Brown Butter Scallops with Fresh Corn Polenta

Plus: I'm very confused about how many scallops I'm supposed to eat???

Y’all,

Let me just start by saying that Hunzi declares this “one of the best things you’ve ever made”(!) High praise indeed.

While developing this recipe, I discovered that pretty much all the scallop recipes on the major recipe sites call for a pound of sea scallops for a recipe that, allegedly, serves 4 people. This roughly breaks down to 3 scallops per person. I KNOW I know these recipes call for “large” sea scallops (as opposed to the punier tater tot-size bay scallops), but I don’t understand. Who eats 3 scallops for a meal? Are these recipes all meant to be served as an appetizer? Is this a dinner party for ants? Should I feel weird for eating 7 or 8 or 9 scallops????? (I refuse to feel weird for eating 7 or 9 or 9 scallops, world of professional recipes be damned.)

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I feel this “serving size” agita often when reading recipes. Whenever I follow a shrimp or pasta recipe to spec, for example, there never seems to be enough food for the number of people the recipe purports to serve. Is this just a me problem?

Anyway, no matter how many people you make these ‘lops for (sorry, we call scallops ‘lops around these parts), they will all be very happy and feel very lucky. And, given how frickin’ expensive and sometimes hard to find nice sea scallops can be, I should note this recipe would also be wonderful with sautéed shrimp, or butter-roasted fish, or seared mushrooms.

If you haven’t had it before, fresh corn polenta—essentially blitzed fresh corn cooked until creamy and starchy—is the stuff of a corn-lover’s dream. There’s no cream or milk, just a little butter to amplify the sweet natural corn flavor and some mild white miso, which acts a bit like an anchovy hiding in a good tomato sauce: sneaky, almost undetectable, but makes the whole pot taste undeniably better.

The corn should still have plenty of texture after processing

Here’s my favorite (sad) corn fact: It starts to lose sweetness the moment it’s picked. If your corn is past its prime, add a half-teaspoon of sugar (or more) to the pot as the polenta cooks to add back that sweet oomph. Also, I always buy corn according to how heavy it looks for its size and this strategy has yet to fail me. (If any of this is interesting to you, see here for a wealth of actually-super-useful corn advice that my dear friend Sarah Jampel wrote and I edited four aka a billion years ago. Favorite line: “Check out even more ideas for how to help a blah brother out.” Classic Sarah.)

Eat corn while the sun shines, or something! See you all next week!

—Chaey

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Brown Butter Scallops with Fresh Corn Polenta
Serves ????

Ingredients
1 lb. large sea scallops, side muscle removed
Kosher salt
4 large ears of corn, husked, knobby ends removed
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. white miso
1 Tbsp. dry vermouth, white wine, or fresh lemon juice
Thinly sliced chives, for serving

Preparation

1. Season scallops all over with salt, then set on a dinner plate lined with a paper towel and chill while you prepare the polenta. (Salting the scallops ahead draws out more moisture. Less moisture = more yummy crust.)

   

   A visual of my preferred corn-cutting method

2. Set a small overturned bowl inside of a large (preferably wide and shallow) bowl. Working with one ear of corn at a time, stand one cob upright (flat-side down) on the overturned bowl and run a chef’s knife down the cob to remove kernels, which will fall neatly into the large bowl. Reserve stripped cobs. You should have about 4 cups of kernels.

3. Hold a cob over the bowl of kernels and use the back of your knife to scrape the cob to release the milky solids. Repeat with remaining cobs; compost spent cobs.

4. Transfer corn kernels with their milk to a food processor and process until a chunky purée forms, 10-15 seconds. (You still want to see bits of corn throughout.)

5. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.

6. Add puréed corn to saucepan, season lightly with salt, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook corn, stirring often with a heatproof rubber spatula to prevent sticking, until polenta is thickened, creamy, and smells intensely corn-y, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 Tbsp. butter and miso; whisk until smooth. Taste and season with salt if desired. Keep polenta warm while you cook the scallops.

7. Thoroughly pat scallops dry. Place a large cast iron skillet or other heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat and add remaining 3 Tbsp. of butter. As soon as the butter starts to foam, add the scallops to the pan in a single layer.

8. Cook scallops undisturbed until the bottoms are golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Turn scallops over, add the wine or lemon juice, and cook until just barely opaque in the middle, 1 minute more. Transfer scallops with pan sauce to a plate to prevent overcooking.

9. Divide polenta among shallow bowls and top with scallops. Spoon some butter sauce over scallops, top with chives, and serve immediately.