Seared Sea Scallops with Coconut Cream Green Chile Sauce and Coconut Cream Bacon Bits

What an amazing adventure into the coconut world. All the facts and questions you could ever think of will be answered on the Tropical Traditions website. As our sponsor for this challenge, they gave us a few options on what product we could choose. I chose the Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate (aka coconut butter). Even though I love to bake and they do offer coconut flour, I felt like stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new.  And new it was. The hardest thing was finding unsmoked raw bacon. I had to go to a true meat provider and order it. If it's not available to you, it can easily be omitted, but it really brings a twist to this dish. 

Seared Sea Scallops with Coconut Cream Green Chile Sauce and Coconut Cream Bacon Bits

by Traci B.
adapted from Habanero/Coconut Sauce by Paul Young on the Food Network

First of all, I have 6 medium to large scallops. I have them dried and standing by.

Bacon Prep:
3 slabs bacon

2 Tablespoons Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate

Place coconut cream concentrate into a Ziploc bag and microwave approximately 15 seconds to soften it up. Mix the bacon into the cream. I let it sit until I finished up my cream sauce.

Sauce Prep:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 small green chili peppers, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate
Salt and pepper to taste

Over medium heat, sauté oil, onion, and chili peppers. Let cool slightly and add mixture into a blender. Pulse until it is mixed smoothly. Add stock and coconut cream. Blend well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

In a dry medium frying pan, cook bacon over medium-low heat, just until crispy. Let drain on paper towels. Add your scallops into the pan and sear good on each side. They will pick up the bits and pieces of the coconut cream that was left in the pan. That is a plus! Rough chop your bacon.

Plate your scallops, dollop with cream sauce and top with bacon bits.

It is a combination that is just amazing. The coconut cream sauce can also be used with shrimp, or even a crab cake. Take a trip over to Tropical Traditions and discover why they are America's source for coconut oil. A fantastic product line awaits you, including their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!