Seafood with Pesto from Maria Liberati and a Festa Italiana #Giveaway

Milwaukee is known as the City of Festivals for good reason.  In addition to the world's largest music festival, Summerfest, Milwaukee is also privileged to be the host of some of the world's best ethnic festivals.

One of the tastiest just happens to be Festa Italiana, coming up on July 19-21 (stay tuned below for a chance to win tickets).  Among its other claims to fame, Festa happens to be largest Italian event of its kind in America today.

Last year, I wrote a guide to "eating your way through Festa."  This year, I had the opportunity to interview Maria Liberati, former international supermodel, blogger, cookbook author and food and travel writer for The Mortan Report. 

Interestingly, during the height of her modeling career while jet-setting around Europe, Liberati rediscovered the simplicity of Italian food while spending time at her family's vineyard in the mountains of central Italy. She began to experience the real tastes of food that she knew from her childhood. And she created an entirely new career based around her love of Italian food.

Today, Libearti is considered one of the foremost experts in Italian cuisine, culinary travel, wine and culture and has been referred to on occasion as the "Italian Martha Stewart."

I was curious to find out more about Liberati's cooking philosophy, as well as her impressions of Milwaukee and Festa Italiana. Here's what she told me.

She was also kind enough to leave me with a deliciously simple recipe for a great summer appetizer. In turn, I'm sharing that with you.

In addition, if you happen to be around for Festa Italiana in Milwaukee this year, be sure you read to the bottom of the post and enter to win a pair of tickets to the festival (a $26 value).

Sapore di Mare al Pesto (Seafood with Pesto) 

By Maria Liberati

¼ cup diced shallots

3 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and diced

1 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

1 lb of sea scallops, diced

½ lb small shrimp diced

dash of pepperoncino (hot red pepper)

Pesto Sauce

1 cup fresh basil leaves, remove stems

1 clove garlic crushed

½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese freshly grated

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup pignoli nuts

Wash basil leaves thoroughly and pat dry.

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend for 5-10 seconds or until smooth. Add more parmigiano-reggiano cheese to taste. Pesto sauce can be stored in the refrigerator

In a large skillet, sauté the shallots and tomatoes in oil for 3 minutes. Add diced scallops and shrimp and mix thoroughly; sauté for 3 minutes. Pour the pesto sauce over the seafood, toss, and sauté for another 5 minutes. Serve warm or cold over radicchio leaves.

___________________________________________

In celebration of Festa Italiana, we'll be giving away pairs of tickets to two (2) lucky readers!

For your chance to win, head over to OnMilwaukee.com and check out my interview with Maria Liberati. Then come back and leave us a message telling us what most surprised you about the interview.

Giveaway ends on Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.  Tickets will be mailed to the winners on July 15th, or as soon as we have accurate mailing information for the chosen winners.

Winners will be chosen at random and notified by email, so please leave your email addy with your comment if it's not included with your Blogger profile. Entries from the U.S. only, please (and please only enter if you know that you can make it to Festa Italiana in Milwaukee on July 19-21).

Full Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Festa Italiana, who provided us with the product for our giveaway. However, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

©BURP!

The Best of 2011

Difficult to believe we're coming to the end of another great year.  As it gets to be this time, we always find ourselves looking back, reflecting, and planning for what's ahead -- and that includes content for the blog.

We were overwhelmed this year as we looked over our blog stats for the year and realized how much we've grown. Despite the fact that we've been busier than ever (and that has been reflected in the frequency of our posts, particularly lately), we've more than doubled our readership from 2010 to 2011.

We'd like to thank you for your readership, your comments, and your feedback.  Burp! wouldn't couldn't exist without you!

As a thanks to all of you, we figured we'd share the top 11 posts on Burp! from 2011 (in order of popularity) ... just in case you missed them.

Top 11 Posts of 2011
These are in order of popularity, # 1 being the most popular post.

1. Stout Ice Cream with Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce: Pure Guinness, er, Genius
2. Nettle & Garlic Ravioli with Rosemary Browned Butter
3. Stinging Nettle & Garlic Puree: Putting Up a Bit of Spring
4. Wisconsin State Fair: Door County Cherry Chutney
5. Pickled Red Onions: Summer's Prize & Winter's Bounty
6. Soul Food Fusion: Fried Chicken & Waffle Sandwich
7. Milwaukee Mardi Gras, Part II: Bananas Foster Bread Pudding
8. Spring Scallop Tacos with Strawberry Salsa
9. Going Whole Hog: Our Experience in Pig Butchering Class
10. Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars - the best & last of spring
11. You're Not Too Old for Crispy Rice Bars with Browned Butter & Rosemary

Share in the Comments

As always, we're always listening and open to your feedback.  What was YOUR favorite post? What would you like to see more of in 2012?

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Spring Scallop Tacos with Strawberry Salsa

Although summer has been slow to arrive here in Wisconsin, and we're growing impatient for the bountiful produce that promises to show up at the farmer's market ANY DAY NOW, we're making a real effort to enjoy the best of the season.

Just take a look at the delicious scallop tacos we threw together last weekend -- grilled sea scallops on a bed of fresh cucumber slaw and topped with a deliciously sweet & spicy strawberry salsa.

It was a deliciously light entree, and one of those dinners perfect for throwing together on a sweltering summer evening when it's simply too hot to turn on the stove.

It was also uncommonly delicious.  The strawberry salsa, which contained scallions, lime juice, and a bit of bite from jalapeno peppers, perfectly complemented the buttery scallops, while the shredded cucumbers (which had been drained and tossed with cilantro), provided a crisp, fresh crunch.

I was particularly proud of the fact that a significant percentage of the ingredients to make this dish were both local and seasonal...  with one pesky exception.  The seafood.

It can be difficult being a locavore if you're a seafood lover living in Wisconsin.  For, while we do have our fair share of lake-sourced fish -- including Walleye, Northern Pike, Trout, Bluegills, and Perch --  there are some items blatantly missing from the locally sourced fish list.

Sea scallops are at the very top of my list.  These delicious bi-valves are meaty, clean-tasting and uncommonly sweet.  Even better, in most cases scallops are a good choice when it comes to sustainable seafood.  But, there is nowhere in Wisconsin to buy a locally raised scallop.

So, what's a gal to do?
For a while, as we initially made the transition to eating more local foods, I avoided eating seafood that I couldn't source from "home".  But, after giving the situation a great deal more thought, we've since changed our tune.

When it comes to our local eating philosophy, it's probably important to clarify that we are hardly purists or perfectionists.  The fact is, MINDFUL eating is really more of what we espouse.  While we pay attention to where our food comes from, we also care about but how it's been produced, and the impact its having on not only our bodies & health, but the world around us.  We are responsible for the foods that we allow into our bodies, and we make decisions accordingly.  Likewise, we emphasize a way of living that is clearly sustainable for us all year round (not just during the summer months).

If we have the choice between eating a locally grown apple and one imported from Washington State, we'll be most likely to opt for the local apple.  Likewise, if we can find local sources for meat, dairy, and cheese, we'll be unlikely to bother with purchasing products from outside of Wisconsin.  However, the fact also remains that there are highly nutritious and delicious foods that  it makes sense to import because we can’t grow them here.  This list includes items like bananas, pineapple, coffee, coconut, and the like.  For us, it also includes seafood.

We choose to purchase scallops every now and again, and we don't feel badly about it. We choose sustainable sources and attempt to support local fish mongers whenever possible.  Most of all, we make sure to take the time to enjoy the food we're eating.

I should mention that we made this dish again last night for company, and we substituted thinly sliced red cabbage for the cucumber.  Also delicious -- and I really liked the additional color & crunch!

Spring Scallop Tacos
Strawberry Salsa

Seared Scallops with Creamy Spring Ramps

For me, spring is truly marked by the arrival of certain spring vegetables -- asparagus, morel mushrooms, fiddleheads... and, of course, the ubiquitous ramp.

Ramps (Allium trioccum), often called wild leeks or wild garlic, are a member of the lily family -- which also includes garlic, leeks, and onions. Resembling scallions, ramps begin at their base as lovely white bulbs whose gorgeous reddish-purple stalks rise upward into a plume of elegantly silky green leaves.  With a mild flavor poised deliciously between that of leeks and garlic, they make a delicious addition to pasta dishes and pestos. And they marry particularly well with farm fresh spring eggs.

But, they're also fantastic when featured on their own -- which is how we decided to showcase these lovely locally grown spring vegetables for the Virtual Vegetable of the Month Club challenge, hosted by our friends over at  innBrooklyn (If you haven't taken the opportunity to check out their blog, you really must. It's positively gorgeous! And a good read, to boot!).  

Having been inspired by a gorgeous posting on The Sprouted Kitchen for Scallops on Creamy Leeks, we decided to take Sara's concept in a new direction by simplifying it a bit, and using ramps in place of the leeks.

Since the delicately flavored leaves of the wild leek cook much faster than the bulbs and stems, we chopped each separately.  First, we sauteed the bulbs and stems gently in a few tablespoons of butter.

And then, when the stems were quite tender (10-15 minutes), we added the ramp leaves, along with about 1/4 cup of heavy cream.  We turned the heat to medium low and allowed the cream to bubble gently while we prepared the scallops.

We purchased 10 gorgeous dry packed sea scallops from the lovely Colleen who was working the fish counter at our local Whole Foods (we may joke about "Whole Foods" being synonymous for "whole paycheck" in our house... but the truth is, they have some of the best and most sustainable fresh seafood for purchase in the city of Milwaukee).  Dry packed scallops are particularly good for searing, since they are free of sodium tripolyphosphate (STP), a chemical additive added to many scallops to reduce the natural loss of moisture after harvest. STP can affect the flavor of the scallop, and it also increases their moisture content -- which hinders browning.

We dredged the scallops lightly in a mixture of white whole wheat flour and salt (not necessary, but a step that adds a delicious crust to the final product), and then set them to cook in a pan of hot bacon fat.  This is the point in the story when Peef begins to swoon, and it's no wonder.  You can just imagine the sweet, smoky odor that infused our kitchen as the scallops were cooking...

By the time the scallops were cooked (about 3 minute per side did the trick nicely), the ramps were tender and the cream had reduced slightly.  So, we spooned the wilted ramps onto warmed plates, topped them with the scallops, and sprinkled everything with a bit of chopped fresh tarragon from the garden.

We ate in near silence -- paying homage to the amazingly complimentary flavors on our plates. The ramps were sweet, fragrant, and slightly earthy -- with a green, almost forest-like flavor that belies their "wild" nature. The sweet licorice flavor of the tarragon played nicely off of both the ramps and the scallops -- whose crisp browned crust gave way to succulent, briny, perfectly cooked meat.

In less than 40 minutes, dinner was served. And it was Spring Heaven. On a plate.
Or, as Peef would say, "This is the best use of tarragon. Ever."  And I'd have to agree.

Seared Sea Scallops with Creamy Spring Ramps

Inspired? Well, why not try your own hand at something equally delicious? And you have at least two more days to submit your own spring garlic recipes to the Veg of the Month Club!  We'll see you there!


©BURP! Where Food Happens