Food Porn

So I have been getting flack about not showing any pictures.
Let's remedy that. Dinner tonight was Sea Scallops with Wood Ear or Black Fungus.
I like the name Wood Ear better. I know that all mushrooms are in fact fungi, but there is something less than appetizing about the whole concept of fungus, but I digress.
Sea Scallops with Wood Ear and Asparagus.
The first step was to gather everything up.
3 sea scallops
1/4 tsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2 tbsp bacon or pancetta fat
4-5 oz of fresh asparagus
1/2 a lemon
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

The Wood Ear are neat little guys looking vaguely in appearance like ears, thus the name.
Thank You Mr Obvious you say and I agree.
In a sauté pan I started a sweat with the garlic with a tbsp of butter. In my zeal to take pictures for this post I let the pan get WAY to friggin hot leaving the butter scorched and the garlic beyond toasted. So I pitched it and started over.
Not wanting to mess with mincing more garlic I just heated about a tsp of the bacon fat in the freshly cleaned pan until it just barely started to smoke.
I placed the scallops in the pan and stepped back. Two reasons. 1 to take pictures... 2 cause you just leave them alone for about 5 minutes before checking to see if they are getting brown.

While all this browning is going on, (see maillard reaction) I had a non stick sauté pan over medium high heat with a scant tsp of the bacon fat getting ready for the asparagus. Toss the asparagus in the pan to coat with the fat, then allow to sauté for 3-4 minutes, tossing occasionally . Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste. I salt liberally. Asparagus can be a little bland.
Once it just barely starts to take on some color, squeeze the lemon over the asparagus. After another couple of minutes it will start to look like the picture below. This is the lemon juice caramelizing.


So the asparagus is on it's way what about the scallops... After about 4-5 minutes they had some nice color on them so over they go... To be left alone in the pan for another 3-4 minutes.
Once they reach that nice golden brown color they need to be pulled. One of the secrets to scallops is to not over cook them. Slightly higher heat than you might think and a faster cooking time will ensure that they are tender and not rubbery.
After removing the scallops toss the wood ears in and toss briefly. They will start to wilt like sautéed greens. Add the thyme and the parsley. Toss or stir for another minute or so then pour over the already plated scallops.
In my opinion sea scallops do not need salt when cooked this way. The bacon fat has enough salt and the thyme brightens the flavor.
Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time is about 8-10 minutes.

Finished product.