Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

Whoever thought of wrapping meat around fish and grilling them together was a genius and is a friend of mine, although we've never met. 

Here's what you need:

• a pound of bacon
• 2 dozen sea scallops
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 lemons, cut in half
• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives

Here's the trick to making this dish. Render the fat from the bacon before grilling. This will help prevent flare-ups and scorching the crap out of your bacon-wrapped shrimp.

Rendering? Yes. Rendering. That means getting the fat out. For this recipe, we want to render the fat (get the fat out) of the bacon. And that requires layer of paper towels on large plate or baking dish.

Layer the paper towels with layers of strips of bacon. So, put down a layer of paper towel. Then lay down strips of bacon onto that layer of towel. Then, repeat. Towel. Bacon. Repeat.

Put this into the oven at 350 until the bacon fat begins to render (come out). The bacon should not be totally cooked. Just wet and soft. Cook about 5 minutes.

Toss scallops, butter, salt, and pepper together in bowl until scallops are thoroughly coated with butter.

Press 2 scallops together, side to side, and wrap with 1 slice bacon, trimming excess as necessary. Push the wrapped scallops onto the skewers. Repeat. Press. Wrap. Skewer. Repeat.  ​

Turn all burners to high. Scrape and clean and oil the grill grate. You could use an oil-soaked paper towel. 

​Place the skewers with the bacon side down. Yes. Bacon side down.

And place the lemon halves on the grill with the cut side down.

​Cook the skewers until the bacon is crispy on first side. That'll take a few ­minutes.

Flip the skewers onto other bacon side and cook until crispy. Another few minutes.

Then, flip the skewers with the scallop side down and grill until the sides of scallops are firm and centers are opaque (white).

Move the skewers on a serving plate.

Squeeze the lemons onto the skewers, and sprinkle chopped chives on top. 

​Beautiful. 

Serve with some wine. 

We tested many wines to pair with the bacon-wrapped scallops. We like the Chardonnay from California.

We recommend serving the dish with a salad, with Romaine lettuce, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, and (of course) bacon.

​Good job, man. Eat.