A "New" Pan

I must be one of the few people in the world who does not own a non stick pan. I have read all of the articles on pan fumes killing canaries, and the material that most nonstick cooking surfaces are made of: Teflon, or polytetrafluoroethylene.

"PFOA is used in the manufacture of fluorine-containing polymers, materials such as Teflon that repel water and resist staining by oil and grease. In addition to nonstick cooking surfaces, consumer applications include microwave popcorn bags and pizza delivery boxes. Because PFOA -- a synthetic industrial chemical that as far as we know does not exist in nature -- is, according to the EPA, "very persistent in the environment, [has been] found at very low levels both in the environment and in the blood of the general U.S. population, and [has] caused developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals." Although research on the environmental and health implications of PFOA has been fragmentary and no correlation between PFOA exposure and human cancer has been found, calls are being made in the United States and as far away as Australia to ban the chemical entirely. "

SHEESH! Sounds awful risky! Having read articles like the above, I decided to abstain from the non-stick cooking world. Until yesterday......

We have a social club at work that has periodic raffles to raise money for said club. I buy the raffle tickets and have never, in one year, won any prize. This week, the prize was a very good quality teflon pan. It is a heavy gauge pan that purportedly can go in the oven and can caramelize food quite nicely. I won the raffle. I thought that if I was going to use a teflon pan, it should be a top quality pan. I went out on a limb........ Tonight I decided to try out the pan. This is what I came up with.

Seared Scallops with Rose Beurre Blanc

We came back from B.C. with a nice rose wine made from pinot grapes from le vieux pins in Oliver B.C. The rose tints the shallots and the sauce a beautiful pink. Be sure to saute the shallots until translucent.

Sauce
1 large shallot, diced very fine
1 cup cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1/2 cup good quality rose wine
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp whipping cream
salt and pepper
zest of 1 lemon


Saute the shallots until translucent, in some of the butter. Add the wine and vinegar and reduce until syrupy. Remove from heat. Add the butter, one cube at a time, whisking until butter is melted. Add the whipping cream and keep warm until required. Season with the salt and pepper and very fine lemon zest. If the sauce splits, add a few drops of hot water and whisk or blend to repair.

Scallops

2 to 3 large sea scallops per person
Salt and pepper

Season scallops and sear in a good quality non stick pan. Sear the first side for less than 2 minutes. Turn scallops to sear other side. Scallops should be not quite done in the centre, just like a medium rare steak.

Spoon sauce onto plate and then place scallops on top

We served these scallops with some zucchini that was tossed with fresh thyme and butter. Delish!