Grilled Bacon Scallops

As you may have heard me say a few times over the past few weeks, we are renovating our kitchen.  As in, I have no stovetop, no oven, no sink, no dishwasher, no counters…you get the drift.  But I do have a grill, and over the past few weeks I’ve been taking it as my own personal challenge to make something other than cheeseburgers on it.  Since I have no sink (did I mention that?) these have to be things that don’t require mixing bowls or anything similar, since I took a solemn vow that I would not, I repeat NOT, wash any dishes in the bathtub.  Just…no.  At any rate, among the various things you can make on the grill with no muss, no fuss and no kitchen, are the grilled variation of the Southern husband’s favorite appetizer: scallops wrapped in bacon!

The two indoor appliances that I still do have (both of which are hiding out in my breakfast room at the moment) are my fridge and a microwave, and the microwave is necessary to this recipe, because you want the bacon to be cooked about halfway through before you put the skewers together.  Why is that, you might ask?  Because you want the scallops cooked just until they are tender, and if you started with uncooked bacon, by the time the bacon was cooked through you would have overcooked scallops.  Make sense?

Aside from that, you make these babies pretty much the same way you make the appetizer version, except you are using a skewer instead of a toothpick.  Get nice big sea scallops (and if you can, ask for dry scallops.  Dry scallops are fresh scallops that haven’t been treated with preservatives and they taste a whole lot better.  Wet scallops aren’t the end of the world if that’s all you can find though).  Wrap them with a strip of half-cooked bacon and thread them onto a metal skewer, or a wooden skewer that has been soaked with water.  The soaked with water part ensures that the wooden skewer doesn’t burst into flames, which could put a damper on your dinner.  I was able to fit three on a skewer, which made for a perfect portion for each person.

Now brush them with olive oil, grind on a little fresh pepper and put them on a medium-high grill bacon side down for about 4 minutes per side – you want the bacon nice and crispy.  By then the scallops should also be done (they should not be transparent looking at all) but if you think they still need a little cooking, put the skewer scallop side down until the scallops look done.

I like to serve these with a squeeze of fresh lemon and some chives, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar would also be heaven.  When I have a kitchen, I put the skewers down on a bed of rice and do the drizzling so it hits some of the rice too.  But I don’t.  Have a kitchen.  Did I mention that?

Love my grill! 

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