Scallops on a Balsamic dressing

This scallop dish was very simple but effective.  And serving it in the little spoons made it that bit extra special.

Now first, a confession, I was going to serve them on a smear of balsamic glaze.  One problem, I put a little balsamic in a pot, reduced it and then turned it off.  When it came to serving time I found it had hardened into something resembling toffee and was unusable.  So I improvised with just putting a little good quality balsamic in the spoon and that seemed to work fine.

The only fiddly bit of the preparation was that I chose to cut all the brown sinewy bits off the scallop.  I left the coral (the orange bit) on though.  We always eat both the white bit and the coral here in New Zealand.  I have read that in other places the coral is only used in sauces.

After cleaning the scallops, I dried them a bit on some kitchen paper before searing them quickly in a moderately hot pan – they only need about a minute and a half on each side – don't overcook them or you will have little rubber balls.  It is better to slightly under cook them because they will keep on cooking while you are serving them.