Pan Seared Scallops with Sage Butter Cream
Updated: Apr 5, 2020
For some sad reason, I didn't like seafood growing up. I didn't like the texture of raw fish and if anything was remotely fishy tasting or smelling I wouldn't go near it. After I got married the way I would usually get exposed to new foods was through dinner parties with friends. Once a month or so we had a group of friends in Stamford that would get together to cook an extravagant meal, drink wine, and play board games. One time our friend brought over fresh sea scallops and I was a little terrified. I will try anything once so I played along. We seared them in loads of butter and they ended up being the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. To this day, scallops are by far my favorite food and I cook them as often as Dayne will allow 🤗
The first important aspect is to make sure you are buying dry scallops instead of "wet" scallops. Some markets add a lot of salt and chemicals as a preservative and to make the scallops look bigger and when cooked, they release a lot of liquid preventing you from getting a good sear. The second step is to salt them and place between paper towels for about 20 min to draw any additional liquid out. I like to use my cast iron skillet because it retains heat well and distributes the heat evenly. The sage cream sauce came together because we were craving buttery sage and we happened to have some in the fridge, feel free to use whatever herbs you have lying around or skip it all together. I like to serve this with mushroom and leek risotto, click here for the recipe. Comments or Suggestions? Drop them below. Enjoy!
Seared Scallop Ingredients
1 lb scallops
1 tbs grape-seed oil or vegetable oil
2 tbs butter
salt to taste
Sauce Ingredients
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbs butter
splash of white wine or brandy
1/2 tbs finely chopped sage
Directions
Place the scallops on a plate lined with paper towels and remove tendons
Salt lightly, place paper towels over the scallops and press lightly then let sit for about 20 minutes
In the meantime start preparing the sauce by adding butter to sauce pan on low heat
Once butter is melted, add in chopped sage and stir for about 5-10 minutes
Add a splash of white wine or brandy and simmer until alcohol has evaporated
Add in cream and heat to a simmer
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Remove paper towels from scallops and heat cast iron over high heat
Add grape-seed oil and butter to cast iron skillet
Once pan is very hot and butter is melted, add scallops and sear for 1 minute then flip and sear for another 1 minute
Transfer scallops to a plate and serve
serves 4
