Sweet and Simple Scampi

I know, I should have posted this last week. But that's how it goes, life gets in the way. Because now, when I write about that modernist dinner party article I had in the Times last week, it's seriously old news. What story? Nathan who?

As a quick reminder, a few weeks ago I had Nathan Myhrvold over to my house to show me some easy modernist cooking techniques that could make my traditionalist home cooking taste better -- without me having to buy any new equipment or weird ingredients. Then, I threw a dinner party and used said techniques to prepare the meal. You can read the whole thing here.

One tidbit that didn't make it into the article was the utterly classic hors d'oeuvres I served along with the celery stick bloody Marys: shrimp and scallop scampi. I sauteed a whole bunch of sweet Maine shrimp (still in the shell) and bay scallops with garlic, butter, lemon and chili. Soul-satisfying, hearty, good food, rustic as hell, and as basic as cooking gets as long as you can find good shrimp and scallops. We all inhaled this standing up in around the kitchen island, gobbling the shrimp shells and all (think of them like soft shell crabs), garlic butter sauce dripping down our chins.

It was a kind of gratuitous to serve the scampi. We didn't need it, the steak and salmon et al would have been plentiful enough. But I was a little anxious that I might botch one of the modernist recipes. So by offering up the surefire scampi first, I knew for sure my guests wouldn't go hungry, and would get something tasty to eat.

Some guests thought it was the best dish of the night, the kind of thing, one said, that Ferran Adria (of El Bulli) might eat on his night off. Exactly.

Sweet Shrimp and Bay Scallop Scampi

Serves 10 guests as an hors d'oeuvres, or 4 as a proper appetizer. Or 2 for dinner.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 pound Sweet Maine shrimp, head and shell on (or you can use regular peeled shrimp)

1/2 pound Nantucket Bay scallops (farmed bay scallops are fine too)

Juice of 1/2 lemon, or more to taste

Fine sea salt, to taste

Chopped parsley, for garnish

Crusty Bread, for serving

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add shrimp and cook, tossing occasionally, until just beginning to turn opaque 2 to 3 minutes; toss in scallops and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and season with lemon juice and salt. Turn out seafood and pan juices into a large heated serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley and serve, with crusty bread for soaking up the buttery juices.