Saturday, October 25, 2008

MARINATED AND GRILLED BACON-WRAPPED SCALLOPS



This is my own recipe. Guy is not big on scallops, and I love them. I don't like bay scallops -- too bitter, but the giant sea scallops are one of my faves. To make the scallops more palatable for him, I wrapped them in par-cooked bacon after first marinating them in a delightful Thai concoction. I skewered them with whole mushrooms that had also been marinated. (He said peppers would have been nice, and next time I'll add peppers for him.) Steamed broccoli and pea pods and coconut rice accompanied this deelish meal. You can see from the photo that there isn't much rice on my dish. That's because rice puts me in orbit about the way that chocolate does. Rice is high glycemic and raises blood sugar, then drops it dramatically several hours later, making you very hungry. Guy doesn't like brown rice and I don't want to eat white rice, so I compromised and made half brown and half white. We both got some of what we wanted. I started the brown rice first and cooked it for 30 minutes before adding the coconut milk and white rice. I have a neighbor who uses a rice cooker and she just puts the brown and white both in at the same time. The white gets a little overdone, but they're happy with it. Since we seldom eat rice in this house, I've never bought a rice cooker. This meal was so good and so satisfying that I know I'll be making it again.

Marinated and Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Scallops
Rating: 9 out of 10
INGREDIENTS:
4 tsp. chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/4 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
1/2 tsp. California hot sauce (or hot sauce of your choice)
1 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
6 whole mushrooms
optional: 1/2 green or red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1/2 lb. sea scallops (mine weighed .57 lb. and there were 7)
1 slice bacon for each scallop (I used 7 slices for 7 scallops)
In a small resealable sandwich bag, combine cilantro, garlic, lime juice, chili sauce, hot sauce and oil. Seal bag and massage to distribute ingredients. Transfer 2 Tbsp. of mixture to another sandwich bag and add the mushrooms (and peppers, if using). Place the scallops in the first bag. Seal both and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour or up to 6 hours.
Parcook bacon. (Here's an easy way: Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil. Place a wire rack over the tinfoil. Lay bacon strips on the rack. Bake @ 400F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.)
Lightly oil gas grill grates. Preheat gas grill to 400-425F. Wrap each of the scallops with a strip of bacon. Skewer the scallops, mushrooms and peppers. Grill for about 4 minutes each side, or till scallops are done, basting with remaining marinade throughout cooking process. Serve with coconut rice. Yield: 2 servings
(Coconut rice: 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 tsp. sea salt, 1/2 cup water, 3/4 cup lite coconut milk. Cook rice according to package directions.)






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