Sea Scallops with Chanterelles and Pancetta over mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes

2011-11-23_17-55-10_481This is a very easy, delicious dinner and I only dirtied two pans!  It's a treat that I like to make when the kids aren't home for dinner.

First I start with boiling the yukon golds or your choice of potatoes in salted water. I prefer yukon golds for mashed potatoes because they're so creamy and I leave the peel on.  I often make extra mashed potatoes so we can have potato pancakes later.

While the potatoes are boiling, I roughly chop sliced pancetta (or bacon) and fry in a non-stick pan until crisp. While the pancetta is frying, I clean my mushrooms with a damp paper towel and slice them into thick pieces. I used a combo of chanterelles, crimini and…shoot, the other mushroom is slipping my mind. Shiitake! 

Remove pancetta to a bowl and add chopped mushrooms to the lovely grease.  Add additional olive oil if needed and saute until they're ready to melt in your mouth.  Add fresh ground pepper, thyme and truffle salt.  Remove from the pan and set aside in a separate bowl.  If you don't want to dirty another bowl, I suppose you could add them to the pancetta…I prefer to keep the pancetta crisp which is why I keep the mushrooms and bacon separate at this stage. Save the grease and mushroom juices in the pan and remove pan from heat.

Blot the sea scallops (I use 10 – 12 for two people) with a paper towel to dry and season with fresh ground pepper and a little truffle salt.  When the potatoes are about fork tender, turn down (or off) the heat and fry the scallops in the bacon-mushroom pan. I like to let the scallops sizzle undisturbed for a couple minutes before turning them over.  

Drain the potatoes and use your hand mixer to break them up and to mush in a few tablespoons of butter, truffle salt and pepper.  Check your scallops to see if they need to be turned over.

Back to the potatoes. Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream (because I had some handy), half and half or chicken stock…your choice!  Do a quick mash.  

After the scallops have been sizzling to a nice golden color on the other side, add the pancetta back to the pan and the scallops.  

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After a minute or so of getting reacquainted, give everything in the pan a good stir.

Back to your potatoes – add more cream or butter as needed, season and put a lid on them back on the stove…you'll be devouring them soon.

Spoon some creamy mashed potatoes onto your plate and top with the scallops.  We paired this with a 2007 Tablas Creek Vineyard Cotes de Tablas.

1 Comment

  1. Chanterelles! Ahhhh! Tis the season this week, as my husband just spent a day on his hands and knees picking these fine mushrooms with hours of cleaning and preparing them for our future stock in the freezer. They are such a delicacy for us. Your recipe sounds incredibly delicious and I am anxious to try it. I just hope that I can find the sea scallops, as they are not prevalent in the area in which we presently preside…however, I can get them about 2 hours away and I am thinking it would be worth the drive.

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