I found some beautiful blood oranges at the market the other day, and wanted to find a fun way to use them. Today at the fish market, I saw some gorgeous scallops, and the recipe was born!
Despite a somewhat fancy name, this is actually a super easy dinner, and if you only count the active prep time, it's very quick, too. The hubby gave this rave reviews, and it's fun to serve your man a fancy looking meal :)
For the Gastrique:
- Juice of one blood orange
- 1 cup of fresh orange juice
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 1 shallot, minced
- Sprinkle of white pepper
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
Scallops*:
- 8 large diver sea scallops (4 per person is a dinner-sized portion)
- S&P
- Olive Oil.
As soon as this temperature is reached, put your scallops in the pan, flat side down. Make sure they aren't touching and have plenty of room between them, otherwise they will steam and won't sear well. If you need to, break this up into 2 batches. They will splatter and sizzle and pop, so stand back! Let them cook for 2 minutes, then flip. Let them cook for 2 minutes on that side, and then remove and set onto your plate. Spoon the Gastrique over them, and serve immediately.
I served a scoop of citrus salad on the side.... unfortunately only had ugly romaine hearts in the fridge... it would have been super over frisée or other crunchy mixed greens...... recipe for this:
Citrus Dressing:
- 1/4 Cup Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
- 1/4 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- S&P
- 1/2 cup walnut oil
* A Note on Scallops:
When picking scallops, there are a few things to look for:
Dry or wet: If possible, get scallops that are "dry" - a.k.a. not sitting in a bowl of liquid. They're best when just sitting on ice. That's because when in a liquid, the scallops tend to absorb it. The liquid is somewhat briny, and this can affect the taste of the finished product, and the increased moisture content can also make it more difficult to get a nice sear.
Color: Get nice warm-white colored scallops. Any uneven coloring, brownness, or graying should be avoided. Shiny is good.
Smell: When scallops are fresh, they will have a nice sweet, not fishy, but oceany smelll. Ask your fish monger to hand you a scallop to let you smell it if you wish. That's totally acceptable!
Texture: They should always be nice and firm.
No comments:
Post a Comment