We originally started out the title of this post with “Scallops”, only out of habit, to mention the main ingredient first. But nomenclature protocol certainly didn’t make sense to us in this case . Although the scallops are a delicious and important element to this dish, it wasn’t the scallops, the brown butter, nor the thyme infused olive oil that made the hair on our arms stand up and our mouths sing with flavor. It was the tomatoes. OOG….oh our goodness….it was the sun gold tomatoes.
Ahhh, sun gold tomatoes, three magnificent words in the plant kingdom that should be crowned as the king of cherry tomatoes. Sun golds are not just any ordinary variety of cherry tomato. They are luscious, juicy and insanely sweet, like the way a perfect tree ripened fruit should taste. These tomatoes taste just like that: a prized, mini morsel of fresh, fruit dessert. We had our first taste of sun golds from Chef Andrew Sutton’s (Napa Rose Restaurant) Sweet pea ravioli and sun gold tomato puree dish at last April’s Disney Wine and Food Festival. The naturally sweet tomato sauce drove us mad, searching out nurseries for sun gold tomato plants. Our garden just HAVE to have sun golds, we just had to grow these amazing tomatoes and we wanted it now! Fortunately we found the plants, but it would have to take another 3 months of maturity to have a decent harvest.
perfectly orange, vine ripened sun gold tomato
We recently made an heirloom tomato and shiso salad, using some garden sun golds. But if you recall, we had a midnight tomato thief: a greedy, tomato loving possum that kept eating our prized tomatoes. Like Manggy said, the possum has “good taste”! But even if this tomato burglar graduated from the CIA, it’s never justified to steal a gardeners prized bounty, especially when these poor, impatient gardeners (us) waited so long to have a harvest. So out of panic, we picked the sun golds while they were still yellow because we wanted to eat what we could before the possum beat us to the bounty again. For that last salad, the tomatoes were still sweet, but not fully ripe yet. We didn’t know the full potential of the tomatoes at full maturity, until yesterday.
plump and pretty
It was a fight to the tomato finish! After our clever technique of putting little traps (quite harmless) around the tomato plants to scare off the possums from a life of tomato crime, our sun golds finally had a chance to mature on the vine to an orange color. The plan for our little basket full of sun golds was to make a tomato confit, alongside some seared scallops for dinner. But after biting into a tomato and relishing in the shock of sweet paradise, there was no way in the world for these tomatoes to be subject to oven heat. They just needed to be eaten right off the vine and maybe tossed with a little olive oil.
delicate tarragon
That’s exactly what we did: tossed the tomatoes with olive oil infused with some crushed garlic and garden tarragon. To keep to the integrity of the sun golds natural, crazy sweetness, we kept the dish simple, pure and perfect. The scallops were quickly seared with a little grape seed oil, dressed with a little brown butter indulgence and we had an amazing dinner that was far easier and quicker than our original plan. The combination of brown buttered scallops and sweet tomatoes was perfectly satisfying for our late night meal. Needless to say, we had a beautiful nights sleep from the meal and the possums had another restless and tomato-less night!
mmm, brown butter.
Print This Recipe
Sun Gold Tomato & Scallop Recipe
Ingredients:
6 scallops
1 pound sun gold tomatoes. quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 Tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
3 Tablespoons of brown butter. Michael Rhulman’s technique and explanation is great HERE.
sea salt
black pepper
grape seed oil or canola oil for searing scallops
1. Make brown butter.
2. Mix olive oil, garlic and fresh tarragon in bowl.
3. Blot scallops with paper towels to remove excess juices. Heat pan to medium/high heat. Sprinkle sea salt on both flat sides of scallops. Place scallops on hot pan. Sear each side for about 1-2 minutes, until a nice brown crust forms. Do not overcook! They will become rubbery and bounce off your pan!
4. Place tomatoes on serving plate and drizzle with olive oil mixture. Do not pre-toss the quartered tomatoes with the oil because they are so delicate. The tomatoes might break apart and lose their shape.
5. Place about 2 scallops on bed of tomatoes.
6. Drizzle scallops with a little brown butter. Season with fresh cracked black pepper, optional.
Serves 2-3
We’ve been eating a lot of scallops lately, maybe you will too after visiting more of these amazing scallop dishes:
- Matt’s scallops with red onion confit, toasted pine nuts and sage oil
- Matt’s scallops with frisee, beans and chili
- Jaden’s Mussels with lemongrass curry broth and scallops too!
If you made scallops, please link away because we’re always looking for some great new scallop recipes!
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{ 64 comments… read them below or add one }
Nom nom nom! My tomatoes aren’t ready yet, so I’ll just have to drool over yours.
Sungolds are popular with my friends who have vegetable gardens, and lucky me, I’m often invited to pick my own. They rarely make it home, though, because a sungold picked from the vine and eaten right there in the garden is the very best thing in the world! If I ever make it to your garden, hold on to your tomatoes!
Wow, the tomatoes starred in this dish? They HAD to be good, tough to top scallops but I hear ya…a rare but most satisfying taste.
Oh, that is a beautiful dish, you guys! I must confess I have a weakness for scallops, but those gorgeously colored tomatoes just brighten it up. And to think I passed on a pack of similarly-colored ones at the market yesterday because they weren’t red enough! I’m a tomato-cist!
I can’t decide which looks more mouthwatering – the tomatoes or those scallops! They’re both gorgeous! I planted a few Sun Gold plants this year, so hopefully, I’ll be able to recreate this beautiful dish soon.
oh sun golds… lucky lucky you…poor poor possum!
Those gorgeous little tomatoes would never have made it into the dish if I was there… straight from the vine into my waiting mouth – thank you very much!
Well, I can’t eat the tomatoes(allergice) but the scallops look perfect.
i saw these babies in the supermarket the other day! boyyy they are sooo adorable! the scallops look gigantic beside them eh? hehe
what beautiful ‘maters! so far, my four plants have yielded a grand total of six tomatoes. hopefully, they’ll become a little more prolific in the future.
Don’t hate me cause I don’t like tomatoes. I wish I did. They always look so tasty and delicious in every dish I see posted and I want to like them so badly…but I just don’t.
I would eat up all those scallops though!
BTW – LOVE THE NEW HEADER!!!
Beautiful! I love scallops and my own tomatoes are awaiting maturity. They’re now a bright red (Sweet Baby Girl is the variety, I think), but still a little hard, so a few more days should finish them up. Hopefully no pesky possums on my end. Looks like you guys recovered well from the blog crash… everything looks great!
Awesome, awesome awesome. What a great combination guys. Those tomatoes do look amazing. Great to see that you decided not to cook them. Talk about a great, light, fast evening meal!
I’m quite envious of your garden! I’m a little bit of a tomato freak, so its about time I start growing my own.
The scallops looked seared to perfection. YUM!
I know so little about tomatoes and the many varieties. I’ll have to keep an eye out for these–and glad to know they survived the backyard critters long enough for you to enjoy them! The scallops look like a delicious way to enjoy them
Beautiful looking, and what a delicious combination. I love Sungolds and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the single Sungold plant in my garden comes through for me. (Darn! Why didn’t I plant more?!) I’ll keep this in mind if they do. (Or maybe I’ll just have to break down and buy some Sungolds at the farmers’ market.)
I adore those tomatoes. how pretty. THis look very easy to make.
This is the most gorgeous recipe I’ve seen all day. I LOVE brown butter. I LOOOVE scallops. And those tomatoes are absolutely sinful! Amazing recipe!
This looks sooo good. Love those tomatoes: we have grown them before but not this year. I would blame that on our ‘thief’ it may well have been your possum’s cousin! And tarragon, shucks I missed finding that at the nursery this year too. Tarragon seems so perfectly matched with scallops! We’ll have to try this one.
I just copies this one to my recipe list. I too am always looking for new ways to make scallops. I was making them almost every week for a while but they got boring! Need new accompaniments, new sauces, etc. Looking forward to this one, if I can find the tomatoes.
Amazing sungolds? I think amazing you! What a simply and beautifully constructed dish highlighting one of my favorite summer tomato gems.
There is nothing better than some nice home grown tomatoes. Great looking dish.
Ooo…lovely! Nice combo! I bet the possums are banging their head against the wall now.
oh no. these are fantastic! i adore scallops and these are making me drool so bad, right in the office!! love it. x
This looks really amazing indeed!~
PS I had to laugh again at the thought of a possum graduating the CIA…. Bwah!
I was going to say ‘nom, nom, nom’, but I see someone’s already beaten me to it.
Nom, anyways.
What beautiful tomato specimens!
My only concern would be that the tomatoes would overpower the scallops. I take it that wasn’t the case, then?
These are simply beautiful. The tomatoes and the scallops. Looking at these photos is making me hungry and it’s much too early in the morning for that.
Such gorgeous scallops. Perfectly seared and succulent-looking!
My Localvores of CO group was just featured at http://www.redwhiteandgrewblog.com and I listed you as one of my favorite blogs! This recipe will have new fans coming back for more and more. Yum. No fruit on our hail-battered tomato plants yet, but at least we have some blooms.
eHugs from the High Plains ~ Dani
Mmmmm …. you had me at browned butter
I can only imagine how bountiful your garden is right now — I remember the video garden tour. Would love to see an updated video of how the garden is doing now that it’s Summer!
p.s. Bobby says ‘woof’ to the pups
So pretty indeed! Wow, your description has my mouth watering. This looks like a perfect summer dish.
Pretty… just pretty.
I have another title for you.. PER..FE..CTION.
Those sungold tomatoes look precious and the combination of flavor is ..well.. perfect! Nice job.
Great pictures. Fresh tomatoes are so good, you eat them like candies.
I wish I could get beautiful tomatoes like that, they looks so perfect!
hmmmn… if only it’s possible to eat my ‘puter… amazing, amazing dish and the pics are fabulous!
I love how you concentrated on the beautiful sweet, ripe tomatoes. For me, they are one of the best things about summer. The smell of them too. I love how you focused on them as the main ingredient. Of course, scallops and brown butter sounds gorgeous too!
beautiful!! I dream of one day having a garden like the one you guys have! Those tomatoes look amazing! How do you expect me to go to my kitchen and cook with my genetically modified, tasteless tomatoes after seeing this : (
can tomatoes grow in a small pot (like the ones I’m using for my rosemary and basil)?
Thanks for stopping by my site – I just saw this post and you’ve combined two of my favorite foods – scallops and tomatoes. Sun golds are absolutely delicious, but I’m just looking forward to local, sun-ripened tomatoes (sounds like they’re going to really start to show up at this week’s farmers markets). I must say I think I’d stick with thyme and skip the tarragon.
To Tony – I grow grape tomatoes in larger pots – I think they’re about 2 feet deep and 18 inches wide and usually they do fine on my deck (I live in a condo). I usually put two stakes in each pot and tie them off to those for support.
perfect… just perfect… really looks sooooo delicious….
Gorgeous! I’m dying to make some scallops in kataifi pastry. Got the pastry, just need to pop out for some scallops. Thing is, it seems like something you cook for an occasion. Would Friday suffice, you think?
i agree with you guys this dish is indeed amazing!! i love it..i havent tried yet this combo: of tarragon and scallops !! really yummy
I have to get some sun golds! Those sound delicious.
gah. this looks so good. scallops + brown butter = heaven. i wish we were neighbors.
This is a REAL recipe…you know the kind, where you read it and you immediately know not only that you HAVE to make it but when….I’ll be making this Saturday night…it sounds incredible…I’m sure Pike Place Market will have some sun gold tomatoes!! Nan
we adore tarragon, and with tomatoes it’s something else. gorgeous tomatoes you have.
So jealous! Our sungolds haven’t ripened yet. We don’t have possums in our yard (knock on wood) but we do have little kiddies with impatient appetites for these sweet beauties. Unfortunately, a few ripening but not ready sungolds fell victim to them. But we’re not setting out traps just yet
Have you ever tried sungold sorbet? It’s the BOMB.
Oh how I wish I could figure out how to grow tomatoes in Florida! Your photo of this dish is simply stunning!
Such a sunny, gorgeous dish. Congrats on growing such beautiful tomatoes – though I have to say that I love scallops a lot …
I am guessing your dogs are not possum hunters. Scallops are one of my all time favorites (I like them with sweet potatoes) but I can’t wait for my tomatoes to ripen so I can try this…I hope our back yard possum dosn’t find my tomatoes
Heirloom tomato season is one of the most anticipated parts of the year for me. I’m so undeniably jealous of you garden fresh ones. Nomnomnomnomnom… that’s me licking my computer screen.
I’m a big scallop fan, but those tomatoes do look good
Heirloom tomatoes are soooo good and a great combination of ingredients with the scallops.
Those scallops look fantastic! I had a pretty good crop of tomatoes last Summer, but most of them didn’t go into anything more imaginative than a decent bowl of pasta
looks wonderful. thanks for letting us know about sungolds. i’m definitely giving them a whirl if i ever see them! i’ve gotta eat me some scallops soon!
awww. so sad my scallops didn’t make it to the top 3!!
girl, these scallops look amazing, even though I don’t eat shellfish!!!
and isn’t so cool to grow your own veggies? the tomatoes are beautiful.
Wow….the scallops look beautiful and you are so lucky to have such a lovely garden!
I had forgotten just how good scallops could be. Their inherent sweetness is incredible. I love your recipe. It’s so elegant and refined. This Sunday Farmer’s market inspired me to purchase some fresh tarragon…And I’ve been cooking and experimenting with it ever since. Thanks for giving me such a beautiful recipe to try out!
Here’s a great recipe I adapted from Alice Water’s Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook:
http://foodwoolf.blogspot.com/2008/07/proscuitto-wrapped-scallops-french.html
happy cooking,
Brooke
I just made scallops last night-yours looks really nice. Have you tried searing in rice bran oil? ths smoke point is so high and no real taste…
Hey guys. Just wanted to tell you I made these on Monday with brown butter and one orange tomato and one yellow tomato. Not sun golds, to be sure, but pretty dang good nonetheless. Thanks!
We tried to link to the recipe and it would not. Could you send it to us? We’d love to try it.
Thanks
thanx for the recipe. I’m trying to impress a girl with seared scallops and I think this will do
thanx!
I have never seen food photos as tempting as these! Irrestable! However, I clicked the link to get the recipe, and it turned out to be a bad link. I don’t find a link to your e-mail. Will someone please tell me how to get this recipe?
Sorry about the broken link. We’ve now put the recipe up on the post. Thanks for the compliments and the interest. -WORC