Dear Cooking Light,
Please do not take offense at the fact that it has taken me seven years to finally make your Scallops with Chipotle Orange Sauce. I do not plan on letting such a ridiculous amount of time go by before I make them again. Hope you can forgive me.
Regards
Wendi @ Bon Appetit Hon
While I’ve never seen a single hit in my stat counter identified as being assigned to an Cooking Light IP Address, I figure it can’t hurt to throw this out to The Universe just in case someone is listening.
Scallops with Chipotle Orange Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds sea scallops
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
Blot scallops dry and season with the paprika and half of the kosher salt. Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick frying pan. Add about half the scallops to the pan or as many as you can fit without crowding them. Cook for 3 minutes on each side and then transfer the cooked scallops to a plate and tent with foil. Use a paper towel to wipe out the pan, melt another tablespoon of butter, cook the remaining scallops, and transfer them to the plate.
Add the orange juice and adobo sauce to the pan, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half (to 1/4 cup). Add 1 tablespoon butter and remaining salt and whisk until smooth. Add any juices from the plate back to the pan and whisk to combine.
Serve the scallops drizzled with the sauce.
Bon Appetit Hon 
Hmmm, very interesting! I do love a plain seared scallop. Maybe there is room in my heart for a plain scallop with a pan sauce.
If there’s no room in your heart for pan sauce then shame on you Jennifer.
Oh, I’m totally down with pan sauces in a general sort of way. I just love the pure flavor of an unadorned scallop so much I don’t know if I want to necessarily sully it with anything.
And I don’t mean sully in a negative way – your photo is gorgeous and I am sure it was fabulously delicious!
🙂
Jennifer, I totally understand your point. A well prepared scallop needs no adornment.
That one’s going in the “must try” pile! Looks amazing!
Kitch, I think you will totally groove on this recipe.
Okay, I think it’s time I see what Cooking Light is all about. You’ve proven to me that “light” doesn’t have to equal cardboard.
Ali, I would recommend you ease into a relationship with Cooking Light. Maybe pick it up at the grocery store every so often instead of committing 12 months up front. They pack a lot of content into an issue…or at least they used to…and it can be somewhat overwhelming.
I also love a plain seared scallop, with just butter, salt and pepper. OK, and maybe a touch of lemon juice. But your sauce does sound quite delicious–I love the flavor of adobo, so I’ll see what I can do. =)
Jenna, I have a scallop recipe for you that I think will be all that and more. I made it for Valentine’s Day dinner a few years ago…I need to dig that out.
Jenna, here’s a link to another scallop recipe that I think you’ll really like. It will eventually post here as a Flashback Friday but good scallops do not like to wait. http://pmf1852.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/notes-on-a-recipe-jacques-pepins-scallops-grenobolise/
Seafood scares me. I have a hard time bringing myself to cooking it. But at the same time I WANT THIS!
Brooke, seafood can be daunting. I remember making something similar for my in laws. The whole time I was worried that I would either undercook the scallops and make everyone sick or I would overcook them into rubbery pucks. In spite of all my fretting, they came out fine. You just have to take a deep breath and do it.
I’ve made scallops with sweet sauces in the past, I like the idea of adding the spiciness to it!
Elizabeth, I am a sucker for sweet with some heat. It doesn’t have to be furiously hot…just a nice mild heat.
Those look like perfect scallops. And you know: a great scallop is the sign of a great cook. (It’s always how we judge a restaurant.) I’d eat at your “restaurant” any night of the week!
Mark, that’s a huge compliment. I should check your books and see what interesting flavor combinations you and Bruce have suggested for scallops.
I agree Wendi, I’d line up for your restaurant if these were on the menu 🙂
I’m impressed that you could find that recipe after seven years. Scallops have become my new favorite seafood. Yours have a lovely char on them. I bet they were delicious.
Jen, my dirty secret is that I have folders of recipes that I mean to try. Some of them just get stuck in there longer than others.