Scallop Salad Sandwich with Ricotta, Basil, and Orange

I had a bunch of leftovers from a recent dinner party, and needed some way to use up a handful of scallops, some good ricotta, and a bunch of basil. This really couldn't have been easier, and wound up tasting great. I think this is the first sandwich here on the menu, but I have to say I'd be comfortable serving this in my hypothetical fancy restaurant that also serves duck breast and handmade parsnip gnocchi.

The first step is to bake or procure some bread. I'm partial to a loaf from my sourdough starter who's been with me for a few years now, but any kind of crusty white bread would be fine. Cut a few slices about a half inch thick.

Next, sear a couple of scallops over medium-high heat in a little butter and/or olive oil (butter for flavor, oil because it won't burn at high heat). You want the pan good and hot before you start, and a little salt and pepper on both sides of your scallop. The ricotta in the salad will mute your flavors a little, so don't skimp on salt, and put just a little less than too much fresh cracked black pepper on. Scallops just take a couple minutes on each side - better a little underdone than chewy and overcooked. If you're not sure, take one off the heat and cut it in half. It should be white most of the way through with a spot of translucent in the middle.

While the scallops are cooking, mix up the dressing for the salad - chiffonade a couple of big basil leaves, add the zest of maybe 1/4 of an orange, and a few spoonfuls of ricotta (whole milk only! skim ricotta tastes like sand without as much flavor). Salt and pepper to taste, and add a drizzle of olive oil if the mixture's too stiff. Take the scallops off the heat, but don't clean the pan yet. Roughly chop the scallops into the bowl with the dressing, cutting each scallop into six or eight pieces (if you used sea scallops. Bay scallops, the little ones, I'd leave whole). Mix well and spread on one of your slices of bread. Put the other piece of bread on top. Set the sandwich down in the butter you cooked the scallops in and cook until golden brown. Remove from heat and slice in half.

Slow-Roasted Pork Belly; Parsnip Gnocchi with Leek-Rosemary Butter; Wilted Baby Spinach Salad

First, a word about pork belly. Some people hear "belly" and think they're going to get organs, but, not to worry, pork belly is just bacon that hasn't been smoked or cured yet (that being said if you're not eating offal you should be). It's got a ton of fat, so you have to cook it for a long time to render out a lot of the grease. The end result is a rich, tender little piece of pork with some awesome crispy skin on top. You can't find pork belly in most American supermarkets, but it's in most Chinese groceries.

Preheat the oven. My thermometer is broken, or maybe my oven is broken, so I'm not actually sure exactly what temperatures I used. Therefore there's going to be a lot of "til it's done" in this recipe and not a lot of "X degrees for Y minutes." In any case, if your oven is working, you want it at about 325 or 375, depending how much time you have (lower and slower is better but it will be edible if you cook it quicker). I cut about a 3"x2" chunk from the end of the slab of belly, scored the skin side to expose the fat, and rubbed with plenty of salt and a little black pepper and cinnamon. Put it skin side up on something that will allow the fat to drain - a roasting rack is great, but some carrot sticks stacked into a little rack works just as well. It needs to cook for at least an hour at 375, preferably two or more at 325.

Once the pork is cooking, you can start the gnocchi. Boil, steam, or roast a couple parsnips until they're done through but not yet mush. Grate them on the smaller holes of a grater (microplane would work too if you have one) until you have a pile of parsnip mush. Add an egg yolk per about a cup of parsnip, and a pinch of salt and nutmeg. Obviously if you salted the parsnips when you cooked them the first time, you don't need a lot of salt now; if you didn't salt them before, be generous. Mix around the egg and parsnip until it's well-combined, then fold in a little bit of flour at a time until you get something resembling a dough. Don't overwork it or you will get chewy gnocchi. Flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a long log about a half inch thick and cut into squarish pillows. If you want ridged gnocchi you can roll them on the back of a fork. Set those aside until the pork's about done, then drop into boiling salted water until they float, which should be just a few minutes. In a separate pan, melt some butter and saute some chopped leek and rosemary until soft but not browned. Drop in the gnocchi, turn up the heat, and don't touch it for a minute - we want to brown the dumplings a little. Once you get some color on the gnocchi, turn the heat way down and put aside for a minute while you get everything else ready to go.

For the vinaigrette, combine a bit of real maple syrup (I try to find an excuse to put this in basically everything), cider vinegar, orange juice, and coarse dijon mustard. Whisk with a little salt and pepper. Take a little of the melted pork fat from your roasting pan and whisk in. (If you're feeling more cardiologically responsible than I was, feel free to use olive oil instead.) Toss with a handful of baby spinach and let the acid and warm bacon grease wilt it down a bit.

Let the pork rest for a few minutes before you cut into it, then slice in half - the crispy skin can be a little tough, so you might have to put your back into the slice. Rest the belly on top of the gnocchi, and set salad on top of that. Dust a little ground clove and a little orange zest off to the side of the plate (those didn't make the picture, but they look cool and taste good to dip the other stuff into).