Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Maple Butter

Simple yet satisfying - how to avoid rubbery scallops with a sticky sauce

There is nothing new about this dish, but all too often this seemingly simple dish ends up as rubbery scallops wrapped in undercooked bacon. The key to any dish that has such few ingredients is to master the cook time and technique. The factor for success in this recipe is par-cooking the bacon and cooking the maple bacon glaze separately from the scallops, then finishing the scallops with the sauce. By doing this, you ensure the bacon is crispy when finished and the sauce isn’t cloyingly sweet (or burnt) and “stuck” to the scallops.

For the scallops:

6 slices of bacon (center cut) par-cooked in an oven for 10 minutes at 350F

6 dry jumbo sea scallops

avocado oil, salt, and fresh cracked pepper (save the pepper to finish)

For the glaze:

1/2 cup maple syrup (pure)

1/2 cup chicken stock or broth

4 tablespoon butter

1 lemon juiced and zested

Directions:

After your bacon has cooled, dry your scallops until they are almost sticky to the touch. Wrap the scallops with the par-cooked bacon and rub with salt and avocado oil. Put scallops on a cast iron or carbon steel pan (solid sheet pan will work as well). Roast the scallops in a 400F oven for 5 minutes then remove.

While the scallops are in the oven (first 5 minutes) heat the ingredients for the sauce in a small saucepan. Remove the scallops after 5 min, brush or drizzle with the glaze then finish for another 4 minutes. The sauce with coat and cook on the scallops.

Remove from the oven, plate the scallops, remove toothpicks, top with chives and toasted garlic (optional - find in grocery or Asian market). And serve. Drizzle with some sherry vinegar and top with freshly cracked pepper to finish; this will cut through the richness.