Ingredients
- 2 cups medium-diced, seeded, and peeled fresh papaya
- 1/2 cup minced red onions
- 2 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeno peppers
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, optional
- 2 teaspoons pineapple juice
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, optional
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 large bunch watercress, trimmed, washed and spun dry (about 2 cups)
- 1/4 cup thinly shaved red onion
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pound cooked Louisiana crawfish tails
- 8 jumbo (U-10) sea scallops, side muscles removed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- Cilantro Butter Sauce, recipe follows
Directions
In a bowl, combine the papaya, minced red onions and jalapeno and toss with the citrus juices and cilantro. Adjust seasoning to taste and refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
In a bowl, toss the watercress with the shaved red onions and olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to serve.
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter is foamy, add the crawfish and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, to heat through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly; then add to the papaya mixture.
Coat the scallops on both sides in the sugar, pressing to adhere.
In a large clean skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the scallops, in batches if necessary, and sear on both sides until caramelized on the outside and the scallops are just cooked through but still tender, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and lightly season with salt and pepper.
To serve, spoon butter sauce into the center of 4 large plates. Arrange a portion of the crawfish-papaya salsa in the middle of the sauce and set 2 scallops on top of the salsa. Arrange the watercress salad above the scallops and serve immediately.
Cilantro Butter Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Pinch cayenne
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
In a medium saute pan, combine the shallots, wine and lime juice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, adding each piece before the previous one has been completely incorporated. Continue until all the butter is incorporated and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, removing the pan from the heat periodically to prevent the sauce from getting too hot and breaking. Whisk in the honey, salt, cayenne, and cilantro.
Serve immediately, or cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
Yield: about 3/4 cup
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By lovetocookintheoc
Tustin, CA
on June 16, 2010
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Of course the Cilantro sauce is excellent, it's a stick and a half of butter!!!!!
What doesn't taste good with butter. OMG!! I loved the sauce but I will not make it again. Only if I want to weight like a tractor. Of course our health is important, but living in Los Angeles, how we look is important. Looking like the goodyear blimb is not the way I want to live my life. Yes, I loved the sauce. However, It's not worth gaining weight and feeling depressed on how I look.
There are alot of recipes in Food Netwook that taste awesome and you don't have to put a stick and a half of butter in it! That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it!
By homerj96_11415689
Houston, TX
on January 03, 2009
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then you'll love this dish. The crawfish-papaya salsa is excellent. Don't use quite as much red onion as it calls for though. A little of that goes a long way.
Careful when cooking the scallops because the sugar coating will burn easily. I would suggest starting with a medium heat rather than medium high. Also, I do not like the taste of watercress (way too bitter, although it looks good as a garnish.
Great dish overall, very fancy, very tasty and easy to make.
By tlcochran_7870251
Frisco, TX
on January 24, 2008
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This is a very pretty dish and perfect if you are looking to impress with presentation. I could not find Louisiana crawfish, only imported over seas crawfish which we never use. So, I opted for small shrimp instead. I think the crawfish flavor would have been better because the shrimp could have used a little kick (a little garlic for a mild scampi flavor? to season it up a bit. I omitted the shaved red onion from the watercress because we are not big onion eaters. Nonetheless, this was a yummy meal. The portions are not large, so you definitely want this in multiple courses... a nice appetizer, soup (maybe something creamy, and dessert with this as the entree.
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