Cooking with Chef David Meador | Scallop season is open in Florida

Do you love scallops? One of my favorite summer adventures is harvesting fresh bay scallops in Crystal River. July marks the start of scallop season in Florida, from Homosassa Bay to Apalachicola.

To collect these beauties, you need a fishing license, mask and snorkel, mesh bag and pair of fins. Once you are ready, just swim above the shallow saltwater grass flats in 4 to 6 feet of water and look for their vibrant blue eyes peeking out of the top of the familiar shaped shells. You simply dive down and grab them like an underwater Easter egg hunt, and slip them into your bag.

Sometimes it is more like a good game of "Hide & Seek" as they try to camouflage themselves in the seagrass and moss. With a little luck and a lot of swimming you can harvest up to two gallons of scallops in the shell (one pint of scallop meat per person.) You can pay to get them cleaned or you can do it yourself with a small knife.

Here are a couple of recipes you can use to cook these sweet little morsels.

Crystal River Bay Scallop Gratin

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 shallot, chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Italian parsley, fresh chopped

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

2 ounces pernod liquor

1 cup panko flakes, bread crumbs

Parmesan cheese

12 ounces fresh bay scallops

Fresh lemon for garnish

In a sauté pan heat the olive oil and lightly sauté the garlic and shallot until softened. Add this to a bowl or electric mixer with the softened butter, parsley and Old Bay until evenly mixed.

Clean the scallops and

be sure to remove the small side muscle. Drizzle shallow gratin dishes with the pernod liquor, pat the scallops dry, season with salt and pepper then place them in an even layer. Top with a layer of the butter mixture.

Mix the panko bread crumbs with the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle generously over the scallops.

Bake the scallops in a 425 degree oven for about ten minutes and then brown under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. The scallops should be just cooked but still tender have a nice crispy top.

Garnish with a squeeze of fresh lemon and serve.

Scallop Ceviche

Ceviche is an appetizer made popular in Latin America where very fresh fish or shellfish is marinated in citrus juices, and the acid from the juice actually firms and "cooks" the flesh, turning it opaque. Herbs, usually cilantro, and red onion, tomato and some type of chili pepper are added for flavor.

10 ounces fresh bay scallops, cleaned

1 avocado

6 ounces ripe fresh pineapple, diced

Lime juice, fresh squeezed

Frozen orange juice, in the can

Aji amarillo puree, found at Latin markets

Fresh cilantro, chopped

Red onions, julienned

Salt and pepper, to taste

Clean the scallops and be sure to remove the small side muscle if it is still attached. Squeeze the lime juice into a blender and add the orange juice and enough aji amarillo puree to suit your taste. (Aji amarillo is a yellow pepper from Peru that is my favorite to use in ceviche.)

Pour some of this mixture over the scallops with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and allow it to marinate in the fridge for 1-4 hours. Note- When the scallops are really fresh you can actually eat them raw so in Peru for instance they would probably only marinate them for a short time.

Thinly slice the red onion, chop the cilantro, and add them to the scallops.

The diced pineapple and avocado can be added just before serving or used to create layers with the scallop mixture. Serve with plantain or tortilla chips.

Bay Scallop Pasta Carbonara

6 ounces pancetta or thick cut bacon, diced1/4-inch

1large clove garlic, slivered

1 fresh leek, white part only sliced

4 green onions

1splash white wine

!/2 cup cream

2 egg yolks

1 cup Parmigiano reggiano

1 pound spaghetti or thin linguine pasta

Start a pot of water boiling and be sure to add enough salt. The water should taste almost like sea water. Mix together the cream and the egg yolks and half a cup of Parmesan with a wire whisk and set to the side until ready to use.

In a large sauté pan, render the pancetta or bacon until it is almost crispy. Drain some of the fat off and sauté the garlic and leeks until soft, and add the splash of white wine. When the pasta is just cooked or al dente, drain the pasta and add it to the bacon and leek mixture. Turn off the heat and pour the cream and egg yolk mixture into the pan. With the hot pasta and the heat from the pan, the sauce will cook and coat the pasta in about 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, pat the scallops dry and season them with salt and pepper. I like to use a separate sauté pan that is very hot, with a little of the pancetta or bacon drippings and add the scallops to it to sear them. These bay scallops will cook in less than a minute.

Dish the pasta into your serving bowl and top with the bay scallops. Garnish with the green onions or green peas if you like and a little sprinkle of Parmesan. Add some fresh black pepper just before serving.

Chef David Meador, executive chef at Renaissance on 9th, can be reached at jbjork@renaissanceon9th.org

This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Cooking with Chef David Meador | Scallop season is open in Florida."