3TBS Clarified butter (ghee)
1# scallops
salt, pepper, lemon

1. Clean scallops. Remove the side muscle. Use a knife to scape off ant speck of sand; be meticulous, a small speck causes a big CRUNCH when you bite into it!

Lay the cleaned scallops onto a paper towel to dry. If you won't be cooking them for more than 30 minutes, put them uncovered in the fridge.

2. Melt butter and skim off the clear portion to cook with, leaving solids on bottom The clarified portion has a high smoking point. The easiest is to buy Ghee, which is pre-clarified butter

3. Heat the clarified butter in a non-stick skillet. The pros can do it in a regular skillet, but a nonstick skillet really helps to avoid damaging the crust. You can also use a well seasoned cast iron but it also has a tendency to pull of some of the crust. Get the temp to a touch over 400f.

4. Place the scallops in pan starting with the largest. stand them upright, not on their side. Keep them separated. Too many in a batch will drop the temp too much and prevent browning

5. Watch the heat. Here I let it get a little too high. If it gets too cool, browning stops.

6. Turn them when they are nice and brown, They will look less brown on the plate than in the skillet. Then turn off the heat. I don't usually try to brown the bottom. Cook them briefly on the bottom, a little longer if they are really big, and get them out of the pan.

7. Serve. A little salt and lemon is all you really need. If you want to jazz em up, stir a little tomato sauce, sriracha, fresh basil/lemon into the left over butter solids and serve.

Or serve in a soup

Or on a pizza

Or freshly grated wasabi root