These scallops, in a simple orange sauce, are so intense and flavorful that you won't believe how easy they are to make. We loved them. I've adapted this recipe from "Urban Italian", the wonderful cookbook Andrew Carmellini came out with this fall. He's the chef responsible for the award winning Italian food at A Voce, in New York City. In his recipe, he calls for the smaller bay scallops, but I used sea scallops because that's what I had on hand.
He also has a recipe for making your own dried herbs from fresh, but I skipped that step. Instead of using regular dried herbs, I used herbs from tsp spices, the brilliant company which packages dried herbs in single use packages of one teaspoon. Herbs and spices lose their punch so quickly - you end up with bottles in your spice rack which are ancient and should be thrown out. This company was created by two women, Katie Luber and Sara Engram, who did something about this problem. They have great products on their web site and you can buy a lot of different combination of spices and herbs, all in one use teaspoon size packages.
They also have collections of herbs and spices which are commonly used together:
If you have a Whole Foods near you, they have started a line called Smart Spice, which is available there. You can buys herbs in single use packets which are sealed and retain their freshness.
Scallops in Orange Sauce and Dried Herbs
adapted from Urban Italian by Andrew Carmellini
for a printer friendly recipe, click here
serves 4
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds sea scallops
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried herbs (I used rosemary and thyme)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 cups fresh orange juice (from about 4 oranges)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 oranges, cut into supremes*
- sea salt for finishing
Instructions:
Pat scallops very dry with a paper towel.
Shake the flour, salt, pepper and herbs over the scallops and coat them well.
Heat a saute pan over high heat, add the olive oil and allow it to heat until it starts to smoke. Add the scallops to the hot olive oil and brown on each side, about two minutes per side. Don't overcook them. I used a non stick skillet, since the scallops are so delicate. After the scallops are nicely browned, remove them to a plate.
Deglaze the pan with the orange juice. Allow the juice to come to a boil and keep cooking until it has reduced, about 5 minutes.
Add the butter, olive oil and oregano. Continue cooking over high heat, stirring to bring up any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet, about one minute more. Add the orange segments and mix everything together. Pour the sauce over the scallops and sprinkle some sea salt over the top.
* To slice oranges into supremes:
Slice ends off oranges.
Set oranges upright and slice vertically, cutting away peel and white pith. This exposes the segments.
Slice into the orange, on either side of white segmenting line, removing the "supremes", or orange segments.
And, on a final note, I just had to show you these crazy brownies I made this weekend for the boys. I got this idea from Bakerella and I think she is my kids' new favorite food blogger now. You may, however, think she is just evil. You make a batch of brownie batter, pour it in your pan and then insert chocolate chip cookie dough at regular intervals and bake as usual. Observe:
