Making scallops just for the halibut! (Pun intended)
Since we moved to San Diego about 20 years ago (geeze, where does the time go!) we began eating more and more seafood. Seafood is readily available here and we have some of the best fish markets around. Our go-to for the freshest fish in San Diego is Catalina Offshore Products. They actually sell to the vast majority of restaurants around San Diego and always have such a large selection of seafood to choose from; including many locally caught wild fish.
I’ve always been adventurous ordering seafood when out to dinner, but I never been very adventurous with cooking seafood at home until more recently. Over the years I’ve definitely branched out to try dishes other than salmon, tilapia, or halibut. After a trip to Greece I even tried my hand at octopus since we had it, almost daily, while vacationing. The octopus wasn’t half bad, but it definitely didn’t hold a candle to having one seaside overlooking the Aegean Sea (sigh…take me back).
One particular seafood dish that I love, and is super simple to prepare, is scallops. I usually make them as the appetizer so when its just the hubs and me I usually make two for each of us. I prepare them simply so the sweet flavor of the scallop still shines through. Now you can always turn this dish into a meal by preparing more scallops and serving them over pasta or with a nice crusty baguette for a light, but delicious meal.
Ingredients:
4 scallops
2-3 tablespoons of chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 small shallot
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup of white wine ( and wine you would drink, not cooking wine folks!)
Flour for dredging
salt and pepper
Sprinkle both sides of the scallops with salt and pepper and dredge them with flour, shake off excess flour. Prepare a skillet by heating it to medium. Once skillet is hot add one tablespoon of butter, once melted place scallops in butter. Don’t touch or move the scallops around, allow them to form a golden crust on the bottom. After about 1.5 to 2 minutes flip the scallops over and allow to cook on the other side for one minute. Add remaining butter, shallots, garlic, parsley, and white wine to the pan and continue cooking and stirring the garlic, shallots, and parsley around to cook through for another 1-2 minutes. Before plating you can add another tablespoon of butter to richen the dish; the butter addition is totally optional based on how thick or thin (or decadent) you like your sauce. Plate up and enjoy!
Wine to pair? For some reason when I made this dish I was in a bubbly mood so I actually had sparkling wine and I really enjoyed it! However I think Chardonnay is a great traditional white to pair with scallops. To be honest though I’m not a big Chardonnay drinker, when I do have a glass I tend to go with a Chablis, which doesn’t have an oak or butter on the finish. That being said if you’re a fan of the traditional California Chardonnay pop that bottle and have at it; it goes great with shellfish. Enjoy friends!
