You have to start with "dry" scallops. This means no preservatives. Best is to get scallops that have not been frozen. Frozen scallops that have been teated with preservative constantly exude water when cooking so it is nearly impossible to get them to brown. The scallops should look fresh. As with everything, if you can't find good product, cook something else! Good scallops can be served as sushi, ie raw. They do not need to be cooked through like chicken.

3TBS Clarified butter (ghee)
1# scallops
salt, pepper, lemon

1. Clean scallops. Remove the side muscle. Use a knife to scape off ant speck of sand; be meticulous, a small speck causes a big CRUNCH when you bite into it!

Lay the cleaned scallops onto a paper towel to dry. If you won't be cooking them for more than 30 minutes, put them uncovered in the fridge.

2. Melt butter and skim off the clear portion to cook with, leaving solids on bottom The clarified portion has a high smoking point. The easiest is to buy Ghee, which is pre-clarified butter

3. Heat the clarified butter in a non-stick skillet. The pros can do it in a regular skillet, but a nonstick skillet really helps to avoid damaging the crust. You can also use a well seasoned cast iron but it also has a tendency to pull of some of the crust. Get the temp to a touch over 400f.

4. Place the scallops in pan starting with the largest. stand them upright, not on their side. Keep them separated. Too many in a batch will drop the temp too much and prevent browning

5. Watch the heat. Here I let it get a little too high. If it gets too cool, browning stops.

6. Turn them when they are nice and brown, They will look less brown on the plate than in the skillet. Then turn off the heat. I don't usually try to brown the bottom.

7. Serve. A little salt and lemon is all you really need. If you want to jazz em up, stir a little tomato sauce, sriracha, fresh basil/lemon into the left over butter solids and serve.

Or serve in a soup

Or on a pizza

Or freshly grated wasabi root

Ingredients

Pork tenderloin trimmed of silver-skin and portioned
Green Beans
Yam

Sauce
2TBS Dijon Mustard
2TBS Maple Syrup
2TBS Chipotle Sauce, in bottle or canned chipotle in adobo sauce

1) Remove the silver skin from the tenderloin and cut it into sections about 3 to 4 fingers thick.

2) Salt and Pepper generously and put on crinkled aluminum foil

3) Bake at 225 until the internal temp is between 140-145 F. Use a digital thermometer with a cord

4) Remove from Oven and heat some ghee (clarified butter ) in a pan to a temp of 400F

Perfectly cooked pork medallions dire need of some Maillard magic

5) Sear the pork to get it nice and brown and turn. This doesn't take long. Adjust heat to keep pan at 400F

6) Let rest for a few minutes while you prepare the sauce. All you do is mix the mustard, chipotle, and maple together. You can use a different hot sauce or a different style of chipotle like canned chipotle in Adobo sauce. Vary the amount of chipotle to how much heat you want. Warm the sauce in the microwave.

7) Place a starch "pedestal" in middle of plate, in this case baked yellow yam. You could use potato, rice, Israeli Cous Cous, or nothing. Add a vegetable, in this case I used some sautéed green beans with a little bacon, balsamic vinegar and honey. Add the pork to this base and add the sauce. Bada Bing! You have a pork tenderloin dish that competes with a really good restaurant. You can change it up however you want. Béarnaise sauce, no sauce, hotel butter, garlicky olive oil, pesto, spicy black bean hummus. Change the starch to to roasted red potatoes, risotto, or Israeli couscous. Pick a different veggie, or change the veggie to a little mixed salad. Do whatever you want. Use leftovers, I don't care .... as long as you absolutely nail the pork!

This recipe uses a smoker. If you don't have one, get one. Get a Master Built electric with a remote. You can also do this in an ovenFor the injector, go to amazon here for about $12. Its a stainless steel hypodermic rig that is reusable. If you don't have a thermometer get one like this .

Wait! Before you give up because it is too much hassle, consider this. These are tools and techniques that you can use over and over. Turkey, chicken, fish, pork shoulder, prime rib, beef tenderloin and more.

2 pork tenderloins (trim off the white tendon sheath)
1/2 can Chicken broth
1 TBS butter
garlic
1 tsp salt
Dry Rub of your choice - Optional

Coat the tenderloin with dry rub and sit for 1-3 hrs if you have the time. If not sprinkle on the rub and get started. No Rub, no problem. Make the injectable marinade - Crush the garlic and sauté in the butter without browning. Add the chicken broth and the salt. Inject this mixture into the tenderloins. Put the tenderloins in the smoker set to 225 degrees. Add some wood. I use apple wood. Insert a thermometer into the thick end of the tenderloin. Some smokers have this built in, if not use a stand alone thermometer with a cord. Cook until the internal temp is 145 degrees. Guess what your done! slice it and serve. There isn't really a need for a sauce. For the picture below I used some left over marinade, fresh ginger and a little orange marmalade. If you use an oven, you can take the cooked tenderloin and throw it on a really hot grill just long enough to add to color.

Injecting tenderloins

Tenderloin sliced. 145 degrees

Thermometer. With the remote, you don't have to go outside to see what the temp is!

Cheap injector from Amazon

Another example of the incredible reverse cook technique. You cannot go wrong, and most of the cooking is done well before you serve! Perfectly cooked steaks every time. Get your steaks at the BigY grocery store. Get Prime if you want, but reasonably marbled Choice is about as good. You will not get a better steak in a restaurant and by using a thermometer, it always works.

Ingredients
6-8 cloves garlic
1 tsp Salt
1 TBS water
1 TBS lemon juice
1 Egg white
1 Cup oil
What you do: