Scallops with Chili-Lime Cream Sauce

 

Scallops with Chili-Lime Cream Sauce

(4 servings)

Ingredients:

Scallops:

16 large Sea Scallops (see note)

¼ cup Olive Oil

as needed Salt and Pepper

¼ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

2 cloves Fresh Garlic, minced

2 cups Hot Cooked Rice

Chili-Lime Cream Sauce:

¼ cup Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

¼ cup White Wine

1 tbsp. Fresh Ginger, minced

1 large Shallot, chopped

1/3 cup Heavy Cream

2 tbsp. Asian Sweet Chili Sauce

6 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

as needed Salt and Pepper

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine oil, salt and pepper to taste, red pepper flakes and garlic.  Add scallops, toss to combine and marinate for 30 minutes.  In a medium sauce pan over high heat, combine lime juice, wine, ginger and shallot.  Cook until reduced by half (about 3 minutes).  Add cream, lower heat to medium and cook until reduced by half (about 3 minutes).  Remove from heat, stir in chili sauce.  Whisk in butter, 1 tbsp. at a time.  Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.  Set aside.  On a pre-heated medium-high grill, cook scallops until opaque throughout (about 1-2 minutes per side).  Serve scallops over the rice and topped with the sauce.

Notes:              This will be about a pound of Scallops.  You want them to be about 1¼ inches wide, give or take a little.  After soaking them in the marinade you made for 30 minutes, place them on a paper towel lined pan.  Top with more paper towels to remove as much surface moisture as possible.  This gives you the best results for grilling them.

Note:               You could also grill asparagus for this meal.  Place asparagus over rice, top asparagus with the scallops and then top with the sauce.

Note:               You could also cook the scallops on the stove.  In a 12-inch sauté pan or cast iron skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until oil ripples and just starts to smoke.  Sprinkle scallops with salt on both sides and place in the hot pan without crowding.  Gently press scallops with a spatula to make direct contact with the pan.  Sear scallops without moving them, continuing to cook until bottoms are a rich golden brown (about 3 minutes).  Add a tbsp. of butter to pan and turn scallops over and cook on second side.  Use a spoon to baste the scallops with the butter, tilting the pan to collect the butter as needed.  When scallops are opaque in color and firm to the touch (about 1-2 minutes), turn off heat and transfer to a plate

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