Christmas Eve Dinner

You may recall from our Christmas week meal plan that we had a brief two day respite at home between family visits. As you can imagine that is not conducive for a trip to the grocery store. We put our best effort into a "throw together" holiday meal and we were pleasantly surprised with the results. We were able to have scallops gratin, wild rice, and green beans. Our Christmas Eve meal was completed by a Biltmore Merlot wine. We've had a bottle of the Biltmore Merlot for the past three years now (first in 2012 and then in 2013) to celebrate the holidays.

Inspiration from Scallops Gratin from the Mod Meals on Mendenhall blog
   Serves 2
Ingredients
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
dash of garlic powder and onion powder
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
2-4 tbsp good olive oil
1/4 c breadcrumbs
6 sea scallops
Lemon, for garnish

Directions
   Preheat the oven to 425F. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and remove the muscle. Set aside.
To make the topping, use a processor to mix all ingredients except olive oil, breadcrumbs, scallops. After a few pulses begin to add in the olive oil until a spreadable consistency is reached. Finally fold in the breadcrumbs.
   Place scallops in a broiler-safe dish. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the scallops. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the topping is golden. The scallops should just be barely done as they will continue to cook. Serve immediately.

Since we were getting up early Christmas morning to begin our travels to see family we decided to open our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve. And Dupree helped get the bows off the presents...

Do you have a bow stealer in your house??