When you get up as early as I do – and really, it’s almost so early as to be embarrassing – it’s not a great tragedy to knock off around three to go to the beach. It’s not a crime to sit in the sun and slurp down a Tully’s espresso shake, not if you’ve run your errands by bike, that is. It’s no big thing to sit on the seawall and watch the girls poke things that are washing up on the sand. It’s no big deal that you’ve left your desk to watch a couple of hotties whack a volleyball back and forth between them and if you happen to notice that the boys are shiny with sweat, well, your eyes are working just fine then, aren’t they?
When it’s been unseasonably rainy, depressingly so, it is just fine for you to abandon your post to get some much needed vitamin D, to watch tiny babies discover the joys of sand, to listen to bossy counselors round up the day camp kids, to poke teasing fun at the team of kayakers that are so obviously a software company morale event because they don’t look like they’ve seen the light of day since 1993. It’s just fine if your friend comes out to the water from Capitol Hill and you talk books and gossip. All those things you do instead of sitting at your desk when there is a perfect breeze coming off the sound, the skyline in the distance, a perfect summer day outside, they are exactly what is required of you. Bravo.
And if it’s Fish Wednesday at the same time and you can eat your grilled scallops in the backyard, well, so much the better.
The scallops had been sitting for a while in orange juice and chili oil. I started the grill and while that was happening, I watered the front lawn, fussed with my luggage, and oh, yeah, I sauteed some carrots in olive oil and cumin seeds. When the oil started to dry out, I tossed on some white wine, a little orange juice, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I turned the heat way down and let the sauce reduce to a nice thick glaze.After all that happened, I put the scallops on the grill. Now I wonder if it isn’t better to simmer scallops in a sauce so they stay moist and don’t get chewy. The bigger of the scallops were delicious, if on just a second or two too long. The smaller ones were dry on the outside and a little tough. I was not delighted with them, I’d say they were just fine. I do love a properly cooked scallop dish – scallops done well are a fine thing, but perhaps I’m just not up to the task yet.
Wild scallops are typically harvested by dredging, a process that basically scrapes everything off the ocean floor. If you’ve ever seen the episode of the Simpson’s where Mr. Burns goes green only to end up building a slurry factory (Is there anything Wikipedia doesn’t know?!), you know the method. Farmed scallops are probably a better choice but I’m having a hard time finding out if the farming methods are sound. Not all farmed seafood is bad, my research is telling me, but it’s still hard to navigate what’s what. Here‘s a write up about scallop farming in Nova Scotia. My scallops came from Mexico but all the write-ups about farming there were oh so dull, I’m not going to bother linking.
Can’t get enough Fish Wednesday? Older posts are here.
We wish you a safe journey and look forward to hearing about the Convention.