Baked Scallops au Gratin

Courtesy of Coastal Living

Buttery, lemony, delicious - all words to describe this dish. I kept coming across this recipe and finally got the chance to make it last night. YUM. This was a fairly easy dish to make and would be great served as appetizers or as part of a main dish. Enjoy :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound sea scallops 
• 1/3 cup Japanese breadcrumbs (panko) or fine, dry breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place scallops in a lightly greased 1-quart baking dish. Combine breadcrumbs and remaining ingredients, and sprinkle over scallops. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until scallops are opaque and topping is golden.

Summer Risotto & Seared Scallops with Meyer Lemon Buerre Blanc

Courtesy of Cooking Light

This started out as two separate dinners, but then I decided to combine them into one. The flavors just seemed to go together. I will say it turned out really well, but it was definitely somewhat time consuming and took some serious coordination in the kitchen -- especially when you're tired! However, it was worth it :) As usual, these were great for leftovers. The fun thing about the risotto is that you can sub in or out whichever veggies you want, so get creative! I also got to use my new herb garden -- this is very exciting!

Seared Scallops with Meyer Lemon Buerre Blanc

• 2/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons minced shallots
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2 pounds dry sea scallops
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to about 1/4 cup (about 8 minutes). Remove from heat; discard thyme sprigs. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring constantly with a whisk until butter is thoroughly incorporated. Strain mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl, pressing to release all of the sauce; discard solids. Stir in sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle both sides of scallops evenly with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add scallops to pan; cook 2 minutes. Turn scallops over; cook 1 minute or until desired degree of doneness. Serve scallops with sauce; sprinkle with chopped thyme, if desired.

Summer Lemon-Vegetable Risotto

• 8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut in half (I left these out because I didn't have any)
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 (8-ounce) zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 (8-ounce) yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 4 3/4 cups organic vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add asparagus and peas; cook for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add zucchini and squash to pan; cook for 7 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Set aside. Bring vegetable broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots, and cook for 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in rice, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook until liquid is absorbed (about 30 seconds), stirring constantly. Stir in 1 cup broth; cook 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Reserve 1/4 cup broth. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 22 minutes total). Stir in vegetables; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in reserved 1/4 cup broth and remaining ingredients.

Final Product: Serve risotto, topped with scallops and drizzled with the lemon buerre blanc.

Sweet & Salty Bacon Wrapped Scallops (with Prosciutto Asparagus)

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

First of all, Nick found this recipe and has made it twice for me. Every time I devour these scallops. I know I've posted bacon wrapped scallops on the blog before, but this is my new go-to recipe. They are just heaven. It's a nice combination of sweet and salty, and who doesn't love something wrapped in bacon?  I went the extra mile and decided to make asparagus..and keeping with the theme, wrapped it in prosciutto!

• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 12 large sea scallops, halved
• 12 slices smoked bacon, halved
• 24 toothpicks
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Stir together maple syrup, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard in a bowl until smooth. Add the scallops, and toss to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and marinate at least one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil.
3. Arrange bacon pieces on baking sheet so they do not overlap. Bake in preheated oven until some of the grease has rendered out of the bacon; the bacon should still be very soft and pliable, about 8 minutes. Remove bacon from the baking sheet and pat with paper towels to remove excess grease. Drain or wipe grease from the baking sheet.
4. Wrap each scallop piece with a piece of bacon, and secure with a toothpick. Place onto baking sheet. Sprinkle the scallops with brown sugar.
5. Bake in preheated oven until the scallops are opaque and the bacon is crisp, 10 to 15 minutes, turning once.

For the asparagus, simply snap off the ends of fresh asparagus. I peeled the stalks a bit this time. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 375 for approximately 10 minutes. Take out and wrap each stem with a piece of prosciutto. I usually tear each piece of prosciutto in two pieces. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for another 10 minutes or so. YUM. This is a good snack.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops -- Seafood Extravaganza II

I absolutely love seafood, and thankfully, so does my boyfriend. We cooked up a seafood extravaganza a few months back, so we decided to do the same thing for dinner last night! This go around, I made bacon wrapped scallops, steamed shrimp, and steamed crab legs.  All of these things are very easy because there isn't a lot of prep work, and they don't take very long to cook. I got too excited about the crab legs being ready and forgot to take a picture, but I did manage to get pictures of the rest :)

Bacon Wrapped Scallops
1 pound of scallops (I prefer the larger sea scallops) 
Strips of bacon (cut in half, enough for each scallop)
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Toothpicks/kitchen twine/skewers
Lemon wedges

These can be cooked in multiple ways. This go around, I decided to cook them in a skillet. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and season each side with the lemon pepper, salt and pepper. Wrap each scallop with a piece of bacon (make sure it fits all around the scallop). Pin the bacon so that it stays in place with either a toothpick, kitchen swine or skewers (I have wooden skewers on hand). If using wooden skewers, make sure you soak them first so they will not burn. Heat the olive oil and saute the scallops a few minutes per side. I try to rotate them so that all 4 sides get cooked. Squeeze a little lemon over scallops and serve.

Steamed Shrimp
1 pound of shrimp (I prefer medium - large)
2 tb Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
Lemon Wedges

Mix together the water, vinegar, and old bay. Bring to a rapid boil. Dump in the shrimp, cover, and reduce heat. Boil for approximately 3-4 minutes (depending on size of shrimp). The center should be opaque. Serve with lemon wedges and cocktail sauce.

Seared Scallops with Lemon Orzo and Asparagus

Tonight, I had a hot date with Kaiser and made her dinner :) Since we both enjoy seafood, I decided to keep up the trend of cooking it. I found another great recipe on Cooking Light and decided to check it out. I must say, from now on, I will always cook orzo this way...so full of flavor! YUM. I could make a meal out of just that, but I decided to serve the scallops too, and top it all off with asparagus...seeing green on my plate makes me feel more healthy :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2  cup  pre-chopped onion (or shallot)
• 1  cup  uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
• 1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2  cup  dry white wine
• 1/4  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh chives (I had green onions on hand and used those)
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 1 1/2  pounds  sea scallops
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• bunch of asparagus

Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in pasta, broth, wine, and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and pasta is al dente. Stir in chopped chives and lemon juice. Keep warm.

Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Pat scallops dry and sprinkle scallops evenly with salt and pepper. Add scallops to pan; cook 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve with pasta mixture.

Prepare the asparagus however you prefer - steamed, baked, grilled, broiled, etc. I chose to bake the asparagus for about 10 minutes in a dish with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. I then drizzled balsamic dressing over them once they were out of the oven. Serve with scallops and orzo.