+ Fiesta Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail recipe inspired by Marcela Valladolid from The Food Network’s Mexican Made Easy +
This is a fun new take on your basic shrimp cocktail and it’s super easy to make. The recipe was inspired by one of my favorite Food Network Chef’s Marcela Valladolid from The Kitchen and Mexican Made Easy Fame. I of course had to put a little WhipperBerry spin on it. Instead of poaching the scallops, I actually pan seared my scallops and then chilled them. It added a little more depth to the flavor of the scallop and I love it. Also, rather than starting from scratch with my cocktail sauce, I use a commercially prepared cocktail sauce as my base and then doctored it with some of Marcela’s ingredients. Here’s the recipe…
- 1 lb. cooked shrimp (peeled, deveined, tail off)
- 8 large sea scallops
- 3 cups cocktail sauce
- 1 large lime (juiced)
- ½ of a serrano chili (finely diced)
- ¼ teaspoon of Tabasco Soy Sauce
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt and pepper
- In a large bowl or large canning jar, mix your cocktail sauce, lime juice, serrano chili, and spicy Tabasco soy sauce. Mix well, cover and let chill in the refrigerator for a least 30 minutes.
- Prepare scallops by rinsing gently with cold water, removing the "foot" a little flap that you will find on the side of the scallop. Just pull it off and discard. Completely dry the scallops and set on paper towel to absorb any moisture.
- In a skillet, add olive oil and set over high heat. Once the pan it hot, add the scallops and turn down the heat to medium high.
- Let the scallop cook for 2 minutes or until seared (brown) on one side and then flip over to sear the other side for another 2 minutes. Remove from the pan. Let cool and then store in an air tight container with a paper towel at the bottom, in the refrigerator until chilled and ready to use.
- When ready to serve, cut the scallops in half and place in a medium sized bowl. Add the shrimp making sure they are rinsed, dried and tail removed, into the bowl. Cover with cocktail sauce and combine. Place in serving cups with a small stock of celery to garnish.