Having recently relocated to the Pac NW, and getting gourmet bacon mailed to me once a month, I figured this was a great opportunity to take a stab at bacon wrapped scallops. I used my Hobbs Applewood-Smoked Bacon, and I already had two packages of scallops in the freezer. The packs were a dollar each, so the scallops were on the small side which prompted me to try doing toothpick skewers with multiple scallops and ¼ strips of bacon (cut length, then width wise). I also decided to add slivers of scallion for extra flavor and texture.
I started by quartering the bacon and cooking it over low heat until it was halfway done (about 8-10 minutes). The cooking time will vary due to the thickness of the bacon. **Also take in account the size of your scallops** my bacon wound up undercooked because the scallops cooked so quickly due to their mini size. In retrospect I should have cooked the bacon a bit longer so that it was closer to being done, but still flexible enough to be manipulated around the skewers.
After cooking the bacon to what I thought was the halfway point, I pulled it out of the pan and let it cool on a paper towel while I cut slices of scallion and dressed the scallops with sea salt. I assembled the skewers by poking the toothpick through the tip of the bacon, a piece of scallion, two scallops, back through the bacon, two more scallops, and through the other end of the bacon. I wound up with about a dozen extra scallops and some scallion left over so I set them aside to be prepared after the skewers.
I drained most of the bacon grease from the pan, turned the heat up to medium-low and put the skewers in. The scallops were done in about five minutes, and I removed them and placed them on a plate in the oven.
Now I took the scallions and some garlic and put it in the pan with the bacon grease. I let these cook for a few minutes until the scallions were translucent and then added the scallops. Again, I let them cook for a few minutes until they were just about done and added to the pan a pat of butter, juice from half a lemon, and a splash of white wine. I tossed everything together and turned the heat off.
I served the skewers with a dipping sauce made from maple syrup and sriracha (my favorite chili sauce which I surprisingly spelled correctly without looking) and the extra scallops I served over Rice-a-Roni Spanish rice.
All in all it was a good meal. As I said before, the bacon on the skewers was a bit underdone, but the flavor was great and melded well with the sweetness of the scallops. The scallion added an extra crunch and it was definitely something I would prepare again. The dipping sauce was a spur of the moment addition and is definitely something I will be experimenting with in the future.
The extra scallops in baconlemonbutterwine sauce were fantastic. It was a great addition to the Spanish rice, and was a simple and delicious way to use the leftovers from the skewers.
The flavors in this meal made all the work worth while.
