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Pan-Seared Scallops

Pan-Seared Scallops

by Curtis W in Rouxbe Videos

Served on a bed of baby spinach and finished with a warm bacon sherry vinaigrette.

Serves
4
Active Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins

Step 1: Preparing the Mise en Place

Preparing the Mise en Place
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 1 tbsp shallot (1/2 shallot)
  • 2 strips smoked bacon

To start the vinaigrette for the scallops, first prepare your mis en place, which simply means to prepare all of your ingredients for cooking.
Start by washing and drying the baby spinach and removing all of the stems.
Finely dice the shallots, and set aside. Then slice the bacon into match stick size pieces.

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Step 2: Preparing the Vinaigrette

Preparing the Vinaigrette
  • 4 tbsp sherry (preferably a cream sherry)
  • 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1/3 cup apple juice

To make the dressing, heat a fry pan to medium low heat and add the bacon.

Once half of the fat has been rendered, add the shallots and let caramelize slightly.

Turn the heat up to medium high and deglaze the pan with the sherry and let reduce slightly.

Add the sherry vinegar and the apple juice and reduce by about half. If you did not use a sweeter cream sherry you may want to add a touch of sugar.

Once this has reduced, remove from the heat, and set aside. Keep in mind it will continue to thicken as it cools.

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Step 3: Pan-Searing the Scallops

Pan-Searing the Scallops
  • 12 whole scallops
  • 3 tbsp clarified Butter
  • 1/4 tsp Kosher salt - can substitute with 1/8 tsp. table salt
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 2 tbsp non clarified Butter

To cook the scallops, pat them dry with a paper towel to remove any excess liquid.

Check the scallops and remove the tough muscle along the side, if there is one.

Now heat a fry pan to medium high heat and add the clarified butter. While the butter is heating, season the scallops with salt and white pepper.

Once the butter is hot and just begins to smoke, place the scallops into the pan and turn the heat up to high.

The scallops are ready to flip when they start to cook up the sides and turn opaque. Once ready, the bottom should be a nice golden brown, turn the heat down to medium and flip them over.

The scallops are cooked when you can see about 1/4 of an inch on the top and bottom has turned opaque.

Now we are going to butter baste the scallops. Add the butter to the pan and once it has melted spoon a generous amount over each scallop.
Immediately turn off the heat and remove the scallops from the pan and set aside, while you quickly reheat the vinaigrette.

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Step 4: Finishing and Plating the Scallops

Finishing and Plating the Scallops
  • 1 pinch fleur de sel (for garnish)

Bring the vinaigrette to a gentle boil then set aside to cool for a minute or two.

Next add some of the dressing to the spinach and toss. Reserve some of the vinaigrette, so you can drizzle a bit over the scallops once they are plated.

Now stack 3 or 4 spinach leaves with a few pieces of bacon and place each stack onto a plate. Then top each stack of spinach with one of the scallops.

Drizzle the scallops with some of the remaining vinaigrette, and garnish each scallop with a few pieces of bacon and a pinch of Fleur de Sel.

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Notes

Make sure you have everything ready before you start cooking the scallops, so you don't overcook them.

Comments

Scallop Heaven

Made these again last night and they are unbelievable. Anyone else tried them? If you haven't and you like scallops, these could become one of your favorite appetizers.

by Joe G | Jun 19, 2007 11:38am | Permalink
Oh How Good!

These were so nice, we had these for dinner. We just added more spinach and made it into a meal. The sweetness of the sauce with the scallops and the spinach was really good. Will definitely make these again.

by Dee F | Aug 2, 2007 8:50pm | Permalink
Scallop heaven part 2

Try this scallop dish -

Basil Stuffed Jumbo Scallops
Serves 6

6 U-10 scallops, clean, sweet smelling, muscle removed on the side
6 thin slices of fresh plump red tomato
3 tsp fresh basil, thinly sliced
2-3 tsp grated parmesean
Olive oil
Kosher or sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Favorite hard crusted bread if desired…

Take the scallops, insert a knife in the side, and make a pocket.

Combine basil, a glob of olive oil, and parmesan. Stuff the scallop with about ½ tsp, and a slice of tomato. Season with salt, pepper and a couple drops of olive oil.

In a hot pan, sear scallops until the tops and bottoms are golden, and the scallop is firm, but tender. A couple minutes should do it, but make sure not to over cook it, as the scallop should be opaque, creamy looking, with a firm, and tender texture. Drizzle a little of the pan juices on your stuffed scallop, and enjoy!

by Marshall O | Aug 3, 2007 4:27pm | Permalink
So Awesome!!!

This was my first recipe I prepared from Rouxbe video.
Not only was the flavor just perfect,the video helped me NOT over cook the scallops.
Tonight I am trying the cashew chicken.
Enjoy,
Terrell Newberry

by Terrell N | Oct 4, 2007 11:50am | Permalink
Dressed to Impress!

I went to Ontario and did a 6 course supper for 17 of my family. This was my second course and what a hit!! I served it with a side of wild mushroom risotto.
In fact most of the meal came from my course at the school or from the Rouxbe web site.

Thanks for making me look so good!

Suzan

by Suzan A | Dec 10, 2007 11:34pm | Permalink
pan-seared scallops

Every Christmas our family holds our own little iron chef competition and our team chose as one of it's dishes to be this recipe. As we were cooking for 12 people we decided to change it up a bit and serve the scallops over a bed of spinach. Not only a very attractive dish but the combination of sherry, apple juice and smokey bacon was outstanding. It was a hit!!!

by Rob W | Jan 12, 2008 2:16pm | Permalink
Fabulous!

I made these last night as an appetizer for some friends and they were a huge hit!
This is definetely going to become the way I eat scallops from now on. The sherry/bacon vinegrette is deliscious, I think I will use it on a red meat, maybe petit filet.
the plating came out great, everyone was thrilled that these babies tasted as good as they looked!

by Kevin W | Jan 17, 2008 1:42pm | Permalink
Pan-Seared Scallops

Yumm! This too was my first attempt at a recipe from rouxbe.com. I am enjoying the site and learning some pretty interesting info here and there. I used almost 1" accross scallops and followed the cooking instructions for the scallops. Who new? I have always over-cooked scallops. Whether you place on the spinach or have a spinach salad on the side it works!

by Kris R | Jan 29, 2008 7:03pm | Permalink
scallops

Boy these were wonderful and so eash to do especially when you are told how to clarify the butter. Will do this again Thanks All. Di K

by Diane K | Jan 30, 2008 7:22pm | Permalink
sparkey

Why did the bottoms of the large sea-scallops get so brown with the butter (whipped)? I fried them 3 minutes/side.

by John B | Mar 7, 2008 5:53pm | Permalink
scallops

Why did the large sea-scallops turn so brown when I seared them for 3 minutes/side with whipped butter???

by John B | Mar 7, 2008 5:54pm | Permalink
Wow!

Great recipe and I love the fact that the video shows the freshest of ingredients!

by Jennifer C | Apr 12, 2008 12:58am | Permalink
Wonderful

Made these tonight and they were delicious. But I will serve them for special occasions only and just for the two of us. I found it was quite a bit of fiddling around, so I wasn't convinced the time to get this on to the plate was well spent. And that is only one course. Maybe I will double the amount next time and make it the whole dinner. Mind you, I did learn some new techniques along the way. I NEVER did find sherry vinegar and I tried several shops.

by Judi G | Jun 21, 2008 1:39am | Permalink

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