10pm. that last photo really didn’t do my dinner justice, but the lighting in the new apartment still needs to be sorted out (HELP! PLEASE!) and i didn’t want to fret over photo after photo, i wanted to EAT already. that dish was tasty. you should make it at home (HELENA). for one person, this is what i did: bought four diver scallops (total cost = $6.00). bought two tiny heads of baby romanesco (those cost another $2.00). i had sugar snaps in the fridge from the farmers’ market last week. boil a small pot of water, salt it well, blanch, oh, ten or so sugar snaps in the water for about 90 seconds, then drop them in a bowl of ice water to shock. keep the pot on and throw in the romanesco, which you’ve quartered, and let them soften up for a couple of minutes. remove them to a plate or cutting board or something. then take out a small skillet, pour in just enough olive oil to coat the surface, and get it screaming hot (but not so hot that you burn the oil! olive oil has a lower smoke point than, say, peanut oil, or canola). pat your scallops dry, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then put them into the hot pan. zest half a lemon over them. listen to them sizzle. after two minutes, maybe less, they’ll be a bit opaque and a nice crust will have formed. use tongs to flip them and give them another minute on the flipside before you pull them out of the skillet and put them on a plate (use a pretty one, it’s more fun, especially when you’re eating alone). turn the heat down a bit, throw the romanesco and sugar snaps in and juice a whole lemon in there to create a wonderfully marine pan sauce. toss the veggies around in that for a minute or two and then slide them out onto the plate with your scallops. if you feel like having something cold alongside (i did), slice a bit of cucumber (i topped mine with some fancy citrus salt from sweden). then sit down at your table with a knife and fork and a glass of wine or mineral water or a nice cold beer (hitachino nest ginger brew was my choice) and talk to your dog or read a book while you enjoy your dinner. happy tuesday night.