Pan Seared Sea Scallops on Fettuccine Alfredo
We remember the winners most. No matter how many dishes we
have burned, over-salted, under-spiced or mis-concocted, we remember that one
thing we made that one time that everyone
loved! We remember the failures so
that we don’t repeat them. Those memories live in the part of the brain that
processes fear and pain and the lasting shame that results from “trying
something different” and serving it to unforgiving dinner guests. They share
quarters with the smells of burning things, the rattles of rattlesnakes and the
now unmistakable taste of fish past its prime.
The successes live in a different part of our memory. The
part that is reward giving and pleasure seeking and infallibly dopamine
dispensing at the first whiff of fresh baked bread or cinnamon buns. The recipe
for our best dish may be fairly simple, but the recipe for a memorable food
experience is a complex mix of setting, smells, company, comfort and context. They,
more than the dish itself, are what we try to recreate. These are the one-offs,
the transcendent meals, and the rarest of rare moments when the Universe
conspires to insure our success and we produce more than just a memorable meal;
we produce…a legend!
My legendary meal was
sea scallops on fettuccine Alfredo. The food came out well, the scallops a firm-fleshed
perfect medium of a taste somewhere between shrimp and lobster and the
fettuccine rich and dense but not impenetrably so. It was all the other
factors, like appearance, presentation, intimate setting and context
(competitive) that worked to produce a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
I would be more than willing to chalk the positive reviews it received up to
the power of the accompanying wine were it not for getting the same accolades
from my non-imbibing girlfriend at the time. More convincingly, even when said
girlfriend became an ex, her memory
of the meal as legendary remained unchanged.
I have severe insecurities as a dinner host. So severe that
I wind up cooking four or more main courses (surf, turf, pork AND fowl) to
hedge my bets against having that one guest who can’t find something they like.
Most of my recipes are for 100 or more, so you can see where this can become
problematic. The first thing I usually hear is, “Just how many people are you
expecting?”
I had invited two other couples over for a partly
social/partly business dinner and was discussing my main course, fallback,
failsafe and Plan B dishes with my girlfriend. Her advice was that, as this was
a smaller, more subdued, formal affair, I should forego my usual bacchanalian
orgy of an every trick in my bag menu
and opt for the more traditional route of a single entrée. A single, and
suitably stellar entrée. “Why don’t you do that scallops and pasta thing?”
Sea scallops are fairly easy to cook. They sauté quickly and
easily like a shrimp scampi. If I had to go with one entrée, this was a good
bet, especially with a good review behind my earlier efforts. Likewise with the
fettuccine, providing I paid attention and didn’t scald the Alfredo sauce.
My personal twist is to run the washed and dried scallops
through an egg wash and roll them in almond meal before frying in bacon grease.
Instead of wrapping the scallops in that bacon, which I think is a little
overkill taste-wise, I let them pick up the bacon flavor in the sauté. Bacon and
almonds make for an exquisitely balanced mix of singular flavors that work in
concert to complement the scallops without overpowering them. Just a hint of
the sweet and nutty with a whisper of salty and smoke-hued bacon. I crumble the
bacon into the fettuccine, just in case there isn’t enough sodium and
cholesterol in this “heart attack on a plate.” In for a dime, in for a dollar.
The dinner was an unqualified success. One of the couples
had invited us over for dinner a few weeks earlier. They put out an impressive
spread, albeit a somewhat ostentatious one. I readily admit to a thoroughly enjoyable
game of culinary one-upmanship here. Later, they would try and rob me on a job
I did for them. The other couple had invested heavily in a multi-level
marketing scheme which they tried, unrelentingly, to reel me into. Our
relationships ended badly, but is that what I remember? No.
I remember that my fettuccine killed!
Ingredients: (for 4)
16 large sea scallops
1/2 box fettuccine
salt & pepper
6 strips of bacon (save the grease)
almond meal
{for the sauce}
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup imported Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup imported Romano cheese, grated
6 egg yolks from fresh jumbo eggs
Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook the fettuccine according to the box instructions (I like
to use ½ water and ½ chicken stock or broth).
For the Alfredo Sauce: Heat the milk and cream in a heavy
bottom saucepan until it begins to simmer. Turn off heat. Slowly whip in the
cheese, then remove from heat. Place egg yolks in a separate bowl and slowly
whip in a portion of the hot milk and cream mixture. Slowly add egg yolk
mixture back into remaining cream mixture. Place back on very low heat and
continually stir until simmering. Take sauce off heat so it thickens. Add
crumbled bacon and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
For the scallops: Fry the bacon and remove from pan. Drain
and save 2/3rds of the grease. Coat the bottom of a pan with bacon grease and
heat over medium high heat. Wash and dry the scallops, dip in a bowl with 2-3
beaten/whisked eggs and dredge in almond meal. Place a few at a time (4/5) in
the hot oil and sear for 3-4 minutes on either side until browned on the
outside, and white in the center (not opaque). Let rest for 5 minutes, and
repeat with remaining scallops. Serve with the fettuccine and Alfredo sauce.
***I am not a recipe guy. I am a pinch, handful, bunch of
and however-much-seems-right-at-the-time cook. This is a modified version of a
recipe (and photo) stolen from;
