Back when I first started cooking on a regular basis, the grocery store had sea scallops on sale and we picked some up. I'd only had scallops at restaurants before and I had no idea how to make them. Back then, Food Network and Allrecipes were my go-to locations to find recipes.
I ended up on Food Network and found this recipe by Paula Deen. I showed the recipe to Tom who said that it looked delicious and we agreed that my first foray into scallops would also be my first time making a Paula Deen recipe.
Caramelized Sea Scallops
Source: Paula Deen
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup + 3 tbsp. sugar, divided
- 2 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. corn syrup
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 12 large sea scallops
- pinch each of salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Combine 3 tablespoons of sugar, water and corn syrup together in a small saucepan and heat over low heat. Bring to a simmer and allow to thicken, then remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Rinse the scallops and pat them dry.
3. Add butter and vegetable oil to a large skillet over medium heat and allow to melt.
4. Place the remaining ¼ cup of sugar in a small dish. Season both sides of the scallops with salt and pepper, then roll each scallop in sugar.
5. Place scallops in the prepared pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
6. Divide scallops among 4 plates and drizzle with the reserved sauce.
Now at first glance, I totally understand if you think sugar and scallops is a disgusting combination, but I can promise you that it is not. First, it doesn't make the scallops sweet, like candy-sweet. It just provides enough sugar to create this crunchy caramelized coating on both sides, which again, isn't super sweet.
We ate this over browned rice with Parmesan roasted green beans.
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