Maque Choux is a Cajun recipe, purportedly a French interpretation of a Native American dish. Fresh corn, red bell pepper and red onion are briefly sautéed to preserve their crisp-tender texture, their beautiful yellow and red colors, and surprisingly sweet flavors. Bacon and cream add richness. (I’ve cut back on the quantity of both in my version in order to let the vegetables take center stage; you could substitute chicken broth for the cream to make it lighter still if you prefer.) A splash of hot sauce and a finishing sprinkle of fresh scallions add heat and brightness to contrast with the luxuriousness of the sauce. Stop there and you’d have a great side dish to serve alongside blackened chicken or fish, or a spicy grilled pork tenderloin. But I’ve added sea scallops – quickly seared, creamy-textured – to make this a one-dish meal.
Like the corn in the maque choux, scallops are another ingredient that we think of as savory but they actually have an appreciable sweetness when they’re properly cooked. The combination of the sweet scallops and corn with the smoky bacon, silky sauce and sharp scallions is more complex than you’d expect from a dish that’s so quick and simple to prepare.
Sea scallops can be expensive and a real treat. To bring out their best, take care in preparing and cooking them:
- Seek out sea scallops that are labeled “natural” or “dry packed”, meaning they haven’t been pumped full of water and preservatives. Dry packed scallops can be sold fresh or frozen. If you buy frozen ones, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight.
- Somewhere on the side of each sea scallop you’ll usually find what looks like a little tab of flesh clinging to the scallop. This is the muscle that held the scallop in its shell, and it’s tough and no good to eat. Use a small paring knife to gently trim that muscle away before cooking. (Those little morsels are a very special treat for your cat, if you have one.)
- Make sure the scallops are completely dry before you sear them. Blot them thoroughly with paper towels, and ideally let them sit on a paper towel, uncovered, in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
- Salt the scallops just before you cook them, not after.
- Use a blazing hot pan. You want the outside of the scallops to develop a golden brown crust, but you want the inside to be just barely cooked. Scallops cook (and overcook) extremely fast due to their small size. One or two minutes on each side is all they need, and in order to get them brown on the outside in that short amount of time the pan has to be really, really hot.
- With a skillet this hot, be careful to use a very scant quantity of oil – just enough to coat the bottom of the pan, not enough to spatter and spit.
Making this ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- The scallops must be cooked just before serving. To serve the maque choux at its very best, it too should be made at the last minute.
- Leftovers of the maque choux will keep for two or three days and can be reheated on the stove-top or in the microwave; the bacon will no longer be crispy but the vegetables will hold up and reheat well.
For another great recipe featuring sea scallops, check out these Devils on Horseback.
Seared Sea Scallops with Maque Choux
To prep the sea scallops, use a sharp paring knife to trim off the tough little muscle that hangs off the side of each scallop.
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds sea scallops, trimmed
- Kosher salt
- 2 slices of bacon (2 ounces)
- ¾ cup finely diced red bell pepper (1 medium pepper)
- ½ cup finely diced red onion (about ¼ of a large onion)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup dry sherry
- Kernels cut from 4 large ears of fresh sweet corn (about 4 cups) (or substitute 4 cups unthawed frozen corn)
- ¾ cup heavy cream (or substitute ½ cup of chicken broth)
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco
- ½ cup thinly sliced scallions
- Neutral oil, such as expeller-pressed canola oil
Directions
- Step 1 Dry the scallops extremely well with paper towels and arrange them in a single layer on a paper towel-lined plate. Chill them uncovered for an hour or so if you have time. When you’re ready to start cooking, season the scallops with kosher salt and let them sit while making the maque choux.
- Step 2 Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces. Put the bacon in a large, cold skillet over medium heat and gradually heat it to render the fat, then continue to saute until the bacon is crisp. Remove it to a paper towel-lined plate using a slotted spoon.
- Step 3 Add the bell pepper and onion to the bacon fat in the skillet and season them with salt and pepper. Saute the vegetables until they start to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Step 4 Add the sherry and cook, stirring and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, until the sherry is reduced and almost cooked away.
- Step 5 Add the corn, cream (or chicken broth) and hot sauce. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the corn is tender and the sauce is reduced and thickened.
- Step 6 Meanwhile, heat a large cast iron or heavy non-stick skillet over high heat until it’s very hot. Just before you’re ready to cook the scallops, pour in a very thin layer of oil, just to skim the surface of the skillet. Don’t start cooking the scallops until the maque choux is done – you want to be able to focus all of your attention on the scallops while they’re cooking. When the maque choux is done, take it off the heat and cover the skillet to keep it warm.
- Step 7 Carefully place each scallop in the hot skillet with one of its flat sides facing down. Don’t crowd the pan – if you don’t have a big enough skillet to give the scallops ample room, cook them in two batches. Sear the scallops for 1 to 2 minutes – they should be deep golden brown on the bottom and barely cooked in the middle and on the top. Carefully turn each scallop using tongs to sear the other side for 1 minute (or 2 if the scallops are very large), until golden brown. Remove the scallops to a plate. Repeat with the remaining scallops if you’re cooking them in batches.
- Step 8 Divide the maque choux among four plates or large shallow bowls. Scatter the scallions and the reserved bacon pieces over the top of the maque choux, dividing evenly. Arrange the scallops over the top of each serving.
