SEARED SCALLOPS WITH PASTA, MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH

We received a gift of a 2-lb. bag of fresh-frozen sea scallops, caught from a local fisherman and so we happily ate scallops for a few days.  This recipe was made with what I had in the fridge.  The flavors went well together and the meal was satisfying and filling, besides being nutritious.  Sweet creamy scallops, served on a bed of thin spaghetti, mushrooms, white wine, spinach and fresh Parmesan:  very yummy.

Tip:  To get that appetizing sear on scallops, dry them thoroughly between paper towels.  Get your pan very hot, and don’t add too much oil.  Don’t crowd the scallops in the pan and cook them towards the center rather than the perimeter.  Only turn them once.

Seared Scallops with Pasta, Mushrooms and Spinach Rating:  8.5 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

10-12 oz. fresh or frozen and thawed sea scallops sea salt and pepper  3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion 1/2 tsp. grated fresh garlic 1-1/4 cup sliced mushrooms 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped 1/3 cup dry white wine 3 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley 1 tsp. chopped fresh basil cooked pasta of choice (I used Barilla thin spaghetti) Dry scallops thoroughly between layers of paper towels.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy skillet on high heat.  Add half the oil.  When oil is sizzling and ready to smoke, add scallops, leaving room between them to properly sear.  They will sear best towards the center, rather than the perimeter, of the pan.  Cook scallops for about 2 minutes without stirring, then flip and cook another 1-2 minutes, till cooked almost through.  Remove to a plate; cover and keep warm.  Add remaining oil to pan with onion and mushrooms.  Cook over medium high heat till onions are transparent and mushrooms are starting to brown.  Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.  Add spinach and wine and cook till spinach starts to wilt.  Stir in butter, lemon juice, parsley, basil and pasta.  Toss to incorporate pasta.  If desired, add scallops briefly,  just to reheat slightly.  Serve mounds of pasta and veggies with scallops on top.  Yield:  2-3 servings

RASPBERRY-SAUCED SCALLOPS WITH FRIED GRIT CAKE

I love the creamy taste of sea scallops, and they seem to be in season.  If you’re wondering what to do with them, then this post is for you.  Sauteed in a frying pan with cold polenta, then drizzled with a raspberry vinaigrette, this is an easy and delicious way to enjoy these tender morsels from the sea.

This is not really a recipe, but rather a method for cooking.  First, pat the scallops dry with clean paper towels.  I like to use an iron fry pan for this, but if you don’t have one, use what you have.  Get your pan hot using medium-high heat, and just put a very small amount of olive oil in it.  Too much oil and you won’t get the nice brown crust on the scallops and polenta. 

You can buy the polenta rolls in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, or you can make your own polenta and freeze the leftovers in small rectangles that are perfect for frying up like this.  If you want to make your own, try this great recipe adapted from Southern Living.  It'll be soft when you first make it.  When it cools in the pan, just cut it into squares or rectangles and freeze for future use.  Great with breakfast, lunch or dinner, plain or sauced.  Wonderful with shrimp.

Sprinkle the scallops lightly with salt and pepper and put everything in the hot oiled pan.  Let sizzle for several minutes per side, till scallops are done and polenta is creamy and soft inside.


Serve the scallops over and around the polenta and drizzle with your favorite raspberry vinaigrette.  My recipe for raspberry vinaigrette is here.  Green beans sauteed with onion and garlic go well with this.

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.)

PAN-SEARED SCALLOPS WITH RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

Tonight's meal was an exercise in multi-tasking. Guy doesn't like scallops. He also doesn't like grits. Nor does he like broccoli. I made him garlic and onion steamed crabs and he was happy eating that with no veggies. But at the same time, I cooked my dinner which was broccoli and peapods, Havarti Grits, Pan-Seared Scallops and Raspberry Vinaigrette. And, amazingly, we both sat down to eat at the same time. I am still unsure how that happened. Not surprisingly, I did goof on my meal a little bit. I should have added some cornstarch to the vinaigrette;
it was a bit runny. I've corrected that in the recipe below. And, in my rush to get things done, I forgot to blot the scallops on a paper towel to dry them well before I seared them; hence, they didn't brown well. But, in spite of my little slip-ups, the meal was delicious. The raspberry vinaigrette is so nice on the scallops -- a perfect complement. I can't even describe the grits, they were just so wonderful. And I love broccoli and peapods with garlic and olive oil. So I was in my own heaven as I ate.

Pan-Seared Scallops with Raspberry Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette: 2 Tbsp. raspberry preserves
1 Tbsp. raspberry balsamic vinegar (or plain balsamic vinegar)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
big pinch of black pepper
Place all vinaigrette ingredients in a small saucepan and heat to boiling. Cook about 3 minutes, or till sauce starts to thicken. Remove from heat; cool slightly; press through a sieve to strain out seeds. Keep warm.

Scallops: 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. fresh sea scallops
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Heat the oil to a sizzle in a 12-inch heavy fry pan over medium heat. Add the scallops; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook about 2-3 minutes; turn; cook 2-3 more minutes, or till scallops are almost done inside. (It's always a good idea to slightly undercook fish. Scallops should be nicely browned when you turn them.)

Serve scallops with the raspberry vinaigrette drizzled over them on a bed of cheesy grits.
Yield: 2-3 servings

GINGER-CHILI SCALLOPS

Our local Harris Teeter had beautiful wild-caught sea scallops for $10.99/lb this week, and they were nice enough to email me a recipe for the scallops with my weekly fresh-catch newsletter. Can you believe they even included a short video showing me how to make this dish? I love Harris Teeter, and I love scallops, so I couldn't wait to try this. MyThai friend, Sara, had given me a bottle of sweet chili sauce, so I was ready. This recipe is fast and very good. How I think it could be better: serve the scallops over grits or rice, and just drizzle the sauce lightly over top. There's enough sauce in this halved recipe to adequately take care of 1 lb. of scallops. Since the sauce is sweet -- very sweet -- drizzling it would be nicer than covering the scallops in it. Guy's not a big scallop fan, but he liked these. I made a few changes to the recipe: I added a pinch of ground red pepper and added salt and pepper to the flour instead of seasoning the scallops after they browned, as the recipe suggested. Other than that, I followed it closely.

Ginger-Chili Scallops
Rating 9 out of 10
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lb. sea scallops
1-1/2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 oz. Thai sweet chili sauce
1/3 tsp. honey or brown sugar
pinch of ground red pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

In a small heavy skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Measure the flour, salt and pepper into a resealable sandwich bag and mix to distribute ingredients. Add scallops and shake well to coat scallops in flour mixture. Add floured scallops to hot oil and cook about 2 minutes, or till nicely browned on underside.
Turn scallops over and cook another 2 minutes, then add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and cover; cook about 3 minutes, or till scallops are tender and cooked through. Serve scallops over rice or grits, if desired, and lightly drizzle some of the sauce over top. Serves 2.