I had a meeting on another island south of us tonight, and I was supposed to be there at 6 and bring my cookie cutters. I made about 4 dozen chocolate cookies shaped like footballs while we discussed upcoming events at our church and how to get more involvement. On the upside I really liked all the women I was talking to and on the REALLY, REALLY upside, I am Roman Catholic so wine was served and enjoyed.
Before I left home however I made scallops and warmed up my leftover Long Life Noodles.
Scallops are awesome, so easy to cook, so easy to thaw, they take about 3 minutes to prepare. Run some frozen scallops under running water for maybe a minute. Pat dry, season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Melt some butter in a pan and add some olive oil, turn the heat up to medium high and place the scallops one by one, not touching, in the pan in a clockwise pattern. Set the time for 90 seconds and then flip the scallops one by one starting with the same clockwise pattern and let them cook another 90 seconds. They should get a really good sear on both sides and be somewhat translucent in the middle. Do not over cook as they will taste like seafood flavored bubble-gum.
My husband turned the heat up too high using my fabulous 100 year old wrought iron skillet, this thing will conduct and retain some damn heat. The scallops nearly burst into flame, and streams of smoke from the oil and butter drove us from our home. The scallops did not burn but the smoke was so intense from the oil that we had to open all of the door and windows and fans to air the place out. That was how he learned that not all pans are created equal. If you are cooking in a iron skillet or a copper clad heavy duty pan you should not turn the heat up all the way. If you have an anodized aluminum or inexpensive stainless steel pan you may need to get the heat higher on the burner. Your mileage may vary.
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