These herald the end of my scallop flight and were, by far, my favorite preparation. A rustic recipe with bold flavors, the combination of heat, garlic, mushroom and tomato were cut perfectly by the buttery sweetness of the scallops.

This could be either an entree or appetizer, depending on the size and quantity of the scallops served. It would also be a bold amuse bouche, if one were inclined to plop it on a large spoon or into a shot glass.

Unlike the previous recipes, this one is not intended to play on the delicate flavor of the scallop - this one use the scallops inherent clean flavor to counter the piquancy of the sauce.

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I've always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with scallops. I remember having them several times with my mother when I was younger - then, for several years, I decided I didn't like them. I've no idea why I decided this, there wasn't a bad experience. I just decided that they weren't to my liking.

That is, until my sister and her husband reintroduced me to them this past summer. As I've mentioned before, they delivered a beautiful little bundle of joy in June - a bundle of joy that is slowly, insidiously changing my mind on having on children. He's just so damn cute.

In celebration of his birth, and of my sister's bad-assery in delivering him like a champ, we went out to dinner to their favorite seafood restaurant in Daytona Beach. They ordered a dish of seared scallops with a mango salsa, and while I haven't yet discarded my hatred of fruit salsas, I rediscovered the joy that is the scallop.

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Thomas Keller is easily my favorite chef. Classically trained in French cuisine, and with a toe in both the 3-Michelin-star and family-style-meal worlds, he is everything I could ever imagine a chef to be. Even if my experience at Bouchon was less than I expected it to be.

One of my only regrets in my, admittedly short, life is that while living only three hours away from the French Laundry for nearly two years I never took the opportunity to go. Granted, it starts at $250 per person, but for a once in a lifetime experience I think that's a small price to pay.

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Bubbling hot tomatoes, shrimp, and salty half-melted feta all scooped on to some nice crusty bread - shrimp saganaki qualifies as some serious comfort food.

Saganaki is technically a cooking vessel used quite extensively in traditional Greek cooking, but over time it's been adulterated to refer to what is inside the vessel. In this case it's the conventional pairing of tomatoes, onion, shrimp and feta cheese.

This version hails a little more from the Northern region of Greece because of the added heat from the red pepper flakes. If you're not a fan of spice, feel free to tone it down a notch or two.The 1/4 teaspoon really does add a significant amount of heat.

Usually a splash of ouzo is in order to add that extra kick and impart that rarely identified flavor that accompanies this particular dish, but I couldn't find any. I'm too much of a weenie to venture into any civilian liquor stores around here - mainly because there's a very real possibility I'd get mugged or walk into the middle of a robbery.

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