Sea Scallops in Tangerine Sauce: Essentials in French Cooking

What better way to start a Monday than to head to France ...through food of course. For my circumstances anyway :-)

We are now traveling to the Pays-de-la-Loire region in France. (Travel provided by Williams-Sonoma)

This region is located south-west of Paris. It has a long coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and I’ll bet you can find some amazing seafood dishes in this part of the country. One specialty would be the sea scallop.



When I saw this recipe for scallops with a tangerine sauce, I knew it had be part of this week’s meal planning. It was a delicate mingling of flavors which was such a hit that I was asked to prepare this again soon. Simple as you can get………I had this on the table in under 20 minutes. This obviously doesn’t include time spent on fresh bread or the rice cooker doing it’s thing. But honestly, under 20 minutes for a dynamite meal.

Here’s what you need………..

12 sea scallops
¼ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tangerine juice (I used more and I wasn’t sorry!)
4 tablespoons dry white wine (I used more…again, not sorry)

Rinse sea scallops and pat dry. On a large plate, mix the cornstarch with salt and pepper. Lightly coat the scallops with the cornstarch mixture.

In frying pan melt ½ Tablespoon butter with olive oil. When butter foams, add scallops and cook, turning once, until seared on both sides. About 4 minutes total.

Add tangerine juice and a few tablespoons wine to deglaze pan. Reduce heat to low, add 3 tablespoons water, cover and cook until scallops are opaque…abut 2 minutes. Transfer to plate and cover with foil.



Turn up the heat just a bit and add more tablespoons of wine to the pan, deglazing again. Cook until wine is reduced, about 2 minutes.
Add remaining 1 ½ tablespoons butter and stir until melted. I had to turn the heat setting way down as my stove runs very hot. Adjust according to your stove….you don’t want to burn this.

We had this with rice, an asparagus-mushroom mixture sauted with balsamic vinegar and fresh French loaf.



If you are in a rush but you have time to stop by your seafood shop – trust me. This is winner.

Bon appetit!