Warm Scallop Salad with Rice Vinegar Guacamole and Beaujolais Blanc Pan Sauce

Serves 3 - 4

• 20 oz fresh New England dry-pack sea scallops - about 16 scallops (the ones in the photo here were from New Bedford, Mass.)
• 1 very ripe avocado
• about 4 Tb best extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small clove garlic, pressed
• dash hot sauce
• about 2 Tb rice vinegar
• 3 Tb unsalted butter
• about 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 oz fresh kohlrabi bulb
• very fresh mixed mild salad greens
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 fresh lemon

Shave the kohlrabi into very thin strips. (I used a mandoline.) Toss the strips with 1Tb of the rice vinegar and a little bit of salt. Set aside.

Approximately 20 minutes before you are going to cook them, pat the scallops dry with paper towels. Toss them with 2Tb of the olive oil and a small amount of salt and pepper. Set aside at room temperature.

Peel the avocado. Place in a small mixing bowl with the garlic, hot sauce, about 2Tb of the olive oil, and about 1Tb of the vinegar. Mash thoroughly with a fork. (Adjust the balance of oil and vinegar to taste. You want it slightly more tart than you might expect, to cut the richness of the scallops and the butter to come.) Season conservatively with salt and pepper.

Heat a large non-stick skillet to very hot over a high flame. Set the oiled scallops in the pan on the flat sides, with a little space between. When they start to brown on one side (see photo), turn each one using tongs. They are done when opaque all the way through. Taste one to make sure. This will probably take about 2 minutes per side. When done, set aside. Pour the wine into the pan and reduce by about a third. Remove pan from heat entirely. Whisk in in the butter. Add a few drops of lemon juice to taste.

Place the greens on plates. Decorate with the marinated kohlrabi. Place a large spoonful of the avocado mixture on each plate. Add scallops. Drizzle the pan sauce over the scallops and the salad.

Serve with French bread and a good white Burgundy. I used an awesome, affordable 2013 Beaujolais Blanc purchased at Rosemont Market in Yarmouth. It was $13.99 before any case discount.