Garlic Crusted Sea Scallops

I was clipping coupons about a month ago and came across a coupon for Sea Scallops. Kroger had sent me the coupon for their brand of Scallops (the frozen ones). So I clipped it and thought I would see how much they were and if it wasn't a bad deal, then I would attempt to cook them myself. I got to the grocery store and low and behold ... they were on sale! I was so excited, but nervous because I haven't ever prepared them. I have watched a lot of people cook them over the years, so I thought I would give it a whirl. Unfortunately I got nervous, so in the freezer they went until I could figure out what I wanted to do with them!

The hubs and I really love garlic, so I knew that would have to be the main ingredient in my Scallops. I was recently watching The Next Food Network Star and Jeffrey Saad prepared them on one of the last few episodes. I liked his method of sauteing them and it didn't seem too difficult. I thought about the Scallops for about a week after seeing that episode, trying to come up with a way to cook them using the tips I had seen and knowing the flavor I wanted. This is what I came up with...

Garlic Crusted Sea Scallops

(from the kitchen of Liesl)

8 - 10 large sea scallops

flour for coating

1 turn of your saucepan of Olive Oil

about a Tablespoon of unsalted butter

salt/pepper to taste

2-3 teaspoons of minced garlic

You are better to buy your scallops fresh, but if you are like me and catch a deal and buy them frozen, defrost them in the refrigerator. Carefully dry scallops with paper towels (the frozen ones will produce a lot of water and they won't get a good crust on them if they aren't dry). Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add butter to saucepan. While butter is melting, cover each scallops with a good coating of flour (this with give you that nice caramelized crust on the outside), make sure you coat each side.

When you pan is nice and hot (the butter will start to bubble) add scallops. Be careful not to overcrowd your pan otherwise you will end up steaming your scallops...and you don't want that...trust me the crusty coating is the best part! Cook the scallops until each side is browned and the scallop is firm. This won't take very long, so don't walk away!

When your scallops are nicely browned on each side, remove saucepan from the heat and add your garlic, salt and pepper. Let sit to absorb some of the flavors for a few minutes. Carefully remove scallops to your serving dish and spoon some of the garlic sauce from the pan over top of the scallops! YUM!

I served mine with sauteed Zucchini in garlic. It was a perfect side dish to this meal.

I really enjoyed this meal. For my first attempt at making Scallops, I was pretty impressed. Now that I have overcome that "I have never made those before - I am nervous" feeling, I want to try it again but maybe tweak some of these steps. I would love to hear your input and see if you have any better tips for preparing them. There were delicious!