Scallop Hush Puppies With Lemon Allioli Dipping Sauce

In Tucker's endless attempts to corrupt me (and make me die young), he made bay scallop hush puppies. Seriously, where does he get these ideas? Oh yeah, from the cook books, I give him. This instant favorite was from Rick Moonen's Fish Without A Doubt (our copy is SIGNED by Rick from when I went to his restaurant in Las Vegas!  Boom toasted).

Before you get too anxious about not having the right equipment, we did not use a deep fryer for this. We use a dutch oven and a thermometer, oh, and a ton of oil.

Scallop Hush Puppies With Lemon Allioli Dipping Sauce


Ingredients
FOR FRITTERS
1/2 cup milk
1 TBS white vinegar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 pound frozen bay scallops
fresh ground white pepper
canola oil for deep frying

FOR ALLIOLI
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large egg yolks
fresh lemon juice


Instructions
FOR FRITTERS

• Whisk milk and vinegar together, let sit while you do the rest of the prep. It will thicken and look a bit curdled
• In another bowl, whisk cornmeal, floug, baking soda, salt, and some white pepper
• Heat 3 or more inches of oil in the dutch oven to 350-365F
• When ready to fry, add milk mixture and egg to dry ingredients, stir until smooth. Fold in scallops
• Lift scallops out one my one and drop into hot oil, fry until golden
• Remove hush puppies with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels or drying rack

FOR ALLIOLI
In blender, purée garlic, salt, cayenne pepper, and 2 teaspoons oil until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add yolks and lemon juice and blend until smooth. With motor running, very slowly add remaining 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons oil in thin, steady stream, blending until allïoli is thick, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Serve fritters hot, with allioli dipping sauce and fresh lemon wedges