A good friend gave me a bag of roasted and salted Louisiana pecans for Christmas; what a wonderful gift idea! On their own served as a snack they are super addictive, but I love using them chopped as a garnish or even as a crust for cooked seafood or meats. For this recipe I decided to coat jumbo seared scallops with the chopped pecans; no need to salt the scallops before searing them stove-top seeing that the nuts are already perfectly salted. To brighten up the plate I served the scallops over a bed of white wine-braised leeks flavored with a touch of orange zest. Oranges and pecans pair wonderfully together–try pairing this entree idea with a chilled glass of Chardonnay or more specifically a Chablis.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Pecan-Crusted Scallops with Orange-Braised Leeks
Ingredients:
- 2 leeks, stem end and root end trimmed, dark green parts discarded–white and light green parts sliced into half-moons, rinsed and dried
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon navel orange zest, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 8 large sea scallops, side muscle removed, patted dry
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup roasted pecans, chopped and placed on a plate
Directions:
- In a large non-stick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add in the prepped leeks, orange zest and season with ¼ teaspoon of salt and a grinding of black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes; add in the white wine, reduce the heat to low and cook an additional 5 minutes or until half the liquid is absorbed and the leeks very tender.
- Remove the leek mixture from the pan and place on your serving platter. Wipe out the skillet and add in the olive oil. Heat over high heat.
- Add the scallops to the pan and sear for 1 minute; flip and turn the heat off, cook for an additional 30 seconds. When the scallops are cool enough to handle, dip each one in some of the chopped pecans. Serve over the warm leeks.
Tagged: braised leeks, leeks, orange zest, pecan-crusted scallops, pecans, scallops, scallops with leeks, sea scallops, seared scallops, shellfish, white wine
Leave a Reply