In my blog series, “Who’s In the Kitchen?”, I ask the question “What inspires you?”

Over the coarse of many interviews, I’m pleasantly surprised to learn that it’s not an easy question to answer.

So I started thinking…What inspires me? Is it the utility of what’s in my fridge? A sunny day? Beautiful art? An other’s Chef’s recipe or a new cookbook?

I pondered these things as I shopped at the fish market the other day. I wanted to buy scallops, one of my favorite seafood items, then I remember that it’s not one of Elvis’ favorite seafood products, so I compromised and only bought one.

Yes, I bought one scallop. But it was a big scallop. U-10 be exact. U-10 refers to size, meaning there are under-10 scallops per count, per pound. So my one scallop weighed in at .18 of a pound. Just enough for an appetizer or more like an amuse-bouche for two. At $24.99 per pound, my pocketbook was relieved to only buy one scallop. There are smaller and less expensive scallops* on the market to be sure, but I was buying fresh salmon and mahi and thought, why not, I’m here?

Back in my kitchen, I pondered what to do with my lone scallop. In the meantime, I was rushing to finish the NY Times (it was Saturday after all and I was reading last Sunday’s paper). An article caught my eye about a relatively new restaurant in TriBeCa (imagine that?), called Tiny’s and The Bar Upstairs. The brief article mentioned Chef John Martinez, an eight year veteran who worked with famed French Chef Jean-George Vongericten, and that Chef John will be the driving culinary force behind the above mentioned restaurant. Chef John is bringing “New American Food” to Tiny’s. Now I’m not sure what that term actually means, and I ‘m not sure why I’m going on and on about this, but I liked the mention of a Scallop and Toasted Walnut Crostini.

I had all the base ingredients: my one scallop, walnuts and ciabatta bread. I knew I needed an oil  to soften the dish and perhaps a fresh herb to brighten the plate and my palate.

I chose White Truffle oil and fresh mint, because that’s what I had.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice ciabatta bread into thin slices, drizzle with EVOO, season with salt & pepper and toast in the pre-heated oven 5-6 minutes. You’ll want slightly browned bread, but not overly crisp. Set aside.

Gently tear apart a few leaves of mint to top for flavor and garnish. Set aside.

Spread 1/c walnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 4-5 minutes. If you smell them toasting at four minutes, remove them from the oven. Set aside to cool, then chop coarsely. At the same time as the walnuts are toasting, heat a 10″ skillet on medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, rinse the scallop in cold water, gently pull off the foot and pat dry. Slice the scallop into four equal slices. Sprinkle with sea salt on both sides. Add a few drops of EVOO to the hot pan. Working quickly and with a delicate hand, sear the scallops for fifteen-twenty seconds (maximum cooking time) on each side. Remove from heat immediately and place on cutting board. Cut the scallops into small bite size pieces.

Arrange the bread on a serving plate, add the chopped scallops, walnuts and chopped mint. Drizzle the top of the crostini with White Truffle oil. Eat immediately.

So there it is, my inspiration. Thanks Chef John. I think I’ll call it Chef John’s Scallop and Walnut Appetizer.

What about you? What’s your inspiration?

*Frozen scallops are by far, much less expensive as are smaller size scallops, i.e. 20/30 count or 30/40 count. Here is more information on scallop sizing and buying. Also, check the label for Country of Origin