Scallops and asparagus

Scallops and asparagus, originally uploaded by hannahcooks.

Jeff said, on looking at his plate, "This looks like a meal I'd be charged $20 for in a restaurant."

Gourmet's April Quick Kitchen continues to hit it out of the park, and any sensible cook will have this made in less than 30 minutes- prep the scallops as the asparagus sautes and cook the scallops in one batch, if your pan seems undercrowded, as it is likely to, and you have shaved off ten minutes. Don't bother cutting the asparagus into pieces and instead just snap the ends, because it is not actually a restaurant meal and can look haphazard, and you are looking at a fifteen minute dinner.

My white wine vinegar looked mega funky- it has these big gelatinous balls in it, which are probably mold- so I used rice vinegar instead and chicken stock in place of the white wine, which is probably some bastard sauce. With all the butter, though, it was a delicious bastard sauce, perfect for the juicy scallops, and my one regret is that I did not serve this with bread. But another benefit to eating at home is no one knows if you dip your fingers in the sauce and lick it off.