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Blackened Scallops with Pasta

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This was our Valentine dinner last night. I made this based on this recipe but instead of the combination of spices that make up the blackening seasoning it called for, I used Old Bay Blackened Seasoning . Much easier! I sauteed half of a shallot and 8 ounces sliced mushrooms in a mixture of butter and olive oil. I added two Roma tomatoes, chopped and a little white wine. Then, the scallops were rolled in the blackening spices and sauteed in butter 3 to 4 minutes per side in another pan. I served this over pasta and grated some parmesan cheese over it. My Valentine said it was delicious and I agreed!
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Animals

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For Pink Floyd, space has always been the ultimate escape. It still is, but now definitions have shifted. The romance of outer space has been replaced by the horror of spacing out. This shift has been coming for a while. There was Dark Side of the Moon and "Brain Damage," Wish You Were Here and the story of founding member Syd Barrett, the "Crazy Diamond." And now there's Animals, a visit to a cacophonous farm where what you have to watch for is pigs on the wing. Animals is a song suite that deals with subjects like loneliness, death and lies. "Have a good drown," they shout dolefully as you drop into the pit that is this album: "Have a good drown as you go down all alone/Dragged down by the stone ... stone ... stone ... stone ... stone ..." Thanks, pals, I'll try. It's no use. Like all Floyd records, this one absorbs like a sponge, but you can still hear the gooey screams of listeners who put up a fight. What's the problem? F...
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Ziti with Sausage, Onions and Fennel

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Ziti with Sausage, Onions and Fennel adapted from Lidia Bastianich via Adam Ingredients 1 tablespoon sea salt 1 pound hot Italian sausage 1 large fennel bulb with stem and fronds (about 1 pound), trimmed and halved lengthwise 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 onions, halved and sliced 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/2 cup tomato paste 1 pound ziti fennel fronds 1 cup Romano, Parmesan or grana padano cheese, freshly grated Method Boil lots of water with the salt until rapidly boiling. Remove the sausage from the casing and break the meat up with your fingers. Slice the fennel into 1/2-inch slices. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and add the sausage, cooking, stirring and breaking it up with a spoon for 1 to 1 -1/2 minutes until it is sizzling and beginning to brown. Push aside and add onion slices and cook, stirring, until they are sizzling and wilting, about 2 minutes. Stir in with the meat. Push aside and add the fennel and cook for 1 minute u...
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