Reduction

I went on a bit of a shellfish binge a couple of weeks ago.  All you can eat mussels on Monday and all you can eat dungeness crabs Thursday.  Dungeness crabs are not local (they're native to the Pacific northwest) but they do have a "Best Choice" sustainability rating.  On the other hand, the blue crab is relatively local - Chesapeake Bay (native to the western Atlantic) - but supply can come from anywhere along the coast due to high demand.  I usually get blue crabs once or twice a season and devour them with my cousin.  My husband doesn't like picking crabs, but he is definitely looking forward to Ramadan because crab cakes are a mainstay of the breakfast menu. Last year I figured out that I had to read the label for lump crab meat - not all of it comes from Maryland...as a matter of fact, a whole lot of it comes from Asia (especially if you're buying Phillips).

I've been thinking about scallops since I talked to a friend the other day...she was planning on pan searing them for dinner and I thought about how much I love scallops with a nice reduction.  Instead of going with a winner, Whole Foods, I sent my husband to Acme to get wild caught sea scallops and dungeness crab clusters on sale.  The scallops weren't dry packed so of course they weren't as sweet, succulent, and large after cooking; but they were decent, thanks to the reduction concoction. 

I threw some sweet potatoes in the oven, then got started on my reduction...I was literally grasping at straws, randomly combining ingredients: orange juice, white balsamic vinegar, garlic, and crushed red pepper.  I put the crab clusters in a dish and added garlic, crushed red pepper, and butter, covered with foil and threw that into the oven.  I sauteed some spinach and finally seared those scallops.