Scallops with Blood Orange Caramel

I can say with fair certainty that I don’t eat enough scallops. I do love me some scallops.

On pasta, in salads, on the side, or front and center on the plate.

And then there’s this funky little sauce called gastrique. It’s French, of course. Caramelized sugar and vinegar with fruit. It’s très magnifique on seafood.

If there’s a downside to the arrival of Spring, it’s that it signals the end of orange season in the U.S. Blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges are my very favorites.

Oh, and Honeybells. And Clementines. And trusty Navels. I’ll miss you so.

But let’s talk for a moment about scallops. And I mean the big fills-the-palm-of-your hand scallops. Sea scallops, diver scallops. These buggers can be tricksy to prepare.

Do you ever watch Hell’s Kitchen? It’s one of SoupAddict’s guilty pleasure shows. If ever there was a deterrent to chucking my career and going to culinary school, this show is it. Do those people really work in professional kitchens?

And … touch people’s food?

Gross.

Most of the contestants look like they don’t wash their hair on a regular basis. Just sayin’.

Anyway, I love the episodes where scallops are on the menu for dinner service. That’s when the Schadenfreude kicks in. Just like in figure skating, where you’re just waiting for them to fall on the Triple Salchow-Triple Loop combo, you know the scallops are gonna wreak some serious havoc. I’m not sure how it is that professional chefs can escape ever having prepared scallops, but it happens every season.

Maybe it’s a question on the contestant application form.

“Have you ever prepared sea scallops?”

No.

“Accepted!” (and joyous high-fives are exchanged amongst the producers for the guaranteed opportunity for their star, Gordon Ramsay, to angrily shout, “It’s rawr! It’s rawr!” at the hapless contestant who dares to present still-translucent scallops for inspection.)

So, here’s the scoop on preparing sea scallops:

1. Always look for “dry” scallops. Ask the fish monger if they’re wet or dry. Wet scallops are so named because they’ve been soaked in (and therefore absorbed a great of) a liquid mixture containing phosphates. Wet scallops will never brown, no matter what you do. Dry scallops have not been treated and are instead simply frozen soon after harvesting.

2. Rinse the scallops briefly in cool water, remove the muscle on the side (it’s a small rectangular patch of tissue — it pulls right off), and pat them dry with a paper towel.

3. Do not use a non-stick pan to prepare scallops, for two reasons: non-stick pans generally do not promote a proper sear and are not to be used in high-heat situations. Your pan must be scorching hot (over medium-high heat), and non-stick pans will begin to break down at that temperature.

4. You can oil the pan or not — if you do, choose an oil with a high smoking point, like safflower oil.

5. Arrange the scallops in the scorching hot pan, with plenty of elbow room between them. Leave them be for 2-3 minutes. Then gently flip to the other side. Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes until the scallop is opaque through and through.

Serve them with something fabulous, like Swiss chard and this très magnifique gastrique.