I think I got this recipe from a friend many moons ago. This is another one I haven’t made in ages.

Funny, when Lorraine was looking at recipes last night to decide which one she wanted me to make, her first comment was, “a full stick of butter? We don’t need to use that much!”

Years ago I made it without thinking, but these days? I’d cut the butter in half. Next time I make this, I’ll experiment, and if I cut the butter in half I’ll update the recipe.

Scallops Casino

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, minced
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp white ground pepper
• 1 to 1-1/2 lbs scallops
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbsp parsley
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Saute onion for 5 minutes or until softened. Add bell pepper and saute 2 minutes longer. Add Worcestershire, white pepper, and scallops; saute 3 to 5 minutes or until scallops are just barely done. Pour into a 4 quart baking dish.

Mix breadcrumbs, parsley, and cheese. Sprinkle evenly over scallops. Broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the breading is browned.

I recall that I invented this recipe as I wanted to make a dish something like Shrimp Scampi. Regardless of motivation, Lorraine loves it.

We haven’t made this in years, as the sons don’t like scallops, and we got out of the habit. Lorraine requested a seafood night last night, and specifically wanted this recipe, although she wasn’t sure if it was this recipe or Scallops Casino. We looked at the recipe and this is what she was remembering.

Baked Scallops Scampi

• 4 Tbsp butter, melted
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt or seasoned salt
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1-1/2 lbs sea scallops, shrimp, or a mixture
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Mix butter, garlic, lemon juice, pepper, salt, & oregano in a 2 quart baking dish. Add scallops and mix until scallops are well coated. Sprinkle with cheese and then breadcrumbs. Bake uncovered at 350 F for 25 minutes.

Notes

If you like garlic, double or triple the amount. This dish is flavorful, but not garlicky. Also, the lime juice is new as of last night — for some reason I felt the need for more citrus, so I added it, and now it’s part of the recipe.

Seasoned salt was substituted for the plain salt — I’ve been doing that a lot in recent years.

I purchased a 3# bag of frozen sea scallops at Costco before Christmas, to make a Christmas Eve appetizer. I wanted half a pound, but due to COVID, the usual holiday fresh seafood counter was not open. I was force to either change my plans … or buy a 3# bag. Temptation won!

Since then I’ve pulled out small amounts to make as part of a dinner, not as an entrée. It’s made the bag last longer, and we’ve enjoyed it. But last night Lorraine wanted the scampi recipe.

Except there wasn’t quite enough scallops left to make the dish! Necessity is the mother of invention, so I added shrimp (also purchased frozen in a large bag) to stretch the scallops. In the process I discovered this dish works great with shrimp!

I saw jumbo shrimp and sea scallops at Costco this morning. The fish that Lorraine asked me to buy didn’t get bought.

I spotted prosciutto … and that told me what I was making!

Grilled Shrimp & Scallops Wrapped in Prosciutto

• 1 lb large shrimp
• MARINADE:
• 1/2 lb sea scallops
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 Tbsp white wine
• 1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• minced garlic
• GRILLING:
• proscuitto

Marinade: Mix the marinade ingredients well in a gallon ziplock back. Add the seafood and manipulate to coat with marinade. Seal the bag and marinate for 1 hour.

Remove the shrimp and scallops from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Wrap each piece of seafood with a strip of prosciutto — depending on sizes, this may wrap 3 or 4 times. Thread onto skewers.

Pre-heat grill. Over low coals/heat, grill the seafood for 10 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove from skewers and serve.

Note:

Lorraine noted that the grilled prosciutto is far tastier than any other way of cooking it. This came out great and will be repeated!

I decided to do something special yesterday, so while at Costco I purchased 2 lobster tails and 1/2 lb of sea scallops. Why? Because I felt like it.

I grilled the lobster tails — grilled 12 oz tails 5 minutes on each side, that wasn’t enough, they were completely raw in the middle. So I split them down the middle and did another 4 minutes, which was perfect!

The scallops called for something more — searing seemed right, so I invented this recipe based upon several pan-seared scallops recipe.

Quick finance lesson: We see 2 oz lobster tails on sale for $4. Do the math, that is $32/lb! Yikes!

The $20/lb that Costco charges for 8 to 16 oz lobster tails is a bargain in comparison.

Grill Seared Scallops with Herb-Butter Pan Sauce

SCALLOPS:

• 1 lb. dry large sea scallops
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt
• Tools: grill and grill topper (typically used for vegetables).

SAUCE:

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• 2 Tbsp finely diced shallot
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup finely chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as flat-leaf parsley and chives
• salt & ground black pepper

Assemble all ingredients for this recipe before you start! Things move quickly and you won’t have time to find things once you start. The scallops are on the grill for less than 5 minutes.

Scallops: Rinse the scallops and pat dry with paper towels. They must be dry to sear properly. Place in a bowl, season with salt, and add the olive oil. Stir to coat the scallops evenly.

Preheat the grill and spray the grill topper with cooking oil, or lightly coat with oil. While the grill is heating, prepare the sauce (see below).

Once the grill is hot, keep it hot (if using a gas grill). Place the topper on it and let it heat — you want this puppy really hot.

Place the scallops on the topper, leaving the lid open. If you close it the scallops will burn rather than sear. After 2 minutes flip the scallops. After 2 minutes remove from the grill into a bowl.

I put the scallops into the sauce and covered it while finishing other dinner preparations, although they can be served immediately.

Note: On my grill I got great sear marks on one side, less so on the second side. So I served them best side up for the presentation.

Sauce: Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When the butter sputters, reduce heat to low and add the shallots. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. The shallots should not brown, just soften.

Add the wine and herbs. Simmer for 2 to 4 minutes, or until the wine is reduced by half. Stir in the remaining butter, 1 Tbsp at a time, stirring until each pat is melted. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes:

The recipe I based this on said dry vermouth could be used — I had champagne open so I used that. Any dry white wine will probably work.

I discovered (way too late!) that my fresh herbs were no longer fresh, so I used 1 tsp dried chives. Fresh would have been better, although I’m thinking 1/4 cup might be way too much for this recipe. I’d start with half of that and taste before adding more.

The recipe also called for 1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest. Didn’t have any, so I omitted it, but next time I’ll make sure I do. I also want fresh chives on hand.

Stephen’s subtle sense of humor comes out in his comments in his recipes …

Seafood Crepes

Filling:

• 6 medium mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion, divided
• 3 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 3-1/2 cups (about 18 oz) cooked seafood, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3x 3oz pkg cream cheese, cubed
• 1/3 cup half-n-half
• 3 Tbsp snipped parsley
• 2 Tbsp sherry (optional)
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 16 crepes

Crepes:

• 1/4 stick of butter, melted (I don’t know how you melt butter and keep it as 1/4 stick)
• 1-1/2 cups of milk
• 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3 eggs

Do-Ahead Tip:

Stack crepes with wax paper between each. Wrap and refrigerate no longer than 2 days or freeze no longer than 3 months. Thaw wrapped frozen crepes at room temperature for 3 hours.

Filling:

Cook and stir mushrooms and 1/4 cup green onion until onion is tender. Stir in seafood, cream cheese, half-n-half, and parsley. Cook, stirring constantly, until cream cheese is melted. Stir in sherry.

Assembly: Place about 1/4 cup filling on center of each crepe; roll up. Place 8 crepes seam sides down in each of 2 ungreased oblong baking dishes, 12″ x 7-1/2″ x 2″, or ovenproof serving platters. Sprinkle each with 1/2 cup Swiss cheese. Cover and heat in 350 F oven until crepes are hot, about 20 minutes. Garnish each dish with half of remaining green onion.

Crepes:

Beat all ingredients until smooth. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours so that the flour will absorb the liquid and thicken the batter.

Brush the bottoms of a 7″ crepe pan and 10″ skillet with melted butter and heat over medium heat. (I used a thin stainless 7″ steel pan. That seemed to work better for me than Calphalon.)

Pour scant 1/4 cup batter into crepe pan and tip the pan to coat the bottom. Cook the crepe until the top is set and the underside is slightly browned (about 2 minutes).

Loosen crepe (a high heat rubber spatula is good for this) and flip it into the 10″ hot skillet. Cook briefly (about 30 seconds) in the skillet. Meanwhile, wipe the bottom if the crepe pan with a paper towel to clean residue from the pan and wipe again with another paper towel that has a little melted butter on it if needed. Start cooking another crepe.

Stacked cooked crepes with wax paper between each one. Crepes may be used immediately, wrapped in foil and refrigerated, or frozen until later.