Bacon Wrapped Scallops

Last Wednesday, I didn't know what to cook for the longest time. And Diwata gave me a genius idea that I had never heard about: bacon-wrapped scallops! What the hell is that? I think anything bacon-wrapped sounds hella good. I thought I'd try it out and I found a great recipe that offered a spicy mayo recipe as well. Oh man, was I super excited for this dish. When I went to Safeway to get the scallops, I was sad to find out that they didn't have large scallops! Bah, I had to settle for the smaller ones, so I figured I would just stack them to compensate (below is a picture of my successful attempt with large scallops). And since I was planning on feeding Aaron and Larsen, I decided to wrap some shrimp as well to see how that would turn out:

Courtesy of Tyler Florence

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound large scallops
• 1/2 pound thin-sliced bacon
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup good quality mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup hot chili paste (recommended: Sriracha Hot Chili Paste)
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 2 heads Bibb lettuce, washed
• 3 avocados, sliced

Directions

Heat the broiler. Wrap each scallop in a piece of bacon and secure it with a toothpick. Place the bacon wrapped scallops onto a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil, and season them with salt and pepper.

Cook them under the broiler for about 10 to 15 minutes until the bacon is cooked through, turning once.

Make the spicy mayo by combining the mayonnaise, chili paste, lime juice, and chopped cilantro. Stir well and refrigerate until ready to use.

To serve, carefully peel away the lettuce leaves and line a large platter with the lettuce cups. Top each with a bacon wrapped shrimp, 2 slices of avocado, and a spoonful of spicy mayonnaise. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

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I've made this a few times, and while I love scallops AND bacon, the best part of this dish really is the spicy mayo. The combination of the juicy scallops, the crisp bacon, and the fire from the sauce is just delicious. One time though, after making this recipe, I ordered bacon-wrapped scallops at a restaurant (I honestly forgot the name of the place), but their version was so much juicier than mine! Therefore, I am on a mission to find out how to make these scallops even better. Nonetheless, this is definitely one of my favorite appetizers to date.