Good thing Gordon Ramsay wasn't here... Scallops!

Imagine this, with scallops, and that is my experience with them.  Well, not MY experience... I watched season 8 of Hell's Kitchen in support of one of my high school classmates who was on the show.   And for the record, she should have won... but anyway, Gordon Ramsay smashed quite a few raw scallops that season, so I was both excited and intimated as I purchased them at the store.  I actually thought "Oooh, scallops!  I bet I could really piss Ramsay off!" 

I have never even eaten scallops before, but this whole "eat fish once a week" resolution is broadening my horizons!

It's strange to try cook something I have not eaten before... what was I thinking?!?  What is a scallop, anyway?  How do I know if it's done?  How do I know if it tastes right?  What if Ramsay shows up and throws me out of the kitchen?  

Turns out that scallops are a shellfish like clams or oysters, but get this, they move through the water by opening and closing their shell.  That is why they are so much larger than clams or oysters, because they are so much stronger.  There are bay scallops which are small, and sea scallops which are large.  The ones I bought must be sea scallops?    

I watched this tutorial "How to cook perfect scallops with Gordon Ramsay" which is really Ramsay channeling Bob Ross and impossible to follow at his speed.  (Also, if you watch the video, there is a part 2.)

But I picked up what I could, and I also read a few other blogs and pages about scallops to fill in where Ramsay sped on through.  Here are some things I picked up:

-there is a "foot" that needs to be pulled off
-scallops must be cooked quickly
-and eaten right away
-overcooked scallops are rubbery
-there should be a nice golden "crust"  

So, I followed Ramsay's tutorial and here is what I did:

1. Rinse the scallops and pat them dry, unless they are dry-packed, then no rinsing needed.  I rinsed mine.
2. Heat up a pan with some kind of oil or oil/butter combination until almost smoking (I used olive oil, mine was smoking, but no smoke alarm I swear)
3. Season the scallops with salt and pepper, only salt and pepper
4. Set the scallops in pan starting at 12:00 and working around the clock (DO NOT MOVE THEM)
5. Cook for 2 minutes (I only timed the 12:00 scallop and the others just followed along)
6. Flip them and cook 1 min  (Oh crap!  I just remembered that I forget to squirt some lemon juice on them at this point!  AHHHH, SMASH!)
7. Remove scallops - it is easy to overcook scallops 

Based on what I read, they are sort of translucent before they are cooked, and white afterward.  (Protein is always like this, for example, with eggs we can really see the change.) 

SO... here are the pictures:
 

Not too bad, eh?

We ate them and they tasted like fish.  They were cooked all the way through, and none were rubbery, so I'd say I did alright.  :) 

The Verdict:

"We should have these again!"

We actually did really like them, and will definitely have them again.  I will probably look up some other recipes because it sounds like they are also good with a cream or butter sauce.  Hmm... cream sauce sounds like a chance for hidden veggies!  We'll see...

The thing I am not telling you is... that Ramsay would have thrown me out of the kitchen, maybe not for my scallops, but definitely for the rice.  I ruined the RICE?!  Who does that?!  Well, me... completely ruined it. Too salty, too crunchy, yucky, nasty AAHHHH SMASH!!!   Too focused on the scallops I guess!   ;)


ps.  I have made deviled eggs with hidden cauliflower twice since my post, both times with great success!