Ingredients

• Scallops

  • 16 sea scallops
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  Sauce

  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Orvieto Classico
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

• Scallops

  Rinse the scallops under cold water and thoroughly dry them with paper towels. Remove the foot, or small muscle on the side, from each scallop and discard. Liberally season both sides of each scallop with salt and pepper, to taste. Set them aside.

  Heat the butter and olive oil in a 12- to 14-inch saute pan over high heat until it just starts to smoke.

  Using tongs, place the scallops in the pan, flat surface down. Sear for 1 1/2 minutes. Turn each scallop and sear for an additional 1 1/2 minutes until each side has a thick, golden brown crust.

  Remove scallops to a plate and tent with aluminum foil.

  Sauce

  In the pan with the scallops' drippings, saute the shallot for 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and lemon juice by stirring the liquids and scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up all of the browned bits until the bottom of the pan is clean. Allow the liquid to reduce by one-third.

  Whisk in the Dijon mustard and any juices that have collected on the plate on which the scallops are resting. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the heavy cream.

  Mount the sauce with butter, adding the butter in two pieces and stirring until incorporated. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste.

  Divide the scallops among four plates and top them with the sauce.

Tips and Variations

• Tips

  • Do not overcook scallops as they will become tough and chewy.
  • When preparing a meal that includes scallops, the mollusks should be the last item you cook.
  • You will know your scallops are done when they are golden brown on both sides and slightly breaking apart around the top edges. You also may check by cutting one open with a knife to see if the scallop comes apart easily and is slightly translucent inside.

  Variations

  • To make lemon-garlic scallops, add 2 cloves of minced garlic to the butter and oil before searing. When preparing the sauce, add 2 more cloves of minced garlic with the shallots. Reduce the amount of white wine to 2 tablespoons, increase the lemon juice to that of two lemons and stir in an additional 2 tablespoons of butter.
  • Bay scallops may be prepared with a similar method; however, do not try to sear each side of the scallops as this leads to overcooking. Rather, toss the scallops into the heated butter and oil and cook as you would a stir-fry. Remove them after 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Serving Suggestions

• • Serve scallops over mushroom and asparagus risotto, drizzling the sauce over the entire dish and completing each plate with a lemon wedge.
  • Toss fresh pasta with lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil and top with the seared scallops and pan sauce.
  • Top a sunchoke or celeriac puree with seared scallops and lemon-garlic sauce.