First time for everything

[amazingrace]

Yesterday HubbyDearest and I were grocery shopping.  He said "I like scallops,  but you never make them".  I replied that I had never cooked them in my entire life [68 years],  but I'm willing to try.   We purchased them.  This evening I sauted them in a little olive oil, butter, garlic and s&p.  Deglazed the pan with white wine and made a "modified bierre blanc".  This is definately something we'll have again, now that I'm not "afraid" of them any longer! 

 

[tylerm713]

Yesterday HubbyDearest and I were grocery shopping.  He said "I like scallops,  but you never make them".  I replied that I had never cooked them in my entire life [68 years],  but I'm willing to try.   We purchased them.  This evening I sauted them in a little olive oil, butter, garlic and s&p.  Deglazed the pan with white wine and made a "modified bierre blanc".  This is definately something we'll have again, now that I'm not "afraid" of them any longer! 

Seared scallops, when prepared correctly, are divine. Out of curiousity, did you deglaze before or after removing the scallops from the pan? 

 

[amazingrace]

After.  I didn't want to mess with the lovely sear on them. 

 

[tylerm713]

After.  I didn't want to mess with the lovely sear on them. 

I'm delighted to hear that.

A few years ago, a friend of mine invited my fiance and me over to have dinner with him and his girlfriend. He had told me that they wanted to try to make seared scallops, so I offered to help. I got them seared to perfect, and as I walked across the kitchen to get the plate to put them on, he poured about a cup of white wine in the pan with them. I had to restrain myself from breaking the plate over his head.  

 

[kyheirloomer]

Good on you, Grace!

 

[amazingrace]

I'm glad you were able to control yourself so well.  But now you can tell me what that did to the scallops, aside from ruining the sear, as well as their visual appeal.  I'm wondering if the sudden shock of steam engulfing the meat might have turned the protein to rubber?  

 

[tylerm713]

I'm glad you were able to control yourself so well.  But now you can tell me what that did to the scallops, aside from ruining the sear, as well as their visual appeal.  I'm wondering if the sudden shock of steam engulfing the meat might have turned the protein to rubber?  

Exactly. Since the pan was hot, the wine instantly steamed, and turned the nice crispy seared crust to mush. I was able to pull them out before the steam could overcook the scallops. However, scallops soak up flavors very easily, so the scallops tasted like white wine, even without a sauce. That was perhaps the most disappointing thing to me.

 

[amazingrace]

I hope your friend learned from this mistake. 

 

[dc sunshine]

Should have cracked the plate on his head /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif  j/k.  What a waste of good scallops -they are expensive enough as it is.  Locally the ones that we can source without mortaging the the home are frozen, they are ok I guess once you blot them with towels once thawed to remove excess moisture, but nothing at all like the real thing.

 

[tylerm713]

DC, it was the same way where I grew up. Luckily I live in a larger city now, and found a good fish monger that has some great product. Everything is fresh, and it's still cheaper than the frozen stuff we used to buy.

 

[koukouvagia]

I'm amazed at the variety of quality to be found in scallops.  Diver scallops are hard to come by in my neighborhood but I find them once in a while.  For an even nicer crust I score them very lightly on the surface in a crisscross pattern.

Good for you amazingrace!  Next time fry them in bacon yum!

 

[chrisbelgium]

Amazingrace, a lot of young people should now be in awe for you -at age 68- trying out something completely new. Bravissimo!

I said it before recently, 60 is the new 30... and you just proved it to be right. Thank you, big hug from me!

 

[amazingrace]

Amazingrace, a lot of young people should now be in awe for you -at age 68- trying out something completely new. Bravissimo!

I said it before recently, 60 is the new 30... and you just proved it to be right. Thank you, big hug from me!

Thanks to you!  I've done a few "first time" things lately.  Last week I made rissoto for the first time, and .... hold onto your hat ... I did it in the pressure cooker.   Yep!  7 minutes under pressure,  then cold water release.  Another victory.  Creamy, perfect texture, incredible flavor /img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif  .  

 

[dc sunshine]

DC, it was the same way where I grew up. Luckily I live in a larger city now, and found a good fish monger that has some great product. Everything is fresh, and it's still cheaper than the frozen stuff we used to buy.

 Tyler,

We've moved to a large city now, but I'm still finding my way around, and hopefully will find a good fishmonger soon.  Actually, I overheard some people talking in the market the other day about a good fish place that had a huge queue of people waiting to be served, they seemed enthusiastic about the prices and products - it must be good.  I'll have to try and look it up.  We really enjoy scallops and oysters, so maybe I'll get lucky there.