Not-exactly-bacon-wrapped-scallops

My taster and I went to a gala on the weekend. Given we weren’t going to get a lot of food at this event and he had a hankering for bacon-wrapped scallops, I made a big skillet of the things before we left. The problem with wrapping scallops in bacon is that it is difficult to get both the pork and the seafood to cook to the right consistency at the same time. This time, I tried a different approach.

Ingredients:

- 5 to 6 rashers of bacon chopped into ½ inch pieces
- a package of frozen scallops thawed (15-20 scallops)
- about a tablespoon of butter
- about ¼ cup of white wine
- freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

I cooked the bacon pieces in a heavy skillet until they were browned but not over-cooked, then removed the bacon from the pan and drained off the majority of the fat. With the same skillet on a medium-high heat, I added the butter and the white wine to the pan to deglaze it, picking up any brown bacon bits from the bottom with a spatula. I then added the scallops to the skillet and cooked them according to the directions on the package. Scallops are a very delicate sea creature and take very little cooking so be careful not to overcook them. Near the end of the cooking process, when most of the wine has evaporated, return the bacon to the skillet. If you are feeding a group, simply place the skillet of cooked scallops in middle of the table and hand everyone a toothpick.

I'm sure that a trained chef would be appalled by my technique but my taster loved these scallops.