SCALLOPS WITH BEURRE ROUGE

Scallops with Beurre Rouge image

Yield Makes 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 8

3/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup Zinfandel or other dry red wine
1/2 cup minced shallots
2 fresh tarragon sprigs
1/2 teaspoon whole white or black peppercorns
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 6 pieces, plus 2 teaspoons butter
16 sea scallops, halved horizontally
Additional fresh tarragon sprigs (optional)

Steps:

Combine vinegar, wine, shallots, 2 tarragon sprigs and peppercorns in heavy small saucepan. Boil until mixture is reduced to § cup, about 20 minutes. Strain into bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Return liquid to saucepan; discard solids in strainer. Bring liquid to simmer over medium-low heat. Whisk in § cup butter, 1 piece at a time, allowing each piece to melt before adding the next (do not boil). Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; cover saucepan to keep warm.
Melt 2 teaspoons butter in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add scallops and cook just until opaque in center, about 1 minute per side. Spoon sauce onto plates. Arrange scallops atop sauce. Garnish with additional tarragon sprigs, if desired, and serve.