Review: You + Me + Scallops makes three

Tonight, I cooked Scallop Linguine from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook Cravings 2. You can buy it (for a discount!) on Amazon here:

This recipe is on page 176. This is relevant because it was delicious.

I have both of Chrissy’s cookbooks and have technically officially made three of her recipes so far (I think), and the point is that life is for learning and I have officially learned that I need to make more of her recipes because her recipes are dope.

So, yes, consider this an official endorsement for her cookbooks. But, also, I would like to talk about two food lessons I just experienced thank to this recipe, specifically:

Breadcrumbs are delicious. Guys. Breadcrumbs are delicious. I’m about to start making breadcrumbs regularly and tossing them on top of everything like food glitter. Chrissy’s cookbook recommends that you use actual bread and a food processor, but Chrissy also knows I don’t have that kind of paraphernalia crowding my counter space so I went with her Option B: Panko.

Then I started going a little bit rogue because life is for living! So I got seasoned Panko breadcrumbs instead of the normal kind, and I didn’t cook and then crumble up any bacon because I thought I had bacon and realized I didn’t after I was already home. So I put a spoonful of butter in a pan and melted it. And I chopped up four cloves of garlic. And I poured enough breadcrumbs into my skillet so the whole bottom of it was covered, and then a little more, and then I mixed them in with the butter and the garlic for about five minutes or so, until they were golden and even more crispy. I tasted them before I added any salt and I am SO glad that I did because they were seasoned exactly the right amount (I guess that’s the difference between seasoned Panko and non-seasoned Panko), so I just added freshly-ground black pepper instead. Then I let them cool and added some shredded Parmesan. Honestly, I didn’t measure how much. Let’s say…a small fistful? Maybe a 1 to 2 ratio of Parmesan vs. breadcrumbs. THEY WERE SO GOOD and now I’m obsessed with breadcrumbs.

Scallops are not the same as chicken. In my defense, I knew this. One walks on land and one lives in the sea! But I’ve cooked LOTS of chicken and I’ve cooked zero scallops until tonight. So this was a chance for me to broaden my horizons.

I patted my scallops dry with a paper towel, just like Chrissy told me to. I also seasoned them generously with salt and pepper on one side, just like she told me to. But I was just not emotionally prepared for how much liquid they were going to emit when they got in a hot pan. I mean, I guess maybe that makes sense? They live in water. But, either way, today I learned that scallops release a lot of liquid even when you think you dried them! So pat those scallops dry, people.

Then, when I flipped my scallops, I seasoned them with salt and pepper again, just like our friend Chrissy told me to. But I was definitely a little bit afraid of over-salting. DON’T BE. I was generous with my salt and pepper for sure and they could have still used a touch more salt! Oh, scallops. How beautifully complex you are.

Other than that, I pretty much followed the recipe! Except, I think I probably added a touch more Parmesan to the pasta at the end but that was only because PARMESAN. Ugh, and it was SO good, you guys.

Cooking is my zen ❤

Pics to prove it happened!

Happy eating!

Xo Charlene

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