Christmas Eve Surf & Turf: Pan-Seared Scallops, Prime Ribeye, and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Posted by johngl

Earlier today, my most glorious spousal unit and I were shopping and doing some general wandering around when we ran across some prime grade ribeyes we couldn’t pass up.

This Christmas Eve dinner started there then evolved into surf and turf with the addition of some U-15 scallops and roasted potatoes. Wandering around and seeing what is available is a great way to put a dinner together.

This is really a pretty easy meal to throw together and actually only takes an hour to fully prepare (and that is only because the potatoes take a while to roast).

The one on the left looks more prime to me than the one on the right, but both were pretty well marbled and at $14/lb, I’m not complaining much.

These 1-1/2″ thick beauties should be taken out of the fridge and seasoned with salt at least an hour prior to cooking so they get the opportunity to get up to around 60°F before they hit the grill.

While the steaks were coming up to room temp, I got started with the potatoes which was probably the most complicated part of this meal.

If you’d like to try this assemblage of comestibles just follow along.

Find some fingerling potatoes and get them peeled.

Then give them a steam bath for about eight minutes.

When the steam bath is over, they get doused in olive oil and hit with a blend of kosher salt and dried sage, then popped into a toaster oven set at about 400°.

Here’s a little trick to keep those starchy potatoes from sticking to the pan: preheat the roasting pan in the oven prior to dropping in the potatoes. It’s a simple idea, but works wonderfully.  The potatoes will take at least a half hour, depending upon your oven.

Now that the potatoes are in the oven, take the scallops out of the freezer. I always get frozen scallops unless I am watching them being harvested. Make sure they aren’t treated with STP (sodium tripolyphosphate).

Good frozen scallops will have a very thin coating of ice covering the entire scallop. If there are any whitish dry areas exposed, avoid them as that is probably freezer burn. To make a long story short, make sure you get scallops (and all seafood for that matter) from a reputable source.

I usually rinse the scallops under cold water until that coating of ice melts away then dry them with a paper towel and place them on a rack to finish the thaw. They’ll be ready to go by the time the steaks are cooked.

About now is good time to fire up the tribal grill.

Allow the charcoal to get all whitish and super hot.  Make sure you dutifully brush down the grilling surface. About 20-30 minutes, depending upon wind and ambient temperature is about what it takes.  I usually go for 30.

Go putter around, watch TV, or have a beer until the charcoal is ready.

Apply some pepper to the steaks.  Remember, we salted them earlier.

Steaks: I’ve said this probably a hundred times, but I’ll keep repeating myself until the world gets it right.

Step 1: Get a decent grill grate!  That mass of steel is what gives those great grill marks and makes a huge difference.

Step 2: Get the grate as hot as you possibly can.

Step 3: sear for two minutes, rotate 90°, wait two minutes, then flip.  Your steaks should look like this:

Leave em right there for two minutes, then rotate 90° again.  Let sit for two minutes, then pull them off the grill, tent them with foil, and allow the meat to rest.

While the steaks are resting, it’s time to do the scallops!

Dry them off again with a paper towel, then hit them with a little salt…

and place them in a screaming hot pan (a very thin layer of oil — I use grapeseed — should be starting to smoke).

Let them go for a minute, maybe two, until the bottoms are nicely browned, then give them a flip.

Once they are flipped, turn off the heat. If you are using an electric range, move the pan to a cool area of the stove top. The scallops will be perfectly cooked in less than two minutes.

All the is left is the plating. And eating.

I hit the scallops with just a touch of melted butter.

The steak was tender, juicy, and really quite delicious.

We enjoyed a nice Piper-Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage Champagne that we’ve had hidden in the cellar.  The Rosé actually paired nicely with the steak (surprise!), scallops (no surprise), and the potatoes. The lingering finish of the wine was nice and creamy (champagnes, even non-vintage ones, tend to develop some creaminess as they age).

When you find yourself  looking for something to cook for a Holiday dinner, or any other dinner for that matter, wander around a bit. You may even find some holiday cookies in your mailbox.