Crocker House Country Inn Chef Richard Malaby deglazes the flavor of the browned juices and agitates the freshly harvested sea scallops until they are golden in color.—STAFF PHOTO BY LETITIA BALDWIN

Hancock County Chefs Find Creative Ways To Cook Winter Delicacy
Hand-painted wooden signs have surfaced beside trucks parked at roadside, trumpeting the start of Maine’s scallop season. At this time of year, the freshly harvested sea scallops deservedly take take center stage and steal some of the limelight away from another bottom dweller — the much publicized lobster — on restaurant menus around Hancock County.

Adventurous eaters and home cooks, lacking the bucks to eat out, can prepare fresh scallops as a special meal or appetizer for friends and family without much fuss or laboring in the kitchen.

At the Crocker House Country Inn in Hancock, innkeeper and chef Richard Malaby has been cooking scallops since he acquired the century-old inn and restaurant in 1980. Originally from New Jersey, Malaby had sampled sea scallops fried before and had ready access to freshly harvested ones through local seafood dealers Bill Crowe and Bob LaForge who delivered to his restaurant’s kitchen door.

“Being so rural and isolated, I felt that we needed some signature dish,” Malaby recently recalled.

Crocker House Scallops, an entrée that customers clamor for, has been on the menu ever since. Like many of the Hancock Point restaurant’s dishes, Malaby prepares the Maine sea scallops exactly the same way as his return-clientele demand. He uses “20/30” scallops, which weigh about .6 ounces per bivalve, because they don’t take so long to cook and he can count on the popular menu item being consistent in taste and appearance.

“We want them to look whole and be of a certain size,” he explained. “If you use the largest ones, you have to cook the heck out of them. A lot of people overcook them.”

Like Malaby, El El Frijoles owners Michele Levesque and Michael Rossney take great care in how they prepare sea scallops. The Sargentville couple runs a California-style taqueria in the village. At this time of year, their restaurant is not open, but they have been hosting a supper club some weekends. They also hold periodic Burrito Nights opening the taqueria with a limited menu and offering six-packs of burritos ready for freezing.

Last winter, Levesque used fresh scallops to make the marinated seafood salad, ceviche, which is a popular appetizer or snack in coastal towns throughout Latin America. First, she cut the scallops into half-inch pieces and cured them in lime juice. She then tossed them with diced tomatoes, chopped green onion, minced jalapeno chile and cilantro. As in Mexico, she topped the ceviche with a dollop of guacamole. The seafood cocktail is served traditionally in tall, ice-cold sundae-style glass dishes.

In recent months, Levesque smoked scallops in Lapsang souchong tea, a smokey black tea, and served them atop garden greens tossed with a cilantro vinaigrette. Before moving to Maine, she learned techniques for smoking seafood while working at Rockridge Fish Market in Oakland, Calif.

First, Levesque brines the mollusks in a mixture of salt, sugar and ancho chili powder for several hours. The seafood smoking can be easily done at home with two disposable foil roasting pans. The deeper pan is lined with foil. Two piles of rice are placed on the bottom and topped with the tea leaves. With a knife, she perforates the shallower pan with little holes like a colander.

“It is really easy to smoke sea scallops at home,” Rossney reassured.

While they sound exotic by Maine standards, the tea-smoked proved a hit among Supper Club patrons.

“Oh Man, Rossney remembered. “Every plate was licked clean.”

Crocker House Scallops

• flour
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 3 tomato wedges
• 1½ Tbsps. butter
• 7 oz. fresh Sea Scallops
• 1 large cup of fresh sliced mushrooms
• ½ cup of fresh sliced scallions
• 1 tsp. fresh chopped garlic
• 2 oz. white wine (sauterne)
• 3 Tbsps. clarified butter or peanut oil
• 9-inch frying pan
• Tongs

Remove the muscles from the scallops. Dredge the scallops in flour. Shake off (or sift off) the excess flour. Add the clarified butter (or oil) to the pan, let it get hot. When the pan is hot, tilt it away from you, add the scallops so as not to splash yourself, return the pan to its high-heat position.

Allow the scallops to brown lightly, agitate, use the tongs to get all sides in contact with the pan.

After about 1-2 minutes (depending on your heat) add the mushrooms. Toss them about by shaking pan or using the tongs. Salt the dish. Immediately add the garlic, using the tongs to spread it about. Pour the wine around the top of the rim of the pan (deglazing). Agitate. Add scallions and tomatoes, agitating (tossing) the pan about. Squeeze the lemon over the scallops. Add the whole butter, tossing the mixture about. Serve when butter is melted.

Caution: If you use previously frozen scallops, the water retained by the scallops will be released and could splash and burn you when the scallops hit the hot pan!

Tea Smoked Sea Scallops
El El Frijoles, Sargentville
Serves 8-10 as appetizer

Brine:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 Tbsps. ancho chili powder

Smoker:

• 1½ cups uncooked rice (any)
• 1 cup loose Lapsang souchong tea
• 2 pounds sea scallops (muscle removed)

Combine salt and sugar with the ancho chili powder and mix well. Add scallops to mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours.

To assemble smoker, purchase two disposable foil roasting pans (one deep, one shallow). Take the shallow pan and poke little holes in it every inch or so much like a colander. Line the deep one with foil and make two piles of rice (about ¾ cup each) on the bottom. Top each with half the tea leaves.

Place shallow, perforated pan on top of the deep pan. Drain scallops of any liquid and excess brine mixture and spread evenly over the pan’s bottom. Cover performated pan tightly with foil and place stacked pans over medium heat directly on burner. As tea/rice begins to burn, stir scallops once during 20-25 minutes.

The goal is for the rice-tea mixture to burn, creating the smoke which will cook the scallops. Allow for ample ventilation or use a camp stove or hot plate and do the smoking outside or on a porch.

To serve, cut scallops into quarter pieces and place on top of a salad of mixed baby greens tossed with cilantro vinaigrette. Or, slice scallops and serve with crackers or toast points.

Maine Scallop Ceviche
El El Frijoles, Sargentville

• 5 limes
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 bunch cilantro, choppped
• 2 lbs. Fresh sea scallops
• 1 jalapeno chili, seeded, finely diced
• 2 bunching (green) onions, chopped

Cut scallops into ½-inch pieces (remove muscles) and place in a bowl. Toss scallops with the lime juice, cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours, stirring intermittently.

Scallops are cured (fully cooked in the lime juice’s acid) when they are no longer translucent and are firm to the touch.

Drain off the excess lime juice, toss with cilantro, onion, tomato and jalapeno. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Top each serving with a little guacamole and serve with tortilla chips.