I am a huge food nerd. I admit I spend hours a week flipping through my cook books and reading other food blogs and recipes sites. When I found this recipe on http://www.food.com, I knew I had to try it as soon as possible because I really like scallops and like absolutely LOVE cilantro! It has been long been a running joke in my family about how much I love scallops, because years and years (perhaps even a decade <gross!>) my grandpa had made scallops for us for dinner and I mentioned how good they were and how much I liked scallops. Since he is the sweetest and kindest guy in the world, scallops were also on the menu the next time we went for dinner. While we were eating them, he asked if I liked them and I of course replied that I did (because I honestly did!). The next few times we were there he either made them or asked which of us liked them, and my family would all reply that we all did but I was the one who REALLY loved them. If you mention scallops to my family, they will vouch for how much I love them 🙂 I would happily have my grandpa cook me scallops for many more years to come!
Phew, got a bit off subject! Anyways, luckily I was able to convince my friend and taste tester Mandy to come over for dinner on Tuesday to give this a whirl. Overall, we were both fans of the burgers. In the future I would take the advice of using the food processor to chop the scallops and other ingredients (I did this by hand, trying to avoid another dirty dish!). I think having the scallops diced a bit finer would have helped them stay together a little bit better. I would reserve a bit of the scallops and roughly chop so you still had some bigger chunks in some bites. Also, the recipe said to make them into little sliders which would be cute for a party, but since it was just Mandy and I, we made them burger size.
Scallop Burgers 1 medium vidalia onion, finely diced
2 TBS butter
2 lbs fresh sea scallops (since we were just making burgers for us, I used 3/4 of a pound)
3 TBS flour
3 TBS panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1 TBS freshly grated ginger
2 TBS oil
12 mini buns (or a few large buns)
Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise
4 TBS fresh lime juice (I used about 2 1/2 limes, but honestly didn’t measure)
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Finely the dice the onion and then saute in butter until translucent. Remove from the heat and set to the side to cool.
While the onions are cooking, chop the finely chop the cilantro. Mix the mayonnaise with the remaining ingredients until combined. Put the mayo in the fridge to let the flavors meld.
Chop scallops (or chop in the food processor) until coarsely chopped. Transfer to large bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients, except the vegetable oil. I had to use slightly more flour and a bit extra of the bread crumbs. Add the onions (which we forgot, so they were a topping on the burger). If the mixture seems to lose add either more egg or flour.
Shape the mixture into little “slider” size or larger patties and place on lined dish. Put the patties in the fridge to cool for about 1 hour or in the freezer for about 15 or 20 minutes.
Heat the oil in the skillet and place the patties or sliders in the pan until the scallops appear translucent and the patties are golden brown.
Place the burgers in the buns and top with the cilantro lime mayo and enjoy! I served the burgers with a mixed greens salad with tomatoes, avocado and grilled corn kernels with a cilantro lime vinaigrette.
Hang Onto your fork 