Scallop, Sweet Onion, and Papaya Kebobs

From the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart

Serves

8

Introduction

Beautiful to look at, easy to prepare, these kebobs combine the delicious flavors of sea scallops with warm, sweet caramelized papaya hot off the grill. We recommend large sea scallops for this dish–bay scallops are too small to thread on skewers. We also call for frozen pearl onions because they are far more readily available than fresh, but if you have fresh, by all means use them.

Ingredients

	32	large sea scallops (2 to 2½ pounds total)
	2	ripe papayas, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch cubes
	32	frozen pearl onions, defrosted
	~	Vegetable oil, for brushing
	~	Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
	2	limes, cut into 4 wedges each
	~	You will need a total of 16 metal or wooden skewers, 12-inches long. If they are shorter, use 6 to 8 more. Wooden skewers should be soaked in water for 20 minutes before assembling kebobs

Steps

1. Build a direct fire in a large, kettle-style charcoal grill (see About Grilling). Place scallops in a colander, rinse under cold running water, and pat dry with paper towels. Thread scallops, papaya cubes, and onions onto skewers in the following order: 1 papaya cube, 1 scallop, 2 onions, 1 scallop, and 1 papaya cube. Place assembled kebobs on a platter. Brush both sides of kebobs with vegetable oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
2. When fire is hot, place scallops on grill perpendicular to the grill slats. Cover with lid (vents open) and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and cook until brown and done, about 3 minutes longer. Serve 2 skewers per person on warm plates accompanied with a wedge of lime.

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