Anyone who has the pleasure of living in Western New York knows that it's been, well, a bit chilly lately. As in, -22 with the wind chill chilly. As in, wear-four-layers-or-you-might-get-frostbite chilly. As in, leaving the house is for FOOLS chilly. Of course, that could be the Miami in me talking. My mother calls regularly to taunt me with the balmy weather she's been having down south and to ask if I've bought appropriate footwear yet. Apparently Chuck Taylors don't have such good traction on ice. Who knew?
So when Bryan and I were at Wegman's the other day and I asked him what he wanted for dinner, the answer seemed obvious: something warm, he said. Something comforting. We decided on homemade bolognese sauce and pasta -- his specialty -- but I have to admit I yearned for something a bit less weighty. After all, we'd just finished off a huge batch of beef stew, cooked slow with onions and carrots in my beautiful LeCreuset Dutch oven and braised in Saranac Nut Brown ale. The thought of another meal of beefy richness just seemed a bit much. Which is why, when I found myself standing at the fish counter weighing my options, the wild-caught domestic scallops seemed like just the thing to lighten our heavy winter mood.
We're both huge fans of bacon-wrapped scallops, but I didn't want a heavy smoky taste to weigh down the gentle sweetness of what happened to be very beautiful specimens, so I settled on some thinly sliced prosciutto instead. I'd give these babies a quick sear in a really hot skillet, I thought, and pair them with halved grape tomatoes and scallions shaken in a pan of gently warmed olive oil. But what of the starch? I finally settled on mashed potatoes -- the ultimate comfort food for winter. Weird, you say? Not really. The potatoes, into which I stirred some full-fat sour cream and a generous pinch of sea salt, proved the perfect creamy foil for the scallops, which developed this amazingly sweet crust during their hot sear.
What does this have to do with wine, you ask? Well, we happened to have a couple bottles of Freedom Run wines on hand, a Chardonnay and a dry Riesling. Bryan was all about the Riesling, as that grape is known to pair well with shellfish. He poured, he sipped, he ate. He raved about how well the wine went with our meal. It wasn't until we were about halfway through that he said to me, "Does this Riesling taste a bit oaky to you?" Yeah. Well. Turns out it wasn't Riesling he'd poured at all -- but Freedom Run's '05 Chardonnay. Redolent with summer's promise, the wine's slightly oaky notes and citrus flavors did wonders for the scallops, which picked up hints of the prosciutto's mild saltiness. And the tomatoes? Those I cooked over a low flame just until they started to give off some of their juices, and they provided a welcome burst of flavor next to the rich, buttery mashed potatoes. This is a meal whose main ingredients don't need much -- they can stand on their own with the most basic seasoning. Don't get me wrong, this meal would have been happy to be paired with a dry Riesling -- many great varieties of which are produced here on the Niagara Escarpment -- but on this night, Chardonnay was it. We're warmer already.
Prosciutto-Wrapped Scallops with Grape Tomatoes and Scallions
3/4 pound fresh sea scallops, patted dry
1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto
2 tbsp best-quality olive oil, divided
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved (left whole if tiny)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:
* Heat oven to 175 degrees. Wrap sea scallops in prosciutto, gently tearing ham in half lengthwise to fit scallops if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.
* Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large heavy skillet until nearly smoking. Add scallops to skillet without crowding. Do not move scallops once they hit the pan. Cook for 3 minutes, or until well-seared and caramelized on one side and they pull away from the pan easily.
* Turn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more or until cooked through (slightly firm to the touch), transferring scallops to oven to keep warm. Repeat in batches if necessary.
* Meanwhile, while scallops cook, heat remaining tbsp olive oil in medium heavy skillet until hot. Add tomatoes and scallions and cook, shaking pan periodically, until tomatoes release some of their juices and scallions wilt slightly.
* Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with warm mashed potatoes and well-chilled Chardonnay.
Serves 2.
