Today's example menu is over the kitchen range and includes scallops, asparagus and rösti. Rösti is a kind of shredded potato pancake, popularized in Swiss cuisine.
Mis en place
Cooking order for the three menu items is important. You probably do not want the asparagus and potato dishes to taste like the seafood; nor the potatoes to taste like the asparagus. So, I cook the potatoes first, then asparagus and lastly the scallops.
The griddle should be hot before adding any cooking oil, as an aid in preventing unwanted sticking of food to the surface. Before adding any oil, throw some drops of wather from wet fingertips on to the griddle and if it hisses it is hot enough.
For oil, I generally use canola because it is economical, mild tasting and can handle the heat of the griddle. Your taste may prefer peanut or olive oil. However, for grilling of asparagus and scallops, I use olive oil.
As I mentioned, I used my Grandmother's old aluminum griddle. Hardware and cooking implement stores offer a range of materials and styles. My experience has been that any new griddle will require some curing from heating and treating with oil...or many years of use, making weekend pancake breakfasts.
The rösti is made of partly cooked, shredded potatoes. I prefer to buy a bag of already shredded potatoes at the grocery market. This saves prep time, have very little added sodium (55 grams per serving) and I am told, taste great. I use 4 inch, metal cooking rings to form the rösti pancakes. If you do not have these, you can form the pancakes by hand. The rings held keep the potato mounds together, while cooking, and assure uniform portion sizes. Potatoes are not low-glycemic, but I include them in the menu here for those who can tolerate them (not me). They are also fun to make. My alternative is a green salad of various lettuces, Belgian endive, radiccio and tomatoes.
In North America, we are very fortunate to have food products available all year long because if it is out of season where you live, chances are it can be imported from South America, at the time of year you want it! Asparagus is not different. We can find fresh white or green asparagus in most market locations, all year long. Do not try this with canned, processed product. It only works with fresh asparagus. I have not tried it with white asparagus, as I prefer to cook this product according to German recipes for Spargel. When buying green asparagus, I look for a bunch with a fresh, grassy smell, and firm, tight flower tips. I always grab a couple extra plastic produce bags and use them to marinate the asparagus. I use two layers of bagging because there always seems to be a hole in the bag, if I choose to use just one! Cut the woody bottom part of the asparagus off. Classical technique is to hold the asparagus the ends and snap. The asparagus will break where the woody portion of the stem ends. But I find that this leaves random lengths to the bundle, so I prefer to cut across the bundle, leaving a uniform length.
Scallops are a favorite shell fish for many of us that can find them in the market. You will find Bay Scallops and Sea Scallops. This menu calls for the latter. Scallops are often an expensive treat, but a splurge for me when offered under USD $8 a pound. A rich portion would be 6 scallops per person. Make sure you select ones that are firm, whole (not falling apart) and do not have a strong fishy smell. My father used to always question the fishmonger whether he was selling punched skate, instead of scallops, but if true, skate tastes good too! Make sure to dry the scallops prior to cooking or they will not brown up. Remember: Scallops cook very quickly and if overcooked will have an unpleasant rubbery texture.
Potato Rösti (serves 4, reserve 2 for breakfast the following day)
Ingredients
Preparation
Asparagus
Ingredients (serves 4)
Preparation
Scallops (serves 4)
Ingredients
Preparation
