Scallop starter

lemeister

I often have seared scallops as a starter but I'm not sure what to serve them with (although they are delicious by themselves). I normally give them a quick marinade in soy and sesame oil first.
Anyone recommend either a sauce or side salad that would go well with them? The plate just looks a little bare!!

tSubh Dearg

I cook them in butter, lemon juice and black pepper and I tend to serve them with bread to soak up the lemony, buttery goodness.

Personally I just think they're wonderful on their own but I can see what you mean about it being a bare plate. Maybe just arrange them in some sort of pretty pattern?

Carawaystick

I've used a radichio leaf as a container on a plate for a splash of colour for starters before, Baby Gem or some other leaf might work.

Minder

Oven dried tomatoes are great with scallops. Worth making in large quantities and they will keep in a jar of olive oil in the fridge for about a month. Slice plum tomatoes in half andarrange on a baking trray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then scatter over plenty of fresh herbs - rosemary, basil, thyme and plenty of olive oil. In the oven at 220c for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 140c and roast for about 1 hr 40 minutes.

Pan fry the scallops with a couple of flattened cloves of garlic and a sprig of fresh thyme. When turning the scallops, add some oven dried tomatoes to warm them through. Plate up with a pile of rocket leaves and drizzle over the oil from the pan.

Glowing

You could make a sauce with Dried Porcini Mushrooms, garlic and cream

the beer revolu

my favourite scallop starter.

Make a really fine julienne of, ginger, spring onion, garlic and chili.
Stirfry this for about a minute with a little sesame oil and a dash of soy and dry sherry.
Place a little pile of this stirfry in the middle of the plate and arrange the scallops around which have been sliced in half, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried in butter and oil until just done (about 1 1/2 min).
A little squeeze of lime juice over each scallop finishes this very simple but really flavoursome dish.

lemeister

the beer revolu wrote: »

my favourite scallop starter.

Make a really fine julienne of, ginger, spring onion, garlic and chili.
Stirfry this for about a minute with a little sesame oil and a dash of soy and dry sherry.
Place a little pile of this stirfry in the middle of the plate and arrange the scallops around which have been sliced in half, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried in butter and oil until just done (about 1 1/2 min).
A little squeeze of lime juice over each scallop finishes this very simple but really flavoursome dish.

Thanks folks, they all sound delicious but I think this one might just do the trick and might probably work best with the soy and sesame oil marinade.
Think they will all get tried out at some stage though!

the beer revolu

lemeister wrote: »

Thanks folks, they all sound delicious but I think this one might just do the trick and might probably work best with the soy and sesame oil marinade.
Think they will all get tried out at some stage though!

:D

Although,I wouldn't marinate the scallops - there's plenty of flavour in the garnish - why not let the scallops speak for themselves?

kenco

Ramsey did them with a v nice salsa in his first 'cook along' Im sure it is up on the Channel 4 web site but it worked very well with seared and lemon juiced scallops!

Pigletlover

I LOVE scallops. If I'm not having them on their own I have them with rocket, cherry tomatoes, parmesan shavings and balsamic reduction. Here's what I do...

Preheat oven to 200C. Coat some cherry tomatoes in a little oil, halve and sprinkle cut side with a little brown sugar. Bake for around 10 minutes. (Alternatively, you could just use the gorgeous sun ripened tomatoes from Superquinn)

I like to keep their natural flavour of the scallops so I just season them lightly and fry in a little oil. When cooked allow to rest for a couple of minutes. Turn up the heat on the pan until it starts to smoke and then add some balsamic vinegar, allow to reduce.

Arrange some rocket leaves on a plate and add some parmesan shavings, tomatoes and place scallops on top. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar reduction and serve!