Okay, wow, holy crap these were good! I was a little tentative at first but that was unnecessary because the sauce here really worked. Not too sweet at all and paired with the seared scallops it all just really, really came together. Who knew? Well, Dorie Greenspan, I guess. Thank you, French Fridays with Dorie for giving me a new, great thing to do with scallops.
Notes/things I learned:
1. Recipe is easily halved…this gave two people three scallops each at just under a half a pound.
2. I thought I had messed up my sauce at first because when I poured the orange juice and wine into the pan with the caramelized sugar, my sugar kind of hardened in places. But as I stirred with the wooden spoon it melted back into the sauce, averting disaster. Whew!
3. Scallops were perfect with about 2 minutes per side.
4. On the side we had some barley and rice pilaf and some roasted broccolini and asparagus.
I won’t post the recipe here (since we’re not supposed to), but if you search for it, you’ll find it. So even if you don’t have the cookbook yet (why??), you need to try this one! Here’s a link to everyone’s great posts this week: LYL – Scallops with Caramel Orange Sauce.
Okay, on with the pictures.
Getting ready — half an orange, wine and sugar.
Sugar after it got all golden, swirled, with the wine and orange juice added.
Scallops ready…you’ve got to love a recipe that requires wine. A drink for the sauce and one for the chef! Excellent.
Scallops cooking away.
Butter melting into the reduced sauce.
Pouring the sauce.
Yum.
What? You say you had a little leftover sauce? Well…get a spoon. It’s really good like that too. Or so I heard. Yeah.
These were good, weren’t they?
It is a little scary when you get that syrup hardening. Even though I know it’s supposed to happen, it still makes my stomach do a little turn every time.
I agree…my heart skipped a beat when the sauce “hardened” for a moment. Thankfully, Dorie always comes through. I love your first shot with the scallops in the foreground and the kitchen behind. Very nice composition!
I freaked out when my sauce did that too! Thank goodness for wooden spoons! Your final dish looks fantastic.
Sounds like an amazing meal!
Yours looks wonderful. I totally messed mined up this week. Hopefully I’ll redeem myself next time!
Holy crap these are good, is right!! Your pictures are beautiful! Such a yummy recipe
Heh, I’ll have to remember the spoon idea for the sauce. 😉
Love the great sear you got in those using a non-stick pan! I loved that the sauce was not that sweet at all!
Thanks everyone! All the posts looked so tasty this time!
Sarah: Definitely try it again with the butter! I’ve unintentionally left things out of recipes before too. A lot of times. 🙂
Adriana: Yeah, you know, normally I wouldn’t have used a non-stick pan but I figured the cooktime was so short over medium-high heat, that I felt it was an acceptable risk vs. having the scallops stick or be overcooked in a regular pan before they were ready to release! I was happy with the nice sear I got too! 🙂
Love your process shot of making the sauce. I was too caught up in the cooking to catch that. You rock! Great photos!
My sauce seized up too, but I was patient and the caramel melted back down. I didn’t love the sauce on this one, but I will sear scallops like this again. Great photos and your side dishes sound very appealing.
Holy crap alright! They really were amazing! Love your photos!
Yours are seared to perfection! I loved them, too 🙂
Had the total same reaction to the dish (aka “holy crap”) as well as the steps in preparing it. I was so delighted since I am not a scallop lover. Hubby is and was happy this one got voted in because I never would have tried the recipe otherwise. Your photos are CRAZY good. The last one makes me want to run for a fork…..
You seared yours to ABSOLUTE perfection! Congrats!!!
Your sauce looks absolutely perfect and your scallops really did get a great sear. I’m happy to have such an quick, elegant recipe on hand for company.
Beautiful shots! I agree with your comment about the wine. I ate this with a glass of Chardonnay 🙂
Where do you buy your scallops in Portland?
Hi Jessica: I picked these up at the Whole Foods by work. But I’ve also gotten scallops before at Zupans.
This is also wonderful tasting using halibut cheeks. Mmmm! Linda