Scallops with Corn, Hazelnuts, and Brown Butter Chermoula

We liked this simple recipe. Scallops are always a winner and the combination of Corn, Hazelnuts and Brown Butter added a great complexity to the taste. It is a keeper of a recipe.

Scallops with Corn, Hazelnuts, and Brown Butter Chermoula

Dining In

Alison Roman

Serves 4

1-1/4   pounds sea scallops, muscle removed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2          tablespoons canola oil

2          tablespoons  (¼ stick) unsalted butter

2          garlic cloves, finely chopped

2          teaspoons coriander seed or 1/2 teaspoon ground

1          teaspoon cumin seed or ½ teaspoon ground

1          teaspoon hot or smoked paprika

½         teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2          cups corn (from about 3 ears; frozen will work in a pinch)

¼         cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

14 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

NOTE: This dish also works with medium shrimp head on or off.

I'll admit that I find seared scallops to be sort of 1997, but they are also undeniably delicious and maybe even my favorite seafood, tragically unhip as they may be. You know what else I find uncool? Sautéed corn. So I guess you could say that this is one of the lamest dishes in the book, but you know what? It's so delicious I don't care. Maybe like mom jeans, both will come back into style by the time this book comes out.

1. Season the scallops with salt and black pepper. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallops, pressing slightly when adding them to ensure they make good contact with the skillet. Cook until they’re deeply golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Using a spatula, flip each scallop over and continue to cook until browned on that side as well, another 5 minutes.

2.Transfer the scallops to a large plate or baking sheet:

3. Melt the butter in the skillet, letting it foam up and get all browned and wonderful. Add the garlic, coriander, cumin, paprika, and red pepper flakes, using a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any bits left over from the scallops into the mix (those bits are what dreams are made of). Cook the spices until toasted and fragrant, a minute or so.

4.   Add the corn, season with salt and black pepper, and toss to coat. Cook until the corn is bright yellow and evenly coated in all the spice business. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cilantrq

5. Serve the scallops with the corn mixture, sprinkling the toasted hazelnuts on top.

TO TOAST NUTS, preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet (you could use a rimless one, but they slide off easily, so be prepared to pick up nuts off the floor for at least a few weeks). Toast, shaking the baking sheet once or twice, until the nuts are evenly and deeply toasted, anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes (closer to 8 for things like pecans and hazelnuts, closer to 12 for larger walnuts, almonds, and cashews). When you break open the nuts, they should be toasted to the core, smell like buttered toast, and be nuttier tasting than when they went in.

I love the taste and look of leaving the skins on nuts, especially hazelnuts. While the skin on the almonds will stay put, the hazelnut skins will want to kind of slip off as they toast, and this is okay. To get rid of the skins that want to shed, place warm hazelnuts in a dishtowel and just move them around like you're playing with a bag of marbles. Don't worry about getting all the skin off (I like the kind of toasty, bitter flavor it lends); just focus on the papery bits that want to fall off anyway.