The difference between Sea Scallops and Bay Scallops is size.
Sea Scallops are about the size of a half dollar, or about 1 and 1/2 inches across.  Bay Scallops are about the size of a nickel, or 3/4 of an inch across.
Both taste great when browned in olive oil and a little butter.

I make sure they are defrosted and rinsed well under cold running water. I let them drain a few minutes, then drop them into a warmed fry pan to which I have added extra virgin olive oil and about 2 tablespoons of butter. I bring up the heat under the pan so the scallops are at a low sizzle.

These need to be watched and turned over until they are opague in the center. They cook fast, in about 5 to 7 minutes. If they are over-cooked they will be chewey and rubbery.

I sprinkle a little “Old Bay” seasoning on them as they cook. If you don’t have Old Bay, you can use a little ground pepper and paprika. If you like the taste of garlic, a  little garlic powder  adds  a nice flavor too.

One thing about scallops or any type of seafood. They should defrost in your refrigerator overnight and be rinsed well in a collander before cooking. Don’t leave them out on a counter to defrost. They need to remain cold until they are cooked. They can spoil.
They should NOT have a fishy odor if they are fresh or have defrosted properly.

Grandpa and I like them served with spaghetti and tomato sauce. Some restaurants serve them with rice and black beans, sweet potatoes and/or cole slaw, along with a bowl of clam chowder (Manhattan or New England style). Either way, sea scallops are a good and delicious source of protein.

Of all the shell-fish I have eaten, my absolute favorite is scallops. Those small bite-sized tender morsels  that grow in fan-shaped ridged shells but are already shucked  and  come in large plastic bags in the supermarket. I like them pan-fried, or broiled, with a little Old Bay seasoning sprinkled over them.  I like them plain, right out of the pan or sprinkled over a nice plate of spaghetti with tomato and basil sauce, yum!

I buy them frozen and rinse them in a colander under cold water until they defrost. They are small so it doesn’t take very long to defrost them this way. I leave them drain in the colander for a minute, then drop them into a pan lined with paper towels. After the excess water has been blotted away, I put them into a warmed, olive oil coated, non-stick  fry pan, on a low heat, just hot enough to make them slowly sizzle. Occasionally I will broil them in my toaster oven.

Once in a while I will coat them in an egg mixture,  roll them in fine breadcrumbs and fry them in butter or olive oil. Either way, they cook in 4 or 5 minutes,  so I stay next to the stove and flip them over several times as they cook. If over-cooked they can become tough and chewy so they need to be watched.  When they are done, I sprinkle a little lemon juice on them.

There is a larger “sea scallop”, about the size of a quarter. They are just as tasty, depending on how long you cook them and the seasonings you use. I prefer the smaller “bay scallops”  as I think they are sweeter.

I’ve seen the larger scallops in restaurants, wrapped in bacon and broiled. They are very tasty when made this way but the bacon must  be well-cooked. If they are broiled under too high a heat, the bacon can burn and the scallops may still not be  cooked  enough to eat. On the other hand, too low a heat and both the scallop and the bacon may not be cooked enough.

If ordered in a restaurant and they don’t look sufficiently cooked when served, don’t hesitate to ask your waitress if they can be cooked a little longer. Restaurants want their customers to leave happy so they will return another day.

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As a child, I remember my father and grandfather going out “deep sea fishing” off of Montauk Point on Long Island, New York. They’d leave very early in the morning to get a seat on one of the big boats that left the dock by 6 a.m. They’d be gone most of the day and always brought a fish home to the dismay of my poor mother who always got the job of cleaning it. She did so without complaint, especially if they “scaled”it  and hosed it off with water before they brought it in the door.

I remember thinking “who would want to get up so early in the morning  just to go out in the water to catch a fish?” The first time they brought home a Cod fish. It was huge. It was longer  than the kitchen sink without the head and tail which we never saw because Dad removed them when he scaled it. Probably because he knew we would feel sorry for it and wouldn’t eat the fish if we saw it’s head being removed. Up until then, the only fish I saw was in a small fish tank.  A Guppy and a Goldfish to be exact.

Mom managed to get it in the oven and baked it for what seemed like hours. We, the three oldest kids, were all anxious to see what it tasted like. Mom reminded us that Cod was the same  fish the corner deli put in it’s fish cakes, (cod blended with potatoes and made into little hamburger-like patties).

Right then and there we got our first lesson in how to eat fish, shredding it between our fingers to check for tiny bones that could get stuck in our throats. Some of them were so thin they looked like white hair. But we all managed to get through dinner and we proudly told all our friends the next day how Dad and Grandpa caught the biggest fish we’d ever seen and we ate it. A true fish story.

Thank goodness the fish I buy in the supermarket are not as “bony” as I remember fish to be.  If I buy frozen Flounder, it may have some hair bones but remembering what I was taught, I’m a pro at removing them with no problem.

Tillapia, being from fish farms, doesn’t seem to have any type of bones. At least, I’ve never found any in all the Tillapia I’ve cooked and eaten. I’m still careful, though. I check every bit of it before I  swallow any. By now, the lesson is ingrained in my head.

When I buy fresh Tillapia, I make sure it’s fresh, without any fish smell. If it has an odor, it usually means it’s been in the cold case a little longer than it should and I’ll pass on it that day.

Before I put any seasoning on fish, I rinse it under cold water, let the water run off as much as possible and place it in a gallon size plastic bag to which I have already added paprika, salt and pepper. Sometimes I will add bread crumbs to the mix to coat the fish lightly.

I place the coated fish in a shallow baking dish or foil lined pan to which I have sprayed a little olive oil on the bottom to prevent sticking, dab some pieces of butter on top of each piece of fish or spray some olive oil over the top of the fish, so it doesn’t dry out  and bake it uncovered in the oven.   Sometimes I wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and place it on the center rack  in the oven. That keeps it moist and the flavors infuse into the fish better. It’s all a matter of how you want it to taste.

Either way, 20 to 25 minutes is usually all the time it takes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s opague white inside and flakes with a fork.

You can coat and cook any kind of fish the same way. Flounder, Fluke, Cod fillet or Haddock. Squeeze a little lemon juice on those types of fish if you don’t like the taste of fish in general. I do that, except  I don’t need the juice for Tillapia. It has a bland taste by itself and I find the seasoning to be enough.

Watch for my next post where I show you how I prepare  Patagonia scallops, or what we used to call “bay scallops”  in New York.