Barefoot Contessa's Scallops Provencal

Scallops are a dish that I have only ever made twice in my life, this recipe counting as number two. This is entirely due to the fact that they are not even remotely cheap and definitely a treat meal. After 16 hours of OT the week before, I decided that heck yes we could have scallops this week.

I had seen this recipe on an episode of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa on Food Network and I had not been able to get it out of my head. I wanted to make it so bad! It's a pretty simple recipe and requires hardly any prep work.

You will need:

1 pound of fresh scallops (you can use frozen but if you're gonna go for it I say go all out)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
All-purpose flour for dredging
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/3 cup of dry white wine
1 lemon, cut in 1/2

To start, sprinkle your scallops with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over high heat until sizzling and then add the scallops. Sear on both sides for about 3-4 minutes, flipping only once.

Next, melt the rest of the butter in the pan, then add in the shallots, garlic, parsley and saute for a few more minutes, stirring to coat. Then add the wine, cook for one minute, and taste for seasoning. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

For a side I went with her pairing on the show, an herbed rice. She says to use basmati but we had jasmine in the house already. which works just as well. Cook one cup of dry rice according to package directions, mixed with one tablespoon of UNSALTED butter and 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt. We're pretty sure that we didn't realize that our butter was salted, because our rice tasted like a salt lick, which was really disappointing because had it not, it probably would have been extremely good.

Once the rice is cooked add parsley, dill, scallions, and pepper and fluff with a fork. Make a round of it on a plate and top with the scallops and sauce. Serve with a warm piece of crusty French bread.

Aside from the salty rice, this meal was fantastic and an excellent way to use scallops. Can't wait to try it again without salted butter!!