Growing up in New England, a person is hard pressed to find anything more culinarily superior than fresh sea food right off the boat.  Large sea scallops are the star of this dish and definitely among one of my favorites.  I have found over the years that the more simple the preparation with sea scallops the better.  Fresh seafood doesn’t need all that much help, the best thing you can really do is let it shine.

In this recipe I take a hint of the ever popular scallops wrapped in bacon and lighten it up a bit.  Using the flavor of the bacon in preparation and then finishing with a sprinkle of its crispy goodness. I also find that the more simple the side, the more your seafood is allowed to shine through. Here, I have paired with a brown rice quinoa.

Add two tablespoons to a large non-stick skillet.

Slice two cloves of garlic.

Gently saute the garlic in the butter over medium heat.

I reserved two strips of bacon from breakfast that I par-cooked. Chop.

Add bacon into the butter (this helps with flavor, but also adds bacon grease to the butter so it won’t burn when scallops are added)

A dozen and a half of big fresh sea scallops.

Salt the scallops with kosher salt.

Remove the garlic and the bacon and reserve. The purpose here is to get the flavors of the garlic and bacon, but when the heat gets turned up to sear the scallops, you don’t want to burn the garlic and bacon.

Place each scallop in the skillet over medium/high heat. The goal is to get color on the scallops, but you also want to almost cook it all the way through.

Turn each scallop with tongs… I don’t like to puncture with a fork.

Sprinkle the reserved bacon and garlic over top. Serve with a plain wild rice and quinoa.

Recipe for Seared Sea Scallops:

(Serves 3)

18 large sea scallops

2 strips of bacon, chopped

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 Tbls. butter

kosher salt

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat on a non-stick skillet.  Add in sliced garlic, turn heat to medium/low.  Add in chipped bacon. Continue to saute until bacon is crispy and garlic is lightly browned.  Remove garlic and bacon and reserve.

Prepare scallops by taking out of the fridge 20 minutes before you plan to cook to bring to room temperature.  Lightly salt with kosher salt.

Turn up the burner heat to medium/high.  Place scallops in skillet with room around each, do not over crowd.  Allow scallops to caramelize without moving.  Let sear about 2-3 minutes.  Turn with a pair of tongs so as not to puncture with a fork. Sear on second side 2-3 minutes.  Careful not to over-cook.  You want the scallop to have a bit of a spring back when you touch it.  They will continue to cook a bit once you remove from the skillet.

Once both sides have deep golden brown edges, sprinkle with garlic and bacon.  Serve.  Enjoy!

* This recipe is gluten-free.