Between You and Me, Keeping It Tidy, Scallops With Mushrooms and Spinach Recipe

 We keep a path mowed between us and our neighbor's house. The grass is tall now and the seed heads glitter in the sun. I was walking home here.

We also keep the perimeter of the fence line mowed. This is where Henri loves to walk. (Lately I feel the need to be on the lookout for snakes, though.) The trees on the right are the old apple and cherry trees left from when the property was a farm. There's some serious haying for Mr. B. to do here!

The brambles are covered in blooms this year. I'll have to check back and see if they produce a bumper crop of wine berries or something similar.

 I can't say how much I love using raised beds. They are super easy to tend in every way. We put up three strands of electric wire fencing around the beds during the growing season. Otherwise the deer would have it all and we would have none.

 

This is the spinach and Swiss chard Simon planted in February. I've harvested spinach twice now and the center leaves are still producing. To celebrate the spinach, I made a recipe of scallops and mushrooms with shallots on a bed of wilted spinach. It was delicious!

Scallops With Mushrooms and Spinach

Ingredients

20 sea scallops

1/4 c flour

Good olive oil

4 T unsalted butter

1 c chopped shallots

8 oz. cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced

1/2 c dry white wine

8 oz fresh baby spinach

2 T grated Parmesan cheese

Lemon wedges to garnish

Preparation

Pat scallops dry and season with s & p. Toss scallops in flour. Heat 2 T olive oil in large saute pan. When the oil is very hot, add half the scallops and saute on one side without moving until they are browned, about 3 minutes. Turn scallops and cook for about 2 minutes to scalloops are still a little raw in the center. Transfer to heatproof platter and keep warm. Repeat with remaining. Melt butter in the pan and add the shallots; cook for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms cook for 4-5 minutes, turning often until browned and tender. Add the wine and scrape up brown bits. Cook for 2 minutes to reduce wine. Add the spinach to the pan in handfuls, so some wilts before adding more. Toss the spinach wtith suce to help it wilt. Add spinach mixture to the scallops in the oven. Sprinkle with Parmesan and back for 3 minutes until scallops are just cooked. Sprinkle with pepper and serve hot with wedges of lemon.

Serves 4