Scallops with blood orange gastrique

Part 2 of the Pike Place-inspired seafood feast, and definitely the fanciest dish I've made in a while. Four enormous fresh sea scallops, with a blood orange gastrique (sauce made from sugar and vinegar and reduced down), and a blood orange and parsley salad over crispy fried brussels sprout leaves.

Oh yes.

The blood oranges were the best oranges I've seen since I lived in California, fresh and tender and dripping with juice. After I cut the peel off, I sucked all the lingering orange bits off just because I could. I also saved some long twirls of blood orange peel to use as drink garnishes. I'm definitely going back and getting more.

It's essentially this recipe from Bon Appetit, cut in half, with rose vinegar instead of sherry vinegar (that's rose as in the wine, not the flower). Instead of mint and tarragon in the salad, I used more parsley plus thyme and basil, because that's what I had.

Keep the gastrique warm while you fix the other stuff, or it will start to harden to the pan.

blood orange gastrique:

3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Sherry wine vinegar
1 cup fresh blood orange juice (from about 6 oranges)
1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth

scallops and brussels sprouts:

2 blood oranges, peeled, separated into segments
1/4 cup each (lightly packed) fresh parsley leaves, fresh mint leaves, and fresh tarragon leaves
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Coarse kosher salt
8 ounces brussels sprouts, leaves removed from core, core discarded
20 large sea scallops, side muscles removed

blood orange gastrique:
Place sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until sugar begins to melt. Stir until sugar dissolves, then cook without stirring until deep golden, about 5 minutes. Gradually add vinegar (mixture will harden). Stir until caramel melts, about 1 minute. Add orange juice; boil until mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add broth; boil until gastrique coats spoon and is reduced to generous 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.

scallops and brussels sprouts:
Mix orange segments, parsley, mint, and tarragon in medium bowl. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil; toss to coat. Season salad with coarse salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add brussels sprouts and toss until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer brussels sprouts to bowl. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to same skillet. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Add scallops to skillet and cook until browned and just opaque in center, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Arrange scallops and brussels sprouts on plates. Drizzle gastrique over scallops. Garnish with salad.