Sur la Table Tips & Tricks for Cooking Scallops

I hope you checked out this morning's article on my recent cooking class adventure with Mr. 3 at Sur la Table.  We had the best time and really enjoyed the class!  As I mentioned earlier, Mr. 3 and I have never gotten the hang of properly cooking scallops.  We get the temperature and consistency right, BUT we can't seem to get the sear on them like they do at the fancy pants restaurants.  However, post-cooking class I feel like we will perform much better in the future!  Here's the tips and tricks we picked up cooking at Sur la Table:

1. Let your scallops come to room temperature before even thinking about cooking them in a pan.  I've heard this tip before for butter and eggs when baking and also cooking steaks, but never seafood!

2. Rinse your scallops and blot them with a paper towel to get them as dried off as possible.  This will rinse away that extra seafood-y taste and smell.

3. If you are making a crust for your scallops, dip each one into a plate of seasoning...but only on one side!  Dipping it will make sure you get a nice coat, but dredging each scallop will give you too much seasoning.

4. Make sure your pan is hot enough before you put the scallops into the pan.  The oil should shimmer a bit which will let you know the pan has reached the right temperature.  Just make sure you know the difference between shimmering oil and smoking oil.

5. Don't crowd the pan.  If you get your meat too close together it will steam the meat rather than searing it.

6. Cook the scallops for 2-3 minutes on each side.

7.  Use your fingers to test each scallop.  You want them to be firm but also spring back a bit when pushed.

8.  If you try to flip your scallops and the scallop sticks to the pan...it's not done searing!  Leave it be!  Evidently this is true for all proteins, not just scallops!  A properly seared piece of meat will release quite easily when it's ready.  This was probably the biggest tip I learned.  I usually panic that the meat is burning and proceed to (1) rip the meat up or (2) douse the pan in oil because it's sticking.

I have to say that tip #'s 1 and 8 were the biggest revelations for me!  I hope you can use these tips for your next recipe!

***This post was not sponsored by Sur la Table.  We just like to share information that makes that Posh Purpose lifestyle a bit more achievable!***