Big Joe’s summer orange and jalapeño scallops dish

Scallops are a summer favorite, although I’m a big fan of them year-round. They are light enough to enjoy in a summer dinner or lunch and you won’t get the full or heavy feeling that you may experience with other proteins.

This is an easy quick way to prepare scallops with a citrus finish and kick that you get from the jalapeños makes them pop. Enjoy this dish with a nice white or blush wine.

Make sure that your scallops are fresh.

They should have a very faint fish smell. If they have a strong smell or any trace of ammonia smell, stay away from them.

Ingredients:

15 fresh sea scallops, cleaned with the small muscle flap removed
3 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of orange marmalade
3 oranges
¼ cup of white wine
1 tablespoon of habanero infused honey (If you don’t have any already infused 1 tablespoon of honey with two or three slices of jalapenos will do)
2 bags of spinach
¼ stick of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

How to put it together:

Wash and clean spinach. In a large sauté pan on medium high heat add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 pats of butter. Add spinach and start to sauté.Wash and pat dry scallops with paper towel. Make sure that scallops are dry.

Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil to non-stick pan on high heat. Once pan is hot, add scallops cook on one side until brown (about 3 minutes) flip over scallops and cook on other side about 2 minutes, remove scallops and set aside.

Deglaze pan, add wine, marmalade and honey, whisk or use wooden spoon so that honey and marmalade blend well. Add the juice of 2 oranges, reduce, add remaining butter, mix, and then add scallops for about 1 – 2 minutes.

Remove and place on bed of sautéed spinach. Drizzle orange mixture over scallops and garnish with the slices from the third orange. Serves 4.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.