Gourmet’s 50 Most Influential Women in Food # 46 Gael Greene—Scallop Pasta

Scallop Pasta…Oh so good!

Here we are in the final stretch! The Insatiable Critic, Gael Greene # 46 on Gourmets list of the 50 Most Influential Women in Food. Gael Greene is best known for her work as a restaurant critic for New York magazine. She began work there in the fall of 1968 and wrote her column, The Insatiable Critic, for the next 40 years. She is also an author and novelist. Gael was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 22, 1933.  She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and also studied at the Sorbonne. Ms. Greene has said she was raised in a cocoon of Velveeta.  She started out in 1956 working as a UP reporter in Detroit. She then became a reporter for the New York Post and, moved on to freelance work before she was hired by the founding editor of New York magazine as their first restaurant critic.  She was a passionate early “foodie” before the word was used. The American edition of The Foodie Handbook credited her with first using the word. 
While working at New York magazine her early articles included “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat To Ask”,  "The Mafia Guide to Dining Out” and "Nobody Knows the Truffles I’ve seen”. 
In 2008 she was fired by New York magazine. The then editor-in-chief of the magazine said Ms. Greene was laid off because they could no longer afford four food critics. 

In 1981 she and James Beard co-founded the non-profit "Citymeals-on-Wheels" to help with weekend and holiday meals for the homebound elderly in NYC. She is still an active chair on the company’s board, and  hosts an annual Power Lunch for Women to raise money for Citymeals. Ms. Greene was honored in 1992 as Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. She is the winner of the International Assoc. of Cooking Professionals magazine writing award (2000) and, a Silver Spoon from Food Arts magazine. 

Ms. Greene’s memoir, “Insatiable, Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess” was published in April 2006. Her two novels, "Blue skies, No Candy" and "Doctor Love” were New York Times best sellers. She has been known for her sensual writing and feminism.
Ms. Greene resides with her partner of 26 years, Steven Richter a New York photographer, in NYC. 

The dish I chose to make was Gael Greene’s Scallop Pasta. This was a really easy to put together dish…from start to finish about twenty minutes. It was the perfect pick for my very busy day of working in my garden. I was tired and really didn’t want to spend too much time making dinner. You know what I mean? That was almost enough to make it a winner for me but, it was also quite delicious! 

Scallops being sautéed 

A perfect dinner for a busy day…from start to finish about 20 minutes

Dinner anyone?

Delectable!

Gael Greene's Scallop Pasta

Preparation time: 10 min 
Cooking time: 10 min
Servings: 4 
Directions:

GETTING READY
1. In a large pot, boil water with a little salt for the pasta.
2. In plastic bag, put the flour
3. Add the scallops to the bag and shake well.
4. Pour the contents of the bag into a strainer, so that the excess flour is removed.

MAKING
5. In a large non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil.
6.  Add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute, till it is softened but does not colour. 
7. Now add the scallops and saute over high heat for about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until the edges become pale gold. 
8. Keep the scallops aside but keep warm. 

FINALIZING
9. In the large pot with salted water, add the linguine 
10. Cook and drain very briefly.
11. Return the linguine to the pot along with the clam juice. 
12. Heat for a short while and add pepper to taste. 

SERVING
13. To serve, place the pasta in warm bowls.  
14. Top it with the scallops and a sprinkling of pine nuts and parsley.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour
1 pound sea scallops, cut in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 pound fresh linguine
8 ounces (1 bottle) clam juice
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Chopped Italian parsley

Here’s what we've been up to with our 46th Game Changer.....

Mary of One Perfect Bite 

Val of  More Than Burnt Toast

Susan of The Spice Garden  

Taryn of Have Kitchen, Will Feed   

Heather of Girlichef   

Miranda of Mangoes and Chutney  

Jeanette at Jeanette's Healthy Living   

Linda of There and Back Again  
Barbara of Moveable Feasts  
Nancy of Picadillo 
Mireya of My Healthy Eating Habits  
Veronica of My Catholic Kitchen  
Claudia of Journey of an Italian Cook  
Alyce of More Time at The Table  
Amrita of Beetle’s Kitchen Escapades
Martha at Simple Nourished Living  
Jill at Saucy Cooks  
Sarah at Everything in the Kitchen Sink
Annie at Most Lovely Things  
Sue at The View from Great Island