It's 2006 and I am hard at work on my resolutions

Scallops with Rosemary Butter and Mash

It's that time of year when my head is filled with thoughts of New Year's resolutions.
Yes, I make them. Big, long lists of them.
I wouldn't be so bold as to list them all for you, unless you were having trouble sleeping lately and needed some help dozing off. But let me just say this: my 2006 culinary resolutions are numerous and frightening.
Ok, maybe frightening is the wrong word. But still.

If there's one thing I've learned in the short time that I have been living in France, it's that good things definitely do come in small packages. I find myself completely addicted to French bistros. With their little menus written on big old chalk boards, which is both charming and annoying at the same time. Sometimes the chalkboards they bring to your table fall over, or you can't read the fancy European handwriting. Sometimes you have to wait while another customer peruses the only chalkboard menu that is available.
The portions are civilized but the food is rich and full of flavour. Sometimes things are downright small, but they are always really pretty.

I love it so much I want to have my own French bistro chef to cook me lunch and dinner every day of the week. I would call him Jean-Pierre because that just seems fitting.
But Christmas came and went, and there was no French bistro chef under my tree (perhaps next year?) so a girl must make do.



I am just going to have to make my own food prettier until Jean-Pierre is officially under my employ. I mean, when it's pretty, it seems that much more satisfying. Nothing infuriated me more as a child than when my father would serve me dinner and my food would touch, especially if they were not of complimentary colours. Green beans did not look right if they touched the brown gravy. Come on Dad, gross.
Of course, my food is allowed to touch now that I'm older, but I still like pretty.

And so it was, that on a most recent of January days my very attractive (if I do say so myself) Scallops with Rosemary Butter and Mash was born.

I will admit, it's not a fancy recipe, but it tasted 10 times better just because it looked so darn good.

The Recipe that isn't really a recipe
(because really I just wanted to show you how pretty it looked)

I bought 4 scallops at the market and asked the man if I could have 2 shells to take home with me.
"Oui, bien sur." he said.
Later that day, I mashed some cooked, peeled potatoes and added some butter, cream, and a bit of salt. I didn't add any chopped fresh rosemary to the mash, but I wish I had. Next time I will.
I washed the shells and dried them.
I washed the scallops and dried them thoroughly on a paper towel.
I heated a pan over medium heat with some butter and olive oil and added some more chopped fresh rosemary. When the pan was hot I seared the scallops about 2 minutes on each side.
I served it with the mash in the shells as pictured above.
I breathed a sigh of appreciation and took some glamour shots.
And then I ate it.