Bay Scallops Ceviche
WHITE WINE & LIME BRINED BAY SCALLOPS SPICY CEVICHE FEATURING SOUTH AMERICAN WINES
It’s no secret I’m a big fan of wine. We love to cook with it and drink it. I had the change to sample a group of vine types from South America, that are currently being sold at Heinen’s, and they’re delicious.
The Bramare, Santa Julia’s and Zuccardi Q are a well rounded variety for your dinner table.
Argentina is the 5th largest wine producing country in the world, Argentina got its start in the wine world in 1557 with cuttings from Chile from Spanish missionaries.
Mendoza is the epicenter of Argentine wine, producing over 70% of the country’s wine. In the 1980’s, the focus of Argentina shifted from quantity to quality and to export, through the help of “flying winemakers” from Europe and US.
Enologists focused on malbec (brought from France’s Cahors region, known as cot there), torrontés (aromatic white grape originating from malvasia grape family), and bonarda (also known as Charbono or douce noir, originating in Savoie, France).
Other varietals with success are traditional vitis vinifera from Europe: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay.
Cooler, southern-most climates (Patagonia) also make amazing pinot noir. Mendoza is amazing: most elevated growing region in the world (as high as 5000 feet elevation, a mile in the air!)
Argentina’s climactic influences (geographic isolation, flood irrigation, lack of humidity, and extreme elevation) also make organic, biodynamic, and sustainable farming practices quite easy and inexpensive in Argentina!
This white torrontes by Santa Julia was my pick to use as a marinade with lime juice for the bay scallops. All of these wines can be paired with the ceviche! They all balance out the spiciness and acidity of the scallops and marinade and personally, we like the cab franc the best!
Make sure all additional ingredients are fresh, and we found some lovely frozen bay scallops at Heinen’s that are such a nice size, and minimal fishiness. After they thaw, make sure you marinate them in the lime and wine mixture for exactly an hour at room temperature.
BAY SCALLOPS CEVICHE RECIPE
Ingredients
3/4 lbs bay scallops, or quartered scallops
juice of 5 limes
1/4 cup Santa Julia Torrontes
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 large english cucumber, halved and sliced
1 large shallot, sliced thin
3 scallions, chopped
1 avocado, halved and chopped
1/4 cup small red pepper and jalapeno pepper, minced
1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley
2 tablespoons minced garlic
olive oil
1 teaspoon sambel alek chili sauce
1 cup chopped Boston lettuce for tossing ceviche
Instructions
In a medium bowl, marinate the bay scallops in the combined wine and 1/2 of the lime juice. Add a little salt and pepper. Let sit for exactly an hour at room temperature.
About 10 minutes before the scallops are done resting in the brine juice, start mixing the cucumbers, shallots, scallions, avocado chunks, peppers, Boston lettuce and parsley in a new bowl.
In a measuring cup or small bowl, mix the remaining lime juice with olive oil and chili paste.
When ready to serve, mix the scallops that were set aside with the vegetable mixture and lime oil mixture.
After the scallops are done marinating in the brine, remove from that bowl, and discard juice.
