seared scallops in saffron white wine sauce, sauteed chard,

Two rules: shellfish goes great with saffron, and saffron dissolves in water, not oil.

Sauteed chard

1. Sautee 1/2 diced onion and 2 cloves of sliced garlic.
2. Cut the stems out of a single bunch of well-washed chard (either green or red works well), and cut into 1 inch strips. You could braise these greens, in which case you’d leave the stems, but that’s a different recipe.
3. Put them in your sautee pan and stir over medium heat until they soften.
4. Sprinkle a few chile flakes and some lemon juice, season with some salt.

Seared scallops in saffron/white wine sauce
1. Keeping the rule in mind, take a small cup of dry white wine (about a half a cup), and put a small pinch of saffron in. In a few minutes, it steeps and gives a pretty intense yellow liquid.

2. Dry the scallops well, and season with salt. If you want, you can dredge in a little corn starch or flour, especially if they’re not as dry as you want them to be.
3. Pan sear over high heat in a mixture of oil and butter, basting them constantly, flipping every 15-30 seconds as they allow. This will depend on what kind of pan you use, how much fat, the water content of the scallops, etc. If you have nice dry scallops, use a stainless skillet. If you’re worried that they’re wet, use the nonstick, and don’t worry if they don’t brown. When in doubt use more butter/oil than you think you need, but tilt your pan so that you use this more as a basting liquid than a deep fry.
4. When they’re done (for me rare to medium rare), let them rest on a wire rack while you finish the sauce.
5. In your skillet, pour off the fat, and add the wine/saffron combination. Scrape down the pan getting all those little brown bits in the sauce.
6. Strain and spoon over or around the scallops.

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