How To Cook A Scallop

How To Cook a Maine Bay Scallops  --  The Maine Way

Now you’re talkin’ about the real treasure of the Maine coast—Maine Bay Scallops. Don't you go mixin' those up with those big, "hockey puck" sea scallops you find at the grocery store. These little beauties are sweet as candy and only show up when the water gets bone-chilly.

Maine Scallops

Maine bay Scallops are very different than normal scallops found elsewhere along the East Coast, in your grocery store, or even in your local fresh seafood shop. Maine Bay Scallops harvesting season is usually from December to April. Lobster traps are usually pulled by this time, and the many bays of Maine are free of traps. This allows the scallop harvester to obtain lobsters two many ways. First, many harvest scallops by dragging the bays. They scoop up scallops, pick trough the fork and return the undersized scallops back into the bay for further growing. Many scallops are hand-picked. Maine divers go into very cold water and pick scallops off the bottom. This method is extremely good for the environment and is gentler since the bottom is not disturbed like dragging causes. And they disturb even less because they don’t pick up undersized scallops or unwanted bycatch.

Maine Scallops

As told by a Maine lobsterman.

“My wife, she treats scallops like fine china. She says if you overcook a Maine bay scallop, you’re not just ruinin’ dinner, you’re insultin’ the ghost of her great-great-grandmother. Here are two ways she fixes 'em that’ll make you want to sell your house and move to a lobster shack.”

1.     Great-Gram’s "Buttah-Poached" Bay Scallops

This is the simplest way to eat ‘em, and it’s the way her family’s been doin’ it since they was haulin’ traps by hand. The trick is not to "fry" ‘em, but to let ‘em take a warm bath in the best butter you can find.

The Inventory:

  • The Goods: A pound of fresh Maine bay scallops. Rinse ‘em in spring water and pat ‘em dry—if they’re wet, they’ll stew instead of sear.
  • The Fat: A big ol' hunk of Kate’s Homemade Butter (about half a stick).
  • The Flair: Just a whisper of lemon juice and a pinch of dried parsley. No heavy spices—you want to taste the scallop, not the spice rack.

The Instructions:

  1. The Melt: Put your cast iron skillet on medium-low. Melt that butter ‘til it’s foamy but hasn't started to brown yet.
  2. The Bath: Toss those little scallops (dry) in. You aren’t lookin’ for a hard crust light brown crisp crust; you just want ‘em to firm up.
  3. The Turn: Move ‘em around gentle for about 2 or 3 minutes tops. The second they turn opaque (that means you can’t see through ‘em no more), they’re done.
  4. The Finish: Squeeze just a tiny bit of lemon over the top.
  5. The Feed: Serve ‘em right in a bowl with all that melted butter. If you don’t have a piece of bread to sop up that “liquid gold” at the bottom, you’re missin’ the best part, bub.

2.     The “Sunday Best” Scallop Crumble

From the captain: “My wife’s great-great-grandmother used to make this when the preacher came to Sunday dinner. It’s got a bit of a crunch to it, but the scallops stay soft as a pillow inside.”

The Inventory:

  • The Goods: A pound of Maine bay scallops.
  • The Crunch: A sleeve of Westminster Oyster Crackers, crushed up into crumbs (don't use those fancy flavored crackers, keep it plain).
  • The Richness: ¼ cup of heavy cream and another half-stick of Maine Kate’s butter, melted.
  • The Secret: A dash of black pepper and a tiny pinch of kelp salt if you got it. Raw sea salt works well too.

The Instructions:

  1. The Soak: Put your scallops in a small bakin' dish and pour that heavy cream right over ‘em. Let ‘em sit for about ten minutes while you get the oven up to 350°F.
  2. The Toppin’: Mix your crushed oyster crackers with the melted butter ‘til it looks like wet sand.
  3. The Blanket: Sprinkle those buttery crumbs over the top of the scallops until you can’t see ‘em no more.
  4. The Bake: Slide ‘em into the oven for about 12-15 minutes. You’re lookin’ for the cream to be bubblin’ and the crumbs to be turnin’ a nice golden brown, like a beach in July.
  5. The Warning: If you leave ‘em in there until the crumbs are dark brown, you’ve gone too far! Those little scallops will turn into pencil erasers. Pull ‘em out while they’re still tender.

A Note from the Captain

“My wife says if she catches you usin' a fork to mash these up, she'll put you on potato-peelin' duty for a month. You treat 'em gentle, and they'll treat you right.”