Coming Home

And a recipe: Sea Scallops and Smoked Buttermilk Grits

“Here find the private musings of a solitary seer, the odd man of Concord.” (John R. Stilgoe, preface, The Journal by Henry David Thoreau)

While I was away from home I spent an appreciable amount of time considering home. I want to believe I had booked the trip purely to refresh the spirits of my family. Now I see another motivation: to test the divinity of its grasp by measuring the length of its reach. I have found distance has made my heart grow fonder. My home is a Holy land and how favored I am that I walk and run and think and love within it. I feel so very lucky.

I wonder how private Thoreau intended his musings to be. I ponder how private is defined, or should be, or could be. I am a private man and while I write for myself—and true words must uphold the height of honesty to achieve their goal—I give them away as a gift not merely for the reader but also for myself. As Emerson wrote, “The man is only half himself, the other half is his expression.” And I also wonder if one day in due time, if the stars of thought remain aligned and I can continue this humble scratching of the pen, that the same would be said of me: here find the private musings of a solitary seer, the odd man of Chestertown. I have already caused a few to wonder over me, the strange man who appeared one day and doesn’t seem to hold any fixed occupation and wanders about on the shores of the Chester River and Still Pond collecting nature’s knick-knacks and makes slow conversation sauntering down the aisle of the Farmer’s Market and doesn’t seem to be leaving… I do intend to stay. And I do intend to record the holiness of this place as if it were the heart of the world, for the heart of man does not change shape based on place or time.

Though to celebrate the position of this place between the American North and the American South, I am including a favorite recipe that offers a bit of both: Scallops on smoked buttermilk grits.

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Sea Scallops and Smoked Buttermilk Grits:

For the scallops:

-Half pound large sea scallops (U10/20—ask your fish guy. Don’t got a guy? Find one. Drive around. Ask your favorite seafood restaurant. Get in there.)

-Preheat a cast iron pan to medium high. When the pan is very hot, add a bit of bacon fat (for flavor/reduces the smoke point) and a nob of butter. When the butter bubbles, but before it’s browned, add lightly salted scallops to the pan. It should sizzle hard. 3-4 minutes.

-You’ll see the scallops go from opaque to white, and they’ll begin to split a bit. When the scallop has cooked but for the top 10% or so, turn it in the pan and kiss the other side, not even a minute. The scallop should be deeply caramelized on one side. When cut open, the very center should be be opaque) Remove from the pan and place on grits to eat immediately. If the scallop is too white, and not opaque in the center, you’ve gone too far.

For the grits:

-Smoke butter. Place 2 nobs of butter in a stainless-steel bowl. Place the rubber hose of the smoke gun in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let it rip. If you don’t have a smoke gun, find a few small wood chips in the yard or a couple twigs and light them on fire then blow them out and place into the bowl with the butter and cover immediately. When the bowl is filled with smoke set aside and let the butter absorb it for 15 or so minutes (smokiness in flavor is up to you. More time more smoky flavor). Set butter aside for later use.

-Grits. Soak two cups of course high-quality grits in 7 cups of good water (not city tap) for 6 or more hours. You can skip this step, but hydrating the grits beforehand helps maintain the flavor of the corn by reducing the cooking time.

-After the grits have soaked, skim off any floating particles, then place the grits and the soaking water (keep the soaking water!) into a large enough pan that the grits can comfortably double, add a few pinches of salt (you can add more later to taste) and a nob of butter. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir! Try not to let the grits stick to the bottom of the pan but scrape the pan when they do. Unless you burnt them.

-After they boil turn to low heat and uncover and let simmer stirring frequently. The water will have turned from clear to creamy as the starch activates. Taste for doneness every 15 minutes. It will take about an hour. The grits should be fully tender.

-Towards the end the grits will be asking for more water. At that point give them about ¾ cup of full fat buttermilk and stir to incorporate. If they still need water add incrementally  until finished.

-When the grits are tender, fold in the smoked butter, add salt to taste, and serve immediately with the scallops. I love hot sauce with this.

-At my restaurant, I thinly sliced house preserved prunes for a garnish. They provided a lovely sweetness and textural contrast. A small handful of fresh cilantro tossed in apple cider vinegar and placed on the scallops at the end makes the dish sing. I do not use lemon, but they’re your scallops so I suspect you will do as you wish.