A wooden board with bacon wrapped scallops on it.

Cedar Plank Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Basil Vinaigrette

This recipe is from Lime in the Coconut’s blog! We just loved it so much we had to share it!

We have added a couple of notes at the bottom to enhance your grilling experience.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 untreated cedar plank
  • 10 scallops
  • 10 strips of bacon
  • olive oil for drizzling
  • cooking spray
  • salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette: (As seen in Food & Wine magazine’s June 2009 issue)

  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 1 cup packed basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
  • pinch of crushed red pepper
  • salt and pepper

For the scallops:

  • Soak the cedar plank ahead of time in a bucket of water for two to four hours. You’ll need to weight it down with a brick or a heavy pot or pan because it will float to the top.
    Meanwhile, rinse your scallops. Wrap each scallop in a strip of bacon. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Heat your grill. Once hot, place your plank on the grill grates, spray the plank with a little cooking spray and then line up your scallops on top.
  2. They will take much longer to cook on the cedar plank than they would directly over the flame. So, give it about 25 minutes or so. You’ll see the scallops change color and the bacon start to crisp up of course.
  3. Once they appear done, remove them from the grill and serve with a drizzle of the basil vinaigrette.
  4. For the vinaigrette:
    In a food processor pulse the basil and garlic until finely chopped. Add in the oil, vinegar and pepper. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

OVEN USE:

Place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees Celsius.

When using a grilling plank be sure to put plank on a cookie sheet or place foil underneath to catch drips.

Once the planked food is in the oven turn temperature down to 375.

BBQ USE:

Turn BBQ on high to warm up

Once hot, place your rubbed or marinated food on the plank, skin side down, and onto one side of the BBQ, reduce only that sides temperature to low. Reduce the other sides temperature to medium. (If you have an extremely hot BBQ consider turning the plank side burner off after the plank has started to smolder)

The plank should start to crackle and smolder. This creates the smoke!

Check your plank occasionally, if you have a flare up, which is normal, use a spray bottle filled with water to spritz out the flames. You want your plank to be smoldering, not flaming. Make sure while you’re checking your plank that a very minimal amount of smoke escapes.

Remember that when cooking with a cedar plank your cooking time will double!

When cooked to desired tenderness, carefully remove plank and place on a cookie sheet or foil before plating.

Enjoy!