Scallops remind me a lot of my childhood. It’s my dad’s favorite so we always have it on special occasions. Our cook then was not really very imaginative. She would fry it and then we would dip it in soy sauce. End of story.  I used to mix mine with pesto pasta. Now, I ditched the pasta and went straight to the good stuff, so just plain scallops and pesto.

I make my own pesto ahead of time. There’s nothing to it. You just need a ton of basil leaves, pine nuts and good olive oil. Whip em up in a food processor and you’re done! If you have are not inclined to DIY, Trader Joe’s has good stuff. Try not to get one on the “creamy” side, not for this recipe anyway.

Get a pound of giant scallops, wash then pat dry. Fry in olive oil about 2 minutes per side until translucent in color. Scallops are pretty much like cooking squid or chicken. Cook ’em too long or too soon, it ends up chewy.

Drain in paper towels then mix with 3 T of pesto. For a special touch I add a few leaves of finely chopped mint

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Serve warm. No soy sauce needed.

Grilling beef is a no-brainer. I can’t believe how we were so daunted over grilling until we moved to Texas and bought a Weber. Couple a good quality grill with good quality meats, you can’t go wrong. And yeah, throw in a meat thermometer there too.  it’s always nice to remove the guess work in the equation. I am not a big fan of marinades, although God knows that there is a gamut to choose from. I will make a dip from time to time but really, if your meat is good, you are more than half-way there in the “great barbecue” experience.

I use top sirloin filet for my beef kabobs. It is the leanest most tender part of the top sirloin. It’s almost similar in appearance with filet mignon, but not the price tag. I get my meats from Whole Foods, where the butcher know my by name and he always gets me great cuts.

Like all my recipes, this is easy to remember. For two pounds of meat, all powdered things are 1 T each except for salt. Onion powder, garlic powder,paprika, thyme, oregano and cayenne (this is critical, if your stock is really hot, 1/2 T would be enough). To add to my skewers, I have red and green pepper and mushrooms.

Grill on medium high, 3 minutes per side for medium. Adjust cooking time on the doneness.