Sea Scallops With Brown Butter, Capers and Lemon
This bright yet rich treatment for scallops came to The Times in a 2009 article about Kevin Zraly, the wine director of Windows on the World from 1976 to 2001. Mr. Zraly turned the restaurant into an international wine mecca: at the time it was destroyed, when the World Trade Center fell, its cellar held close to 100,000 bottles of 1,500 labels. Mr. Zraly and Michael Lomonaco, the chef at the restaurant (both of whom were not at work on Sept. 11 when the planes hit), worked together on hundreds of wine and food pairings throughout the years. This was Mr. Zraly's favorite of Mr. Lomonaco's creations. With it, he recommends a Puligny Montrachet, Olivier Leflaive.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 12fresh sea scallops
- Sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼cup olive oil
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1tablespoon finely chopped shallot
- 2tablespoons salt-packed capers, rinsed of excess salt
- Juice of half a lemon
- ⅓cup (packed) flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
Instructions
Step 1
Pat scallops dry with paper towels, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan or nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat, and add oil. After 30 seconds, add scallops; do not crowd pan, work in batches if necessary. Sauté until well browned, about 2 minutes, then turn and cook other side. When second side is dark golden, transfer scallops to a platter; cover and keep warm.Step 2
Return sauté pan to heat, add butter, and cook until it begins to foam and turn golden. Add shallot and capers, sauté for 1 minute, then add lemon juice (being careful to avoid sputtering butter) and chopped parsley.Step 3
To serve, place 3 scallops on each of 4 warmed plates. Spoon butter, shallots and capers over scallops, and serve.