I love technology. I have to, right? I run a cloud computing offering, so I can’t really hate technology. Except when it doesn’t work. Like the last two weeks. I have an Eye-fi card for my camera. Super cool concept – it automatically transfers photos to my device of choice without any cables. Except when it doesn’t. All of a sudden, it wouldn’t transfer any of my photos to my laptop. And a blog without photos is, well, dull. So you had to wait.
But now I’ve got a new SD card reader (my laptop doesn’t have one built-in). So no more excuses and no more delays…
We’ve had a couple good food weeks whilst my camera misbehaved. Ramps, fiddlehead ferns… and scallops! My husband emailed me from work one day, subject line “scallops”. That got my attention. Turns out a guy he works with scallops and was selling 5 pound bags. Sign me up!
They were delivered to my husband last Wednesday at work. Scallops are not a typical Wednesday night dinner in my house, but I had to cook some of them while fresh. The rest would get packed into the freezer (and a bag to dad of course). So I went with a simple caramelized scallop with an easy smoked chili cream. It’s from the Black Dog Cookbook which suggested serving with potato pancakes. Super easy… and a hit.
- 1 tsp. chipotle chili powder
- Juice of one lime
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- Salt, to taste
- ¾ pounds red potatoes, scrubbed
- 3 scallions (green onions), cut into ¼-inch slices
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. white pepper
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 10-12 sea scallops, thawed if frozen
- 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin olive oil
- 3 cups mixed baby greens
- 1 Tbsp. chopped chives
- lemon wedges
- To make the smoked chili cream, combine the lime juice and chipotle powder in a small bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes. Whisk in the sour cream and salt to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- To make the potato pancakes, grate unpeeled potatoes and squeeze out excess liquid (drier is better). Mix in the scallions, egg, flour, salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil in an 8-inch non-stick skillet until hot. Add half the potato mixture and lower the heat. Cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown and potatoes are cooked through, another 5 minutes or so. Remove from pan and keep warm. Repeat with remaining potato mixture.
- While potatoes are cooking, dry the scallops on a paper towel then sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a non-stick pan over high heat until just smoking. Reduce heat to medium high and add the scallops. Let them cook for about 2 minutes undisturbed, then turn them over and cook another minute.
- Meanwhile, toss the greens with a little olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
- To serve, place a potato pancake on each plate and top with half the scallops. Put half the greens on the side and sprinkle with the chopped chives. Serve with a drizzle of the smoked chili cream and lemon wedges.
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