One of my favorites…

This is a recipe based on an appetizer dish(one of my favorites) at Purple Cafe and Wine bar(3 locations), which I will review in the next post. Still sick, so not writing very much. Enjoy your week!

Bacon Wrapped Sea Scallops with Blackberry Port Sauce

1 lb. sea scallops
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 TBSP olive oil
1 lb. sliced bacon( pre cooked in oven….see note)
salt to taste

Preheat broiler. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel. Dip scallops in melted butter. Sprinkle both sides of scallops with salt. Wrap each with 1/2 slice of bacon. Fasten with toothpick.
In a saute pan that can be placed in the oven, set pan on medium-high heat with olive oil in it. After two minutes sear each scallop for one minute on each side. Transfer to the oven to broil. Broil, turning once, for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Serve with a blackberry port sauce.

Note: Bake bacon in oven at 400F for about 10 minutes to help the crisping. The 5  minutes under the broiler usually does not get the bacon crisp enough. If you do not like crispy bacon you can skip this step).

Blackberry Port Sauce

1 cup blackberries
1 cup port wine
3 Tablespoons sugar, plus sugar to taste

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blackberries, port, and sugar(The amount of sugar will depend on the sweetness of the berries). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by 1/3 and the berries are tender (about 25 minutes).  Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender and puree until smooth (about 35 seconds). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small, clean saucepan and set aside.