Scallops are better when you pick them yourself :0)

Reece and I started a new tradition a few years ago that I hope we continue for a long, long time. We discovered 'scalloping' in St. Joseph's Bay, Florida. Both of us love seafood, but have a special spot for those tiny little morsels of yumminess. You might not know it, but scallops live just a few feet below the surface of the water, usually making their home at the edge of sea grass beds. What we consider a scallop is actually the muscle of the organism. It lies within a pretty shell and beneath an ugly mess of gook! To go 'scalloping', you can either park your car on the side of the bay and wade out in the water looking for them, or you can take your boat out on the water and go snorkeling which is what we prefer! During a good season, you can max out your limit of 2 gallons (in the shell) per person per day, in no time. We just returned from a vacation down to the coast, staying on Cape San Blas. While Mother Nature was not exactly on our side this time, we did defy her and spent a few hours on the water collecting our bunch.  The first night we cooked the batch for the beach crew and the second bunch we saved for my family back at home. 

While shucking scallops is not the most pleasant experience, it is most definitely worth it in the end. First you have to pry open the closed shell with a shucking knife (those little suckers are strong too!), then you peel back the layer of gook, being careful not to tear the delicate muscle. The final step to shucking is scraping the   scallop meat loose from it's shell.  (RECIPE for cooking scallops below)

RECIPES for quick scallops:

Ingredients

Of course you want the freshest scallops you can find (these are bay scallops, smaller than sea scallops)

Fish Fry

Buttermilk

Old Bay Seasoning

salt 

pepper

oil for frying

butter for sauteing

FRYING

Heat vegetable or peanut oil in large cast iron skillet. Soak scallops in buttermilk bath for a few minutes then roll in mixture of fish fry,Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper. Fry a few scallops at a time and drain on paper towel. 

SAUTEE

Melt butter in cast iron skillet. Add scallops, Old Bay, salt and pepper to flavor. Cook for a few minutes then serve hot.