Seared Scallops with Risotto alla Milanese

This was seared scallops with risotto alla Milanese.

It happened to be six sea scallops in the refrigerator that needed to be eaten on the day. There was not much anything else in the refrigerator. And we didn't have a plan to go to a grocery store. Tomato sauce pasta with scallop? No, we just had pasta from a local Italian restaurant recently. Ok, think, think, think... This dish was born in such a circumstance. Simple seared scallops on the top of simple creamy risotto. At least I had onion, rice, saffron, about one and half a cup of chicken broth, white wine, and Parmesan cheese to complete the risotto. And it was a dish I can cook without any recipe. A easy task.

To sear scallops, I adapted a recipe from Alton Brown. It was quite simple: season scallops with pepper and salt, heat butter and olive oil, and sear scallops 1 1/2 minutes each side. This method worked very well, creating brown crispy top and bottom and tender inside. But the recipe didn't tell me how much it would create smoke. The smoke detector on the ceiling reacted before I seared the second side of the scallops. Even with consideration of the noisy alarm accident and the strong smoke smell in the entire house, the dinner was worthy.