bacon-wrapped scallops

Seppo cooked dinner for the two of us tonight. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I overheard him on the phone by accident. I love scallops, but I don't recall ever having cooked it at home. Seppo and I are both a little fearful of cooking seafood, but it seems like he's gotten over it to great results.

I'm not sure what the entire process was, but it involved wrapping bacon around the scallops and putting it under the broiler for a short period of time. It was accompanied by green and yellow squash, sauteed in the new Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 12" Everyday Pan, and a nice salad w/ EVOO & reduced balsamic. The scallops were perfectly cooked. Any less, and they would have crossed into the raw territory. Any more, and they would have become rubbery. These were quite succulent and reminded me a little of perfectly cooked lobster, with a nice smokiness added by the bacon. The squash was a good accompaniment because the delicate flavor was not too assertive in a way that would overwhelm the main dish, while also providing a little bit of a crunchy texture, a nice contrast to the delicate bite of the scallops. The colors were pleasing too. Well done, Seppo! :D

Oh, I almost forgot about the spicy mayo sauce for the scallops. I think it was mainly that Sriracha sauce mixed with some mayo, which is basically the same sauce as you might have in a spicy tuna roll or something. The spiciness and the slight tang combined with the creaminess of the mayo was strangely delicious with the scallops. I know it sounds strange, but it was really good. I finished my plate of 5 big scallops and wished I had another half dozen.

Uyen, Charles, Lindsi, and Dara joined us for dessert afterwards. They had apparently just gone to Angelfish -- heh. U & C brought a tub of homemade strawberry ice cream that was pretty astounding in its strawberry flavor. From the color, you could tell that they used a reasonable amount of strawberries, but the flavor was really intense and bursting with strawberriness (ok, so that's not a word -- so sue me). We had that with leftover hot chocolate pudding cake, and chatted about the most random things in the world, having in general the most awesome kind of Saturday night: sitting around with good friends and eating and telling funny stories.