Valentine Scallops on Red Pepper Beds with Béarnaise Sauce

Here is a fancy dish worthy of a Valentine's offering.  Featuring seared scallops laying in a bed of red pepper and red ramen rice, blanketed by a rich Béarnaise sauce.  I'd love anyone who made this for me.

A nice thing about this dish is that you can make at least half of it in advance - something you will definitely want to consider if you make this on Valentine's day or for guests.
10 oz Ramen Black Rice noodles, 4 squares (see Cook’s Note)
2 medium red peppers, halved, seeded and trimmed of white ribs

1 Tbsp butter
2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and sliced
1/2 medium purple Bermuda onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Béarnaise Sauce:
1/2 stick butter, 4 Tbsp gently melted in microwave
2 egg yolks
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
pinch salt and pepper

Advanced Preparation

Get ahead of yourself and prepare in advance, several hours if you like. Heat a grill or grill pan to high. Spray the pepper halves with olive oil and grill them over high heat 6-8 minutes per side, flipping twice. Watch them carefully, flipping at least every 3 minutes. You want a nicely charred, but not completely burnt presentation.

Place peppers on a plate, season with salt and pepper, and allow to sit at room temperature, covered with a paper towel until the remainder of the dish is ready.

Set a pot with 6 cups water to the boil for the ramen noodles. Salt the boiling water with a few teaspoons salt and cook the noodles, watching carefully for about 4 minutes. Break apart gently with a fork as they cook and taste for toothy consistency. When just cooked, drain well.

Return to the pot off of the heat. Add a dash of olive oil and gently toss with tongs. Set aside, in a non-metallic bowl, covered, ready to be reheated in the microwave.

Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet, and gently soften the leeks and purple onion over medium heat. As then heat up, add a tablespoon water and continue cooking as the water evaporates. This helps soften the leeks with out burning. After the water has evaporated, and the leeks and onions have softened considerably, about 8-10 minutes, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook another 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside, covered.

Now everything is about ready to serve. Make sure all place settings are ready. You will only have two more things to do - make the sauce, and sear the scallops.

Last Minute Preparation

One. Prepare the Béarnaise sauce. Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave for only about a minute - only just until melted, but NOT until all the water is vigorously boiled off - watch carefully.

Have a few tablespoons water and a spoon at the ready on the side: Heat about 1 to 2 cups water to boiling in a medium saucepan or double boiler. Whisk together the egg yolks with the lemon juice in a small metal bowl (or top of a double boiler) until golden and very yellow. When water boils, turn down to a gentle simmer and place bowl (or top) over boiling water. Whisking regularly, start adding the butter in many small increments to the egg yolk mix, as you blend while whisking - boy is this a great opportunity for one of your Valentine sweethearts to lend a helping hand! Otherwise, pay attention and focus on this - do not attend to do anything else. Once the sauce has thickened, add the tarragon, and remove from the heat. Adjust the thickness of the sauce with the water on the side as needed. This may take a few teaspoons. Add the salt and pepper to taste,and remove from heat.

Two. Sear the scallops. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium and add a dash olive oil. When hot, add the scallops and allow to brown on as high a heat as you are willing with the pan you have (ceramic nonstick skillets allow you to go to higher heat, but any pan will work just fine). Sear the scallops for about 2-3 minutes per side. You might want to keep the overhead fan on high.

Ready to eat - assemble. Reheat leeks gently in pan, if necessary. Reheat noodles on microwave for a minute if necessary. Place a quarter of the noodles on each of four plates and place one half red pepper on noodles. Top red pepper with softened leeks and about 4-5 scallops. Top with Béarnaise sauce.

Viola - an act of love.

Serves 4.

Cook’s Note: Red rice ramen comes in individual cakes ready to cook quickly.

 I used some from Lotus Foods.

If you can’t find red rice ramen, any noodle or favorite rice would be just fine as a bed. Improvise.

If you really don't want to have any smell of searing scallops, for example, if your home is an open living plan, you might just want to sauté the scallops gently in a non-stick skillet, instead.  They will be wonderful no matter which way to cook them.