The Meatery Box Sea Scallops Recipe

by Carlos Ramirez

What exactly are scallops? They are a sea Mollusk that get their “street name” from the muscle that controls the opening and closing of the shell. This meaty and tasty muscle has a mild and delicate flavor and unique texture when cooked to perfection.

Scallops are graded like shrimp in counts per pound. Our larger U-10 scallops are recommended for this type of recipe. The 1-pound bag serves 3 people in this recipe. If you do not need the whole bag, we highly recommend vacuum packing and freezing your scallops for long-term freshness.

PREP TIME

5 mins

COOK TIME

10 mins

YIELD

3 Servings per 1lb

DIFFICULTY

Easy

What do you need:

1 lb of scallops depending on how many guests you have. I cook two pounds for as many as 6 guests. Available in The Meatery Box or One-Time Purchase
Lint free cloth
Olive Oil or our Wagyu Beef Tallow
Fresh, crushed or powder garlic
Cream or ½ & ½, you can also use coconut milk if you don't dig dairy.
Spices not required by if you have them, chose one: basil, fennel thyme, tarragon or lemon zest
Unsalted Butter
Truffle Salt
Guanciale (Optional – Available in The Meatery Box & for one time purchase)

Preparation

Defrost your scallops in the refrigerator over time if possible. If you need to defrost them quickly, you can submerge the package in tepid water. Do not use hot water or you will start the cooking process!
Rinse each scallop with cold water and pat them dry with a lint free cloth.
Coat each scallop with extra virgin olive oil and garlic.
Prepare a pan “that will fit your scallops” with olive oil or Wagyu tallow. If you have some of our Guanciale on hand, dice it up and add it for a blow your mind flavor.

Cooking

Scallops are a pure tender protein and cold protein will stick to a hot pan so make sure your scallops are room temperature and oiled. Add ¼ inch of oil on the bottom.
Check your ¼ inch olive oil bath heated to at least 300 degrees then place in your scallops
Cook one side for approximately 3 minutes or until you have a beautiful brown crust on the bottom.
Using tongs, flip each scallop over and turn down the heat to simmer. We recommend using tongs over a spatula because it may damage the beautiful brown crust you just earned with a soft sear.
Add crushed, diced or sliced garlic to the bottom of the pan, not the top of the scallop. You want the garlic to cook!
After about two minutes, add room temperature cream to the bottom of the pan, not the top of the scallops. Now you can add your basil, fennel thyme, tarragon or lemon zest if desired, but you don't need anything except garlic.
Cover the pan for about two minutes.

Preparation

Remove the scallops from the pan and place them in a serving dish. Check the largest scallop to make sure it is cooked through the center, It should be translucent in the center. Scallops will flake open on the top when cooked through the center.

Take your oil and cream mixture from the pan and mix it well with a silicone or wooden spatula. Pour your cream over the top of the scallops and serve. Salt and pepper to taste. I highly recommend our truffle salt over plain table salt. You can add some pepper flakes for color and bite for those that enjoy the a little spice.

Optional: Add butter if you love that buttery flavor after the scallops are cooked. Just melt them into the oil and cream and pour over your scallops.