April 8, 2015 — “A pint’s a pound the world around” is an old-time expression my grandmother used when portioning up gallons of food. With the Maine scalloping season coming to a close, I am remembering this as we are freezing packages of the delicious bivalve to enjoy for the remainder of the year.
Scallops freeze quite nicely if the oxygen has been removed and the package heat-sealed. Yes, you really need a machine. This is a place where zipper-type bags or plastic freezer containers don’t do the trick. We’ve “discovered” packages of scallops buried in the freezer over two years that were still plump and flavorful.
We usually freeze two gallons, or 16 pounds, and the whole process from start to finish takes about two hours. I start by gently rinsing the scallops and removing the hard, rubbery muscle. You can discard the muscle, or I freeze it to later use in a preparing a fish stock.
Divide the scallops into meal sizes, keeping in mind that an average serving size is 4 ounces, or about four scallops. We divide our scallops into packages of 4, 8 or 16. A meal for two is a package of eight. A package of 16 feeds four, or two, with encores (leftovers) for a second meal. My mother, who lives alone, appreciates the smaller, 4-ounce package size.
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