Today, I just wanted to share a tasty dish I made for dinner last week: scallops. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy, not even a F.E.A.S.T., just a simple meal that you yourself can make without too much effort.
"Ye gods!" you say. "But wherein lies the adventure?" you ask. An excellent question, indeed! And I have an answer for you!
::cue crickets chirping::
Ok, so there really isn't one. I've made scallops before, and they're easy. I mean, super easy. But I haven't had the chance to prepare them in ages, so I wanted to try my hand again. I looked up several methods and then adapted my favorites into a cohesive whole. And I am pleased to say that they turned out marvelously. And that's why I decided to tell you about them: because they're easy enough to cook that with a little effort you too can plate a mighty impressive dish that will have others saying, "ooh" and "ahh."
Don't believe me? Come now, have I ever led you astray? And no, don't even talk about my last experiment with ice cream; that was for science!
WHAT I USED!!!
1lb. frozen bay scallops, thawed, drained, and patted dry
3 slices bacon, chopped
2/3 cup apple juice or cider
1 half-pint heavy cream
approx 2lbs golden potatoes
1 stick butter, softened
1 bunch of asparagus
garlic, minced, to taste
salt and pepper
fresh chives, chopped
WHAT I DID!!!
Drop the potatoes in a pot and add enough water to cover by an inch. Give it a good pinch of salt and then set it over high heat. Once it boils, drop the heat to med-low and let them simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until the taters can be easily pierced by a knife without much resistance. Drain the spuds once they're done.
Meanwhile, prepare your asparagus. Hold the stalks one at a time by the base and near the middle, and start bending them gently. The hard, undesirable part of the stalk should snap cleanly off. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once this is ready, drop the asparagus in and give it a minute to blanch. This will improve both the color and the flavor. After a minute, transfer the veggies using a slotted spoon into a waiting bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process. Once they've cooled, set them aside to dry.
Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned. Using your trusty slotted spoon once more, transfer the bacon to a waiting pile of paper towels to drain. Up the heat to high and add the scallops to the bacon drippings! to cook. Give 'em a few shakes and cook until they all just turn opaque, or about four minutes. Grab that ever-so-useful slotted spoon once more and remove the scallops to a dish, and stash said dish in a warm oven to keep things toasty.
Add the apple juice/cider and 1/3 cup of the cream to the pan. Cook this mixture to boiling over med-high heat until the sauce thickens, or about seven minutes, stirring occasionally. You'll know it's ready when the sauce coats the back of a metal spoon and holds its shape when you swipe your finger through it. This is called nappe', as I've mentioned before. Add salt and pepper to taste.
While the sauce does its magic, cook your asparagus. Get a nonstick skillet warmed up over medium to med-high heat and give it a swirl of olive oil. Add as much or little garlic as you care to and saute until the garlic just begins to gain some color. Add your asparagus and give it a toss to coat the veggies in olive oil and garlic. Cook the asparagus until it softens slightly and begins to pick up some color of its own.
Warm the remaining cream for a few seconds in the microwave. Then simply go to town with your favorite potatoes masher or a hand mixer if you so choose. Once the potatoes have been mashed, work in the butter and cream and blend it all into one amalgamous mixture.
To serve, place a good pile of potatoes on each plate. Top with a scoop of delicious scallops, then place a few stalks of asparagus off to one side slightly. Give the whole thing a bit of sauce, and sprinkle with bacon and chives. That's it, you're done!
Ok, so maybe it looks a little complex once I write it all out, but it's really not all that bad. Trust me, this may seem like a handful of steps, but they're all pretty basic steps if you really stop and break it all down: prep and make mashed potatoes, saute some asparagus, saute scallops, make a basic sauce, combine. That's it! Trust me, it's easy.
And totally worth it too. The scallops have a natural sweetness to them, and they lack any of that "fishy" smell that turns off so many people. Moreover, the potatoes are rich (but not too rich), and the asparagus provides a nice counterpoint both in texture and in flavor.
If I were to offer any critique of the meal, it's that the scallops can get lost in the potatoes. This is simple because they are so small. You don't lose the flavor much, it just gets mixed in with the rest of the dish. To be honest, I would have preferred to use the larger, meatier sea scallops, which are three times as big. The problem was they were also three times the price, so I had to pass. Maybe next time though.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post. And I hope you'll go out there and give this method a try. It'll impress and amaze your friends, I guarantee!
Comments and suggestions are welcome as always. Until next time, go forth and eat well!
