The Esch household kitchen has been turning out delectable culinary creations as of late. Seared Ahi tuna with chili-lime corn, gazpacho, and bruschetta have all been enjoyed lately.
The Price Cutter in Springfield on Battlefield runs specials that the other stores don't. The head of the meat department, Dave, brings in really high quality product every Thursday. It's typically either very fresh seafood or prime meat of some exotic variety. Yesterday my dad asked me if I wanted him to pick up scallops at Price Cutter (by the way, my dad and Dave are on a first name basis). That was a dumb question. Of course I wanted them! Scallops are the first semi-fancy/gourmet food I learned to cook, so we have a special relationship. The key to cooking good scallops is BUYING good scallops. The difference maker is wet packed vs. dry packed scallops. Dry packed scallops aren't treated with the phosphate solution wet packed scallops are and in turn they don't absorb excess water. Not having the excess water means the scallops will brown exponentially better and will not shrink like wet packed scallops do. To get even pickier, buying scallops that have never been frozen are the best. Luckily, this is what my dad was getting.
I was determined to branch out from my mundane 'seared scallops with lemon butter' dish. I really wanted to try something with mangoes or pineapple, but my dad isn't a big fruit guy so he shot those ideas down. I settled on something equally as light and refreshing- a lovely Brie cream sauce. Ha.
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| The ingredients await manipulation |
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| The sage will later be flash fried in peanut oil and used as a garnish. |
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Though I prefer thick bacon for a BLT, I used a normal thickness for this.
Put the bacon in the oven at 350 F for 5-7 minutes as the cream is reducing. |
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| White pepper and salt were used to season the sauce and olive oil to brown the scallops |
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| 1 quart of cream. Yum. |
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| Chop 8 oz of Brie cheese into small bits |
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| Reduce the 1 quart of cream by half. Add the chopped Brie and stir |
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When the bacon cools, wrap the scallops and secure with a toothpick.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. |
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| Sear the scallops until they are golden brown. Put back in the oven if needed to finish cooking |
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| Served with spinach and the sage as a garnish. |
