Grilled Scallops with Lemon Ginger Sauce; the Update

The other night, after the giant spider incident, I dreamed one was chasing me around the house.  Smart woman that I am, I ran outside, hoping to lead it out.

It stopped at the door.

And waved good bye.

I’ve seen one each evening since that night.

Mon mari has dutifully dispatched them.

Mon mari has asked me to, please, stop looking at the walls and ceilings.

As if!

We’re quite certain we know the reason why we are having this invasion.

Mon mari pissed them off.

They used to, very happily, stay in their area of the house…. That used to look like this:

Now it looks like this:

You can see why they might be a bit cross with us.

Mon mari hauled 6 trailer loads of that lovely insulation away last week.  We’re getting ready for the stairs, which we’ll be in the center.  Once those are in he can start work on the 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that will fill this space.

The rafters and wires were used to dry tobacco.  We thought we had left the tobacco fields behind when we left Andorra, but it’s a major crop in this area as well.

The current access is up these lovely stairs in the barn:

In other news this week, he tiled half of the hall:

We now have tile coming out of the kitchen into the hall.

Ain’t life grand?

For my part…. I feed him well…..

Grilled Scallops with Lemon Ginger Sauce

Scallops cook quickly on the barbecue. You can use a grill pan or mat to cook them on, but, for easy handling, skewers work well, not through the ‘center’, but from side to side, so they lie flat. Be careful not to over cook the scallops or they can be tough

12oz (350gr) sea scallops (large scallops)
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp paprika, hot or sweet
1 tbs olive oil
skewers if scallops are small – makes it easier to grill
Lemon Ginger Sauce

If using wooden skewers soak in water for a few minutes.
Mix oil, soy sauce and paprika. Toss scallops with sauce. Thread onto skewers, if using. Grill over direct heat 3 – 5 minutes per side, until they are opaque. Remove and serve with Lemon Ginger Dipping Sauce – either on the skewers or off.

Lemon Ginger Dipping Sauce

1/2 tbs minced ginger – the equivalent of 3 ‘quarter’ or ‘1 euro’ size slices
1 shallot
2 tsp walnut oil
1/3 cup (3oz, 90ml) chicken stock
1/3 cup (3oz, 90ml white wine
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp soy sauce

Finely chop shallot. Peel and mince ginger. Squeeze lemon, you should have 1 1/2 – 2 tbs juice from each half. Heat oil in small saucepan. Add shallot and ginger and sauté briefly. Add chicken stock and white wine. Bring to a boil and boil until reduced by half. Add lemon juice and soy sauce, heat briefly. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Now, the bad news:  Once again my cooktop is in the shop for repair.  If they don’t get it fixed properly this time I’m going to send the spiders after them.

So there!