Pan-Seared Scallops with Bacon and Kale

It was the night before my return to work and I wanted to have a special dinner to end my vacation.  I was craving scallops since I saw this recipe here a few days earlier.  For price we get these scallops from Costco. They aren't cheap, $35 but it is worth it to have a splurge meal at home once in a while (...and my son paid this time...).  I followed the recipe pretty much except I substituted Kale for Spinach.  I ended up throwing a dash of white wine in when the onions and garlic were cooking down, it needed it as they were starting to stick.

You have to make sure scallops are really DRY before you cook them too.  There's a good article about Wet/Dry scallops here if you want to learn more.  You won't get the sear right on them if they ooze liquid out once you put them in the frying pan.  I learned that after the first time I made them.  They still taste good, but you want presentation, or at least I do.  :)

Because they're frozen also causes a bit more problem.  I haven't had great luck with this brand above, unfortunately.  However, maybe 3rd time is a charm?  I let them thaw and patted them with paper towels and pulled the little muscle on the ones that had them on the side.  Below, you can see them, it looks like a thin strip that hangs off the scallop.  I lightly salted the scallops and left them on a dry dish towel.  Then I tried to pat them as dry as possible again after a half hour.  After that I cracked pepper on the first side too.

Like usual, I chopped everything first, the Kale, the Bacon, the Onions and then I minced the garlic and put that on top of the onions.

I fried the bacon first in a cast iron pan.

When it was crisp, I removed it into a paper towel.  Then I seared the scallops in a HOT pan.

The first side was promising and got a pretty nice golden sear, the other side (when flipped) started to seep water and I didn't get that color on the reverse side.  I removed them to a warm plate and fried the onions and garlic.

This is where I added a splash of White Wine

I added the Kale and stir fried until bright green and wilted.  I also tossed the bacon back in.

The outcome was very tasty with fresh lemon squeezed on top.  I will probably make this dish again, to keep trying to perfect the perfectly seared scallop... (I may need to try other scallops though).  The kale, onions, garlic and bacon was a definite win though.  I could eat that as a dish without the scallops.