Baked Scallops in sparkling wine and butter, with potatoes

Scallops:
2 tbsp butter
1 small shallot, finely chopped (I omitted this ingredient - my bf hates any kind of onions)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup sparkling wine (or if you're trashy and broke like me, use the champagne of ginger ales - Canada Dry!)
1/4 tsp paprika
cayenne, to taste
10-12 large scallops, patted dry
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tsp freshly chopped parsley

Potatoes:
3-4 red potatoes, sliced into rings
A bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder
A bit of butter
A bit of shredded cheese

Normally, this kind of potato is made on the BBQ, but I live in an apartment with no balcony, so I had to use the next best thing:
It actually worked really well.



















Chop up your potatoes and throw them in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, just to speed up the process. Most of the cooking should happen on the Foreman, but potatoes take a long-ass time to cook, and we're improvising and experimenting here, right?











Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook 2 minutes. Mix in wine, paprika and cayenne and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.











Put the scallops in a small baking dish, or if you're really adventurous, use large scallop shells.













Spoon or pour the butter mixture over the scallops.














Season with salt and pepper. As you can see, I like freshly ground pepper. As you can also see, I was in a real picture-taking mood this day. This goes in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the scallops are just cooked through.











Those potatoes are out of the microwave, so thrown them in some tinfoil (it has to be enough to go all the way around and make a little envelope) and put a bit of butter in there so they don't stick to each other, the foil, etc. Add your salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Hey, what's that in the background? Sparkling wine? Champagne? Canada Dry?
Fold the tinfoil over and put this on the Foreman for about 7 minutes.








When they come out, add a bit of shredded cheese and close the tinfoil again, so it melts. These are really like barbecued potatoes - they even have the crispy browned bits around the edges...
Just about now, your scallops should be done cooking....











There they are. Top them off with parsley and serve.














Yeah, show me the good stuff, baby.