Grilled Scallops and Grits

Well, this is kind of embarrassing. But I have to admit something to all of you… Until the other day, I had never used a grill before. Yup, I have just grilled for my first time ever. To be honest, it actually took me a while to determine if that was actually the case. I mean, I say “we’re grilling!” all the time and Chris and I have dinner on the grill at least once a week. But you know what? It’s always Chris who’s doing the grilling. Sure, I do lots of the planning, prep, and plating, but when it comes to turning the grill on and actually cooking the meal, it’s all Chris. Yikes.

I wasn’t actually aware of that until Weber emailed me and pointed it out. Seriously. They said they wanted me to get into grilling and that I shouldn’t just leave it to my husband. And when Weber tells you that you should learn to grill, you listen. Right?? They had an event planned outside of Boston earlier this summer that I was planning to attend for a little how-to session. The event ended up falling through, but Weber said they still wanted to send me a little something… And a couple weeks later, I came home to a Weber Q 1200, their portable gas grill… In purple!

My family has always been a Weber family and when Chris and I bought our house, a Weber grill was our very first purchase. Like, before we even closed on the house, we went to Home Depot and purchased a Genesis. We joked about our priorities, but what’s the point of having your own home and a deck without a grill? However, like I said, Chris did all the grilling. Until now! I had to break in my new Q and I decided to start with a meal of scallops and grits. Scallops may seem like a strange first meal to grill, but this recipe just sounded so appealing to me and way more interesting than the typical burger (though I’m sure there will be plenty of burgers in my grilling future, too!). I got this recipe from the Weber website, but made a few alterations. It was my very first time making grits.. They’re not really a big thing in New England, but now I think I’m in love!

The recipe starts with toasted panko… Just how many of my favorite meals start! In a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat, melt 5 T butter. Pour about 3 T of the butter into a small bowl and set aside, keeping warm. Add panko and minced garlic to the remaining 2 T butter in the skillet and cook until panko is golden, about 3 to 4 minutes, being sure to stir often. Stir in the thyme and about ⅛ teaspoon salt. Remove skillet from the heat.

Now you’ll want to get your grill started for a little pre-heating action. You want it to be about 450-550° F. The Q was super easy to start. You can either use a small propane tank or get an adaptor and hook the grill up to your regular propane tank.

While your grill is heating, it’s a good idea to get started on the grits, though I think you could probably make these a bit ahead of time, too.

For the grits, combine milk, garlic, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and then slowly whisk in grits. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, until the mixture thickens and the grits are very tender, about 6 to 9 minutes. Be sure to whisk often. Add more water water ¼ cup at a time if the mixture thickens too much. Stir in cheddar cheese and season with pepper. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Now, in a medium-sized bowl combine the scallops, Cajun seasoning (I made my own with this recipe), ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Toss scallops in the seasonings, add 2 T melted butter, and toss to coat.

Now it’s time to get our grill on!

Place scallops on the grill, flattest side down. Can you tell I’m in serious deep concentration?

Grill over direct high heat, with the lid closed. After one minute, turn scallops with tongs.

If scallops are resistant to turning, continue to grill another few seconds. Let scallops cook for another minute on other side, until they’re lightly browned and just opaque in the center. Look at those beauties!

During the last minute of grilling time, grill the scallions over direct heat, turning once. Transfer the scallops to a clean bowl.

Woo hoo! My first grilling experience. And I think those scallops look pretty fab if I do say so myself. And how easy was that??

Add hot pepper sauce (I used Tabasco) and the remaining 1 T melted butter and toss to coat. Move scallions to cutting board and roughly chop. Then, divide the grits among four plates. If the’ve solidified, you can loosen them a bit with a few tablespoons of water or milk and continue to warm through.

Top the grits with the scallions, scallops, and toasted panko. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately with more hot pepper sauce, if you want. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, I hated scallops. They were probably my number one most-hated food in life. My food enemy, if you will. I don’t know what changed, but I slowly started to enjoy them. Now, I love them so much, I’m very likely to order them out. I don’t make them at home a whole lot, but now that I know I can grill them in about 2 minutes flat, that may all be changing.

This meal was amazingly decadent. I know that’s a word you’d usually use to describe cake or chocolate, but I honestly think it’s the most appropriate word for grilled scallops. Eating these was like eating candy.

And the grits? So creamy, cheesy, and awesome. Now I get what the fuss is about. I most definitely want to eat these for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Like every day.

I’m pretty freaking excited that I actually grilled something myself. And not for the last time! The Q is the perfect little grill to learn on and I’m thrilled that it’s so easy to use. I’ll probably step up to the big leagues and start using our full-sized grill soon, but the Q will be awesome for traveling with. It’s super compact and easy to take along on road trips, so you always have a grill ready to go. 

But for now, it’s the battle of the grillers!

Just kidding, it’s more of a grilling partnership.

Oh and also, before I had even used the grill, I was listening to the America’s Test Kitchen podcast and they were raving about the Weber Q. It landed the top spot for portable grills.

Hooray! Grilled scallops for all. No matter where you live or where you’re traveling to. That is something that makes me pretty happy.

Are you a griller? What’s your favorite food to grill?

5 from 1 vote

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Grilled Scallops and Grits

This is summer comfort food at its finest. Scallops caramelize perfectly on the grill and can be done in just two minutes. Serve atop cheesy grits and some crispy panko for a complete meal.

Course: Entree

Servings: 4 servings

Author: We are not Martha

Ingredients

• 5 T unsalted butter divided
• ⅓ C panko
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 t finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt
• 16 sea scallops each about 2 oz., muscle removed and patted dry
• 1 ¼ t Cajun seasoning
• 4 scallions ends trimmed
• 1 T hot pepper sauce plus more for topping
• 1 T finely chopped parsley
• Cooked Grits recipe below

Grits:

• 3 ½ C whole milk plus more if needed
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 3/4 t salt
• ¾ C quick-cooking grits
• 4 oz. grated sharp white cheddar cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Pour about 3 T of the butter into a small bowl and set aside, keeping warm.
2. Add panko and minced garlic to the remaining 2 T butter in the skillet and cook until panko is golden, about 3 to 4 minutes, being sure to stir often.
3. Stir in the thyme and about ⅛ teaspoon salt. Remove from the heat.
4. Heat grill for direct cooking over high heat, about 450° to 550°F.
5. In a medium-sized bowl combine the scallops, Cajun seasoning, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Toss scallops in the seasonings and add 2 T melted butter and toss to coat.
6. Place scallops on the grill, flattest side down. Grill over direct high heat, with the lid closed. After one minute, turn scallops with tongs. If scallops are resistant to turning, continue to grill another few seconds. Let scallops cook for another minute on other side, until they're lightly browned and just opaque in the center.
7. During the last minute of grilling time, grill the scallions over direct heat, turning once.
8. Transfer the scallops to a clean bowl and add hot pepper sauce and the remaining 1 T melted butter and toss to coat.
9. Move scallops to cutting board and roughly chop.
10. Divide the grits among four plates. If the've solidified, you can loosen them with a few tablespoons of water or milk and continue to warm through.
11. Top grits with the scallions, scallops, and toasted panko.
12. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately with more hot pepper sauce, if desired.

Grits:

1. In a saucepan combine milk, garlic, and ¾ teaspoon salt.
2. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and then slowly whisk in grits.
3. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, until the mixture thickens and the grits are very tender, about 6 to 9 minutes. Be sure to whisk often. Add more water water ¼ cup at a time if the mixture thickens too much.
4. Stir in cheddar cheese and season with pepper. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Full disclosure: Weber sent me the Q Grill, but didn’t require me to write a post. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.