Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce-French Fridays with Dorie

I was intrigued immediately by this recipe when I saw it involved a caramel sauce. I have never made scallops with a sweet orange sauce. Food that are aigre-doux, agro-dolce, sweet-sour…doesn’t matter what language you want to say it in…I’m a lover!

I had a difficult time getting my hands on my Around My French Table Book to look up the recipe that is on page 317. You see, my mother-in-law has taken a huge liking to this gorgeous book in the last couple of days! Seeing that she doesn’t speak/read/write a word of English, I have been translating recipes for her. She has bookmarked quite a few recipes: the roulade, the orange tart we made before, a sauce that she wants to try with fish. Teresa is in love with this book! Maybe Dorie will have an Italian printing soon and I will get one for Teresa the next time we are in Italy.

You may already know, the French Fridays with Dorie group does not post the recipes. We encourage you to give this lovely book a chance! You can find a copy here at Dorie’s site and you can also join the fun with French Fridays with Dorie!

What was it like trying to cook with my mother-in-law around? It was a little challenging. Honestly, she did give me room to do my recipes. She was even offering her assistance like shouting out, "Your sugar is about to burn! What are you doing with this sugar?" And she was asking, "Are we eating these scallops with pasta?" The sugar didn't burn and we didn't have any pasta. We did have her homemade bread and we did dip its tender crust and fluffy insides into this tangy sauce that had just the right amount of sweetness. We enjoyed every drop of this incredibly simple and tasty sauce.

Then on to the photographing. My father-in-law was standing right where I was no matter where I went. He was eyeing the scallops and wondering why in the world I was photographing it!? My mother-in-law was once again very helpful! She offered assistance with lighting. She kept telling me it looks "perfetto!" She told me to pose it next to our Christmas poinsetta, "Dai! Vicino la stella di Natale e' piu' bello." Yes, it is prettier by the poinsetta but Christmas was more than 3 months ago!

My mom called to ask why I only have one photo. Usually have more than one to show off how yummy a recipe is. I explained to her what my process was like today to get to this quick post.

My in-laws think I'm always photographing and on the computer. Teresa thinks I shouldn't be giving my recipes away for free. She says it's crazy and that people should be paying for them. Teresa said that this Dorie lady is smart and doesn't give away her recipes!

Teresa even said she has plenty of recipes ready for me to do a cookbook and that then we can make money. Food for thought. Italian food for thought. One never knows what the future holds...maybe an incredible Italian cookbook filled with my mother-in-laws creations?