Bay Scallops ala Jon Waxman

Brooke's not a big fan of scallops and in fact, she wasn't wild about the pesto/scallop pasta I made recently...but I'm not giving up! She liked the flavor of the dish, but she has a problem with the texture of scallops. She doesn't like the soft, smooth, fleshy nature of them, so I decided to try out Bay Scallops. And it worked! She loved the dish and because the scallops are smaller, they cook through a bit more and have a texture closer to chicken.

The great thing about scallops is that they are flavor sponges -- they just soak up whatever you give them, and because of this, you don't need to over season them. They can absoarb delicate, complex flavors really well, which is why chef's often have them on the menu -- so they can really show off!

I found this recipe in Jon Waxman's book, "A great American Cook", that I've been dying to try and it was far better than I could have even imagined. So here you go:

1 lb fresh bay scallops

1 cup dry white wine

2 lbs sweet onions

Unsalted Butter

Salt, pepper

Parsely

Put 1 cup of wine into a sauce pan, bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for 20 mins. Cut the onions lengthwise, then slice crosswise as thin as possible, or use a mandolin. Melt 5 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over med. heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook over very low heat for 40 mins, stirring often. The onions will get super creamy. After 40 mins, add the reduced white wine.

Wash and pat dry your scallops, season with salt and pepper. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet over med. heat. Add the bay scallops into the pan, spread them out evenly, and let cook undisturbed for about 3 mins, then strir them around for the next 3 minutes so they can cook evenly -- which is kind of hard because they;re so small, but do the best you can.

Place the onions on a plate, top with scallops, and garnish with parsely. Start with this dish as an app, and you are on your way to a good night!

Ps. When you take pics of your food, it's readily apparent why chefs use parsely -- it's just for effect and to give the dish some color. The yellow/white of the onions and scallops does not look all that appealing here, but if I had sprinkled some parsely over the top, it would have given the dish depth and color. But it tasted great.