Seared Sea Scallops With Carrot Marjoram Sauce Food

SEARED SEA SCALLOPS WITH CARROT MARJORAM SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine carrot juice, 1/4 cup wine, lemon juice, shallot, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat just enough to maintain a steady boil. Cook until slightly thickened (it should resemble the consistency of pulpy orange juice) and reduced to about 1/2 cup, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Reduce heat, and very gently simmer the carrot reduction. Whisk in butter one piece at a time, waiting until each piece is melted and incorporated before adding another. The sauce should be thickened enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Return the sauce to a simmer, whisking constantly. Submerge the bundle of marjoram in the sauce, and remove from heat. Let marjoram infuse sauce while you cook the scallops.
• Heat oven to 175 degrees. Turn off the oven, and place a platter in it to warm. If the scallops have small, loosely attached, rectangular pieces of white muscle on their sides, pull them off, and discard. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels, and season all sides lightly with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed sauté pan over high heat until it is very hot and smoking. Using tongs, carefully place the scallops flat side down in the pan. Let the scallops cook undisturbed until they are golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn, and cook until the other side is browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer scallops to warmed platter. Reduce heat to medium, and pour in remaining 1/4 cup wine. Scrape up browned bits, then add liquid to carrot mixture.
• Remove marjoram bundle from carrot sauce, squeeze it dry, and discard. Reheat sauce over medium heat, whisking constantly. Taste, and adjust seasoning. For a very smooth texture, pass sauce through a very fine strainer. If the sauce begins to separate or the butter comes to surface in droplets, blend the sauce for a few seconds using an immersion blender. Divide scallops among warmed dinner plates, and pour carrot sauce around them. Serve.

SEARED SCALLOPS WITH PAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut 2 tablespoons of the butter into pea-sized pieces, put it on a small plate, and stick it in the freezer. Heat a large skillet over medium-heat high for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the olive oil and wait for the butter to melt.
• Pat the scallops dry with paper towels, add them to the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper; work in batches if necessary to avoid crowding the skillet. Cook, turning once, until they are well browned on both sides but not quite cooked through, 2 minutes per side (less if the scallops are under 1 inch across; more if they're over). Transfer the scallops to a plate.
• Stir in the garlic, lemon juice, and wine and scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the liquid in the skillet thickens, a minute or two, then whisk in the butter you chilled in the freezer, one bit at a time, to make a creamy sauce, adding another tablespoon or two of liquid if necessary.
• Return the scallops to the skillet and add the chives. Adjust the heat so the sauce bubbles gently and toss to coat the scallops with the sauce. To serve, transfer the scallops to a platter and spoon the sauce over all.
• Variation:
• Seared Scallops With Cherry Tomatoes and Basil: Skip the lemon juice. Cut 1 pint cherry tomatoes in half. Add the tomatoes with the garlic and wine and cook until they wrinkle a bit and release their juice, 2 or 3 minutes. Use chopped fresh basil leaves instead of chives.
• Cooks' Notes
• Releasing From The Pan: The scallops will offer no resistance when they're ready to turn. Press down gently while the scallops cook to encourage full contact with the pan, then listen for a hiss: That's moisture heating and evaporating.
• Getting A Good Sear: The idea is to brown the scallops well on both sides without overcooking them, so keep the heat as high as you can without creating too much smoke.
• Building Sauce With Butter: After you add the liquid and deglaze the pan, the addition of butter develops fantastic creaminess and richness.
• Finishing The Dish: As soon as the scallops are cooked through completely and coated with the sauce, remove the pan from the heat; they will continue to cook. Nick-and-peek into one if you need to check for doneness.

SIMPLY SEARED SCALLOPS

Steps:

• Pat sea scallops dry with paper towels. Season with some lemon juice, salt, and pepper on one side.
• Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over high heat. Place scallops in the skillet seasoned-side down. Cook until browned on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Season with remaining lemon juice, salt, and pepper; flip. Continue cooking until opaque, about 2 minutes more. Garnish with lemon zest.

SEARED SEA SCALLOPS WITH SPICY CARROT COULIS

Steps:

• Make the coulis: Put carrots, garlic, onion, vinegar, cayenne, salt, honey and broth in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until carrots are very soft, about 15 minutes. Purée all ingredients thoroughly in a blender and strain if necessary - it should be very smooth. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Coulis should not be too thick, but rather similar to a thin milkshake. Keep warm if not made ahead.
• Prepare the scallops: Set 2 wide cast-iron skillets or a large griddle over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, film with olive oil. As oil heats and just before cooking, season scallops with salt and pepper on both sides. When oil is wavy, place scallops in pan without crowding. Leave scallops undisturbed to brown well and crisp on one side, about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, until cooked through, but juicy. Place scallops browned side up on paper towels to blot bottoms.
• To serve, ladle about 1/4 cup warm coulis onto individual warmed dinner plates. Set scallops on top, browned side up. Sprinkle with cilantro, chives and sliced chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

SEARED SCALLOPS

Steps:

• Place a layer of paper towels on top of a large plate or baking sheet and gently lay the sea scallops on top to rid them of any excess moisture. With the scallops still on the paper towel, grab a large pinch of kosher salt and sprinkle it from a foot or more over the scallops. The height will help distribute the salt evenly.
• Use a pepper grinder to crack fresh black pepper in the same manner, getting every scallop.
• Flip the scallops and season the other side. This is important!
• Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed stainless-steel saute pan over high heat. Do not use nonstick-you'll never achieve the proper caramelization!
• Wait.
• Wait.
• Watch as the pan begins to smoke.
• Now, carefully, because the pan and oil are very hot, use tongs or your fingers to place each scallop individually in the pan, leaving room between them. Once the scallops are in the pan, do not move them or the pan or turn the heat down. You're going to want to, because the pan will be hot and splattering and smoking, but resist! You're getting your hard sear. Don't interfere or the scallops will stick.
• After 2 minutes, use a spatula or tongs to gently turn one of the scallops and assess how dark the sear is. If it's dark brown and caramelized, it's ready to be flipped and seared on the other side for at least 2 minutes more to achieve an identical sear.
• When the scallops have been flipped and seared on both sides, they're fully cooked and ready to eat. Remove them from the pan using tongs or a spatula. Add the butter to the pan and a squeeze of lemon juice and scrape up the bit on the pan to create a sauce. Serve the scallops hot and topped with the pan sauce and another squeeze of fresh lemon juice on top.

SEARED SEA SCALLOPS

Steps:

• In a very hot pan with olive oil, sear the scallops; season with salt and pepper. Saute spinach with garlic and white wine to scald the spinach.
• In the center of the plate, place 2 flapjacks. Place orange honey butter on top of flapjacks. Then top with spinach. Place scallops on the plate, in between the flapjacks. Place pancetta and chive in-between the scallops. Garnish with sweet potato curls.
• Combine all ingredients. On a griddle using pan spray, drop 1 ounce of batter. Cook until golden brown.;
• Reduce wine, orange juice, garlic, shallots, and thyme to sec (dry). Add heavy cream; reduce by half. Whisk in butter. Slowly finish with honey.;
• Using a vegetable peeler, cut curls from sweet potato. Deep fry until crisp.

SEARED SCALLOPS WITH MOREL CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Season the scallops on both sides with the salt and white pepper. Set a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, place the scallops in the pan and saute for 2 minutes on the first side. Add the butter, placing the cubes in different parts of the pan. Cook the scallops for 1 minute longer, then turn and cook on the second side for 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of the parsley and cook for 1 minute longer.
• Serve the scallops by dividing the sauce between 4warmed, shallow bowls and place 3 scallops in the center of each bowl. Garnish with the remaining parsley.
• 4 servings
• In a 1-cup heatproof glass or stainless steel bowl, place the morels and pour 3/4 cup of hot water over them, being sure that the mushrooms are submerged in the water. Allow to soak for 10 minutes. Remove from the water; rinse the morels under cool water, dice into 1/4-inch rings, set aside and reserve. Strain the remaining soaking water through cheesecloth and reserve separately.
• In a 1-quart saucepan, add the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the reserved sliced morels, the shallots, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the white wine and balsamic vinegar and reduce until nearly dry, about 3 minutes. Add the reserved mushroom broth and cook until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Swirl the remaining butter into the sauce and adjust the seasoning. Set aside on a low heat until ready to use. (Do not allow sauce to boil or it will separate.)