Food guide - Recipe

Sunset, Dec, 2000 by Jerry Anne Di Vecchio

Where there's smoke

You don't need fire for flavor

* When I taste a delicious dish, I can't resist asking how it's made. However, if the source is a professional chef, converting his or her process for the home kitchen can be tricky, often demanding a modified game plan.

For example, John Howie, executive chef at Seattle's Palisade Waterfront Restaurant, turns out delicately flavored smoked scallops and smoked hazelnuts for this mellow and--except for the smoking--very easy pasta. But then he has the advantage of a commercial smoker.

Where there's a trick, there's a trickster: I set out to "smoke" the handful of shellfish and nuts this dish requires without buying a smoker or ever firing up the barbecue. Modifying Howie's initial step a bit, I brined the scallops and hazelnuts in water, salt, sugar, and liquid smoke (made from real smoke-- a little goes a long way). Voila! Smoke flavor that delicately permeates the scallops and hazelnuts.

Smoked Scallop and Hazelnut Fettuccine

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes to brine

NOTES: If you can find salted, roasted smoked hazelnuts (see "A Nutty Idea," at right), chop, and omit steps 2 and 3.

MAKES: 3 or 4 servings

3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

About 2 tablespoons kosher or coarse salt

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1/2 pound bay scallops, rinsed

1/2 cup hazelnuts

5 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

About 1/2 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth

9 to 10 ounces fresh fettuccine

3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (including tops)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed

Fresh-ground pepper

1. In a bowl, mix 1 cup water with 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke. Add scallops, mix, cover, and chill 30 minutes. Drain scallops. If making up to 1 day ahead, cover and chill.

2. In a 1-to 2-quart pan, mix 1 cup water with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke. Bring to a boil over high heat; add hazelnuts, remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes. Drain nuts, pat dry, and very coarsely chop. Spread nuts in an 8- or 9-inch pan.

3. Bake in a 325[degrees] oven, shaking pan occasionally, until nuts are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Pour from pan. If making up to 1 day ahead, cover airtight and store at room temperature.

4. In a 12- to 14-inch nonstick frying pan over high heat, combine 4 tablespoons butter and the garlic; stir often until butter is melted and garlic is pale gold, about 1 minute. Add cream and 1/2 cup broth, and bring to a boil over high heat; stir often 2 to 3 minutes. Pour cream mixture into a bowl. Rinse pan and wipe dry. Return it to high heat and add remaining butter. As butter melts, pour scallops onto a towel; pat dry. Add to pan and shake or turn scallops until juices have evaporated and shellfish is browned, 6 to 7 minutes. Return cream mixture to pan and stir to release browned bits; keep warm.

5. In a 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat, bring about 3 quarts water to a boil. While scallops are browning, add pasta to boiling water and cook until tender to bite, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well and pour into scallop sauce; add hazelnuts. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the cheese; lift with 2 forks to mix. If sauce is thicker than you like, add more broth, 2 tablespoons at a time, and mix. Mound pasta on warm plates, sprinkle equally with green onions, dill, remaining cheese, and pepper to taste.

Per serving: 821 cal., 62% (513 cal.) from fat; 28 g protein; 57 g fat (30 g sat.); 50 g carbo (2.7 g fiber); 2,236 mg sodium; 215 mg chol.

A nutty idea

* The hazelnut harvest in Oregon's Willamette Valley, where more than 99 percent of the domestic crop grows, is over for the year. The nuts are available in the shell and out, salted and seasoned, candy-coated, and roasted (with some or all of the kin removed). For cooking; roasted hazelnuts are a shortcut treasure, but they can be hard to find, unless you order from a producer listed by the Hazelnut Marketing Board (800/503-6887 or www.teleport.com/[sim]hazelnut) or from Your Northwest store (888/ 252-0699 or www.yournw.com).

Super squash

* Successful synergy among ingredients in a dish can lift those foods to a new plateau of taste. Sometimes the magical combination is obvious; other times it's very subtle. It takes a discerning palate, for instance, to credit chestnuts for the depth and richness of this golden squash dish. At the Water Grill in Los Angeles, the mixture is the foundation for pan-browned Atlantic char. But because the squash goes so well with other fish, as well as poultry and meats, I've turned it into a casserole for party and holiday dinners.

Butternut Squash with Chestnuts

PREP AND COOK TIME: 45 to 50 minutes

NOTES: Instead of roasting fresh chestnuts (directions follow), you can use peeled cooked chestnuts, which are available frozen, vacuum-packed and shelf-stable, and packed in water and canned. If making casserole up to 1 day ahead, cool, cover airtight, and chill; to reheat, uncover and cook in a microwave oven on full power (100%) until hot, about 4 minutes.