colossal epic fail . . fyi - things you don't want to try at home . . .
got some salmon steaks. one of our favs. fish monger used to have them 'on ice' but apparently I'm one of 0.02267 people who buy them - so I razzed him into cutting me two steaks.
big steaks - almost one pound each. Wild caught never frozen King salmon; note to self: King salmon needs a savory sauce, by itself the flavor quotient is marginal....
'stuffed' the middle with dry pack jumbo sea scallops. note the coloration at the tips toward the belly - that thar' is the bony bits of the pectoral fins. not good. cut it out. you don't want this on your plate. major my booboo. inedible, huge interference with pinning scallops inside cavity (see the toothpicks) etc, etc.
into a hot pan for a nice sear. ah nuts. need a bigger pan. two pounds plus scallops took all the heat out of the pan - definitely fits the 'crowded' definition - and did not work out well. did not sear well, could not flip them easily. finished in a 325'F oven 10 minutes. too dang big to flip with my cooking instruments - overhung the edges, the fish broke up around the ends. super major disappointment here . . . super po'd. if you ever wondered about that "don't crowd the pan" thing - here's proof it don't go so good.
final result: missing the nice crust, taste was so-so (King vs. Sockeye) - scallops were veddy good.
if I have to take this route again with such large steaks, I'd sear one at a time, plunk onto a rack and then broil the top to finish.
got some salmon steaks. one of our favs. fish monger used to have them 'on ice' but apparently I'm one of 0.02267 people who buy them - so I razzed him into cutting me two steaks.
big steaks - almost one pound each. Wild caught never frozen King salmon; note to self: King salmon needs a savory sauce, by itself the flavor quotient is marginal....
'stuffed' the middle with dry pack jumbo sea scallops. note the coloration at the tips toward the belly - that thar' is the bony bits of the pectoral fins. not good. cut it out. you don't want this on your plate. major my booboo. inedible, huge interference with pinning scallops inside cavity (see the toothpicks) etc, etc.
into a hot pan for a nice sear. ah nuts. need a bigger pan. two pounds plus scallops took all the heat out of the pan - definitely fits the 'crowded' definition - and did not work out well. did not sear well, could not flip them easily. finished in a 325'F oven 10 minutes. too dang big to flip with my cooking instruments - overhung the edges, the fish broke up around the ends. super major disappointment here . . . super po'd. if you ever wondered about that "don't crowd the pan" thing - here's proof it don't go so good.
final result: missing the nice crust, taste was so-so (King vs. Sockeye) - scallops were veddy good.
if I have to take this route again with such large steaks, I'd sear one at a time, plunk onto a rack and then broil the top to finish.