I tried to make this - Seared Scallops in mushroom, bacon cream sauce

As you can tell from my recent post, during a recent trial, I became unnaturally attracted to a restaurant in Reno, called Wild River Grill.  One of my favorite dishes there, was the seared scallops in a bacon and mushroom cream sauce.  Below is the Wild River Grill Version.  It was so fantastic, that I decided to try it at home.

After the trial, I defrosted some scallops and bought some mushrooms.  In an unusual, but favorable, turn of events, I had some prosciutto in the fridge.  I also happened to have fresh corn on hand so I really just had to buy the cream to seal the deal.  I think there were onions too.

One interesting problem, was what do you serve as a side dish to an appetizer.  At the restaurant, this dish is just an appetizer.  I was making it for a main course. Hmmm.  When in doubt - french fries.  I got out our mandolin, with a julienne attachment, and decided shoestring potatoes were just the thing.

Problems?  Only one, really.  If I was making this at a restaurant, I would lose all my customers because I took wayyyyyy too long making the sauce.  I just simmered the cream (with everything in it) and out of an overabundance of fear that it would scald, did on rather low heat.  In the future, I am going to just stir more frequently and crank it up.

The potatoes were done in small batches so I could obtain some uniformity.  As I wrote that sentence, I thought it seemed counterintuitive.  Why would more, small, batches be more uniform than one large batch?  Because in a limited amount of oil (I didn't do a deep fry), small batches can be in a uniform amount of oil and can be turned more easily.  Large batches are harder to control.

Anywho, here are the results (sorry about the rotation):

The kids actually liked this too.  Liam, however, was in love with the fries.  It might be because I had him help me.  He thought they were the best EVER!  How did Amy and I feel?  We were happy.  I obviously did a crappy job on the sear.  But, I think the flavor and most of the textures were right on.  Thanks for the inspiration, Wild River Grill.

P.S. As of the date of this writing, I have not been paid or otherwise induced to write favorably about the Wild River Grill.  However, since I have already written favorably about it, and if the Grill read this, I wouldn't be averse to a freebie next time I'm in Reno.