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A feast fit for a king… or starving students
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Sometimes I forget how much I love cooking. Mixing, mincing, molding and merriment—that’s life in the kitchen for me.
A few months ago I had my friends Sherika and Jimmy over for dinner. Of course, my kitchen was a wreck, so Jimmy and I washed dishes and harmonized to Jack Johnson tunes while Sherika did some homework. Once the kitchen sparkled, Jimmy retired to read a book and I invited Sherika into the kitchen to teach her how to prepare our supper. We made pan-seared scallops in a roasted garlic and shallot sauce, with Alaskan king crab legs, saffron rice and steamed broccoli.
It sounds very elegant, but I have to confess, the rice was Uncle Ben’s microwave in 60 seconds and the broccoli was also steamed in the microwave. I did add some seasoning, including the saffron, which is a bold, colorful and fragrant Mediterranean spice.
The garlic sauce is very simple to make. Melt some butter on low heat. Once it’s liquid, slightly turn up the heat and add some minced roasted garlic (which you buy pre-roasted and pre-minced) and shallots. Then patiently and slowly sauté them until the onions are transparent.
Add some pepper, rosemary and whatever else sounds good to your pallet, and place the scallops gently in the pan.
Flip them over so they’re completely covered in sauce and cook for a few minutes on each side, depending on the size of the scallop.
Crab legs are about the easiest thing to cook in the entire world. Fill a pot with water and add some butter and seasoning. When it’s at a rolling boil, add the crab legs and cook them for as long as your local Albertsons meat-dude recommends. If he or she looks shady to you, it’s wise to get a second opinion on cooking times. You can never be too careful with seafood.
When all is said and done, the finished product would cost $40 or $50 a plate if you bought it at a restaurant. Poor college students could never afford a meal like this.
But, when you learn to prepare it yourself, you can get a few friends together on a weekend, everyone can chip in $10 to $15 and you can have a feast fit for a king, (or in a few of your friend’s cases, a gaggle of sleep-deprived “Halo” addicts).
The best part of this experience is time spent with your friends, family or significant other. Cooking provides an opportunity to bring the people you love together to work towards the common goal of preparing a meal. There is a job in the kitchen for everyone – cooks and non-cooks alike – all are welcome to contribute in some way.
Every job in the kitchen is important, whether it’s washing dishes, chopping vegetables, or stirring the sauce. Working in harmony is essential to have everything finished at the same time, so it can be displayed steaming hot on your plate.
Together, you consume the product of your labor, laughter and love, around a table of sparkling plates, glasses and candlelight. Unless of course you eat at my house, in which case you’ll have to settle for paper plates and red plastic cups.
Either way, you’re sure to discover how the food that nourishes your body can also nourish your soul and form memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime.
Shannon Morgan