I know, I know, scallops and bacon are almost a cliche, but there's a reason for that: They're a great team! This sauce is rich but you don't need much.
Ingredients:
scallops, preferably ocean scallops -- the big kind! I used 3/4 pound for 2 servings; 4 big scallops
leek, half of the white part of one large leek or a whole small one, carefully washed and chopped fine
shallot, one clove, minced
four cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
four slices of bacon
3 T butter
1/4 cup (approx) sherry
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt, pepper
paprika
arugula (could substitute water cress or any green you like, especially if it has some "bite" to it, as in peppery), washed of course
Cook the bacon in a heavy skillet until it is about half done -- no longer raw, but not crispy at all. Don't throw away the grease!
Salt, pepper and paprika the scallops.
Wrap a slice of bacon around each of the scallops and put under the broiler, at least 6 inches from the flame. (You can secure the bacon with wooden toothpicks if you want, but it's not that big of a deal if you don't.) Check them every couple of minutes and turn, so that the bacon doesn't burn but browns nicely all over. How long it takes to cook the scallops depends on how big they are, but it's pretty fast; mine were done in 5-6 minutes.
Add the butter to the pan with bacon drippings. Saute the leek, shallot and mushrooms over medium heat and add the sherry. Have a lid handy in case it wants to flame up, or add while the pan is off the heat. Let cook a couple of minutes, then add the cream. This makes more sauce than you need, but it would be good leftover with good bread or toast, and it is hard to make a smaller amount of sauce than this!
Arrange the arugula on the plate, add the scallops, add the sauce, pour a glass of wine and enjoy.
If I only had the smaller bay scallops, I would cut the bacon into one- to two-inch pieces and fry it, adding the leeks, etc., then add the scallops and sear them, and make the butter-sherry-cream sauce in another pan.
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