Posted By Michelle on August 13, 2008

Scallop’s Siren Song Leads To Summertime Feast

We were having dinner with friends and food aficionados, Robert Masson (Executive Chef of 717 South) and Susan Miller (President of JB Hendry Steak Company and a former classmate of Greg’s, she’s got the yearbooks to prove it).

This couple knows good food. Robert has won the coveted People’s Choice Award for Best Chef in Tampa Bay, twice and Susan has worked for Master Purveyors for over 15 years before branching off to open her own high end butchery, JB Hendry Steak Company. More about the food of that night later, what we couldn’t stop thinking about was Robert and Susan’s up-coming scalloping trip.

Many Floridians don’t know the west coast of Florida from Homosassa north to St. John’s Bay is teeming with bay scallops, ripe for the picking from July 1st to September 10th.  For a long time, Florida scalloping was closed to rebuild the population. Now, it’s overloaded and scallopers are permitted 10 lbs of these little ivory gems per boat. No boat? No problem. There are lots of scallop outfitters who will charter you to the perfect harvesting spots for anywhere between $35-$50 per person and even provide you with all the equipment needed.

We could do some damage to 10 lbs of scallops. Run little scallops! Run! (Or whatever it is that scallops do when frightened.)

The meat of bay scallops is very similar to the very large sea scallops found on most restaurant menus, sweet with a butteriness to the flesh. Often they are seared with little seasoning because the scallops produce natural sugars, which afford perfect carmelization. It’s like but-ta.

So as we sat at our friends’ home listening to them brag (BRAG! we tell you) about how fun it will be to dive the short 4-8 feet, scooping up these little bivalves, gleefully tossing them in their netted bags and then feasting on them with some perfectly aged, perfectly chilled white wine, cuddling with one another next to some disgustingly romantic beach side fire with their 10 lbs of scallops sitting next to them like a pirate’s booty, laughing about the day’s adventure as if they were Bogie and Bacall ….okay, okay, they probably said maybe one or two lines about scalloping, but it was the way they said those two lines. “We’re going scalloping next weekend. It should be fun.” Can you hear the smugness???????

We knew a trip to Cox’s Seafood was in order.

Richard and Faye Cox (owners of Cox’s Seafood, 6821 N Dale Mabry Hwy) always have the freshest, most succulent scallops available, both bay and sea, in all of Tampa Bay. The sea scallops are bigger than marshmallows and the bays aren’t much smaller. With 1.25 lbs in hand (and that was only 8 scallops total), we threw together this little summertime feast, and enjoyed it with a perfectly aged, perfect chilled white wine.

Miso Maple Glazed Scallops

8 each sea scallops
2 tsp. Canola oil
1 tbsp white miso (available in Asian markets)
1 tbsp maple syrup (the real stuff, not corn syrup with artificial flavoring)
½ cup sherry vinegar (white balsamic vinegar will also work quite well)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the miso, maple syrup, and sherry vinegar in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
Reduce the miso mixture by ¾’s until it has a syrupy consistency – about 6-8 minutes.

Heat the canola oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat.
Blot the scallops dry with a paper towel. Drying them will allow them to caramelize, which can’t happen if they are wet. Remember what happened to Spike, on Top Chef, when he couldn’t get his scallops dry?
Season the scallops with salt and pepper.
Sear the scallops in the hot pan, about 2 minutes per side.
Pour the glaze over the scallops and coat well on both sides.

Serves 2 as an entrée or 4 as an appetizer. Photo served with a corn, edamame, and bacon hash with a simple arugula salad and a preserved lemon, roasted red pepper vinaigrette.

Categories: Appetizers
Tags: 717 South, edamame, jb hendry steak company, preserved lemons, scallop recipe, scalloping in florida