A fishy’ dinner suggestion from the Great British Chefs website
Seared scallops with salsify, blood orange and brown shrimp
Ingredients
Scallop
- 16 scallops
- butter
- oil
- lemon juice
Blood orange and shrimp butter
- 4 tbsp of brown shrimp
- 40 blood orange segments
- 2 shallots, cut into julienne
- 6 white peppercorns
- 2 sprigs of thyme, small
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 300ml of white wine
- 250g of butter, diced
- 200ml of lemon juice
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- chervil, chopped
- thyme leaves, chopped
- dill, chopped
- salt to taste
Poached salsify
- 500g of batons of salsify, cut into 4 inch baton
- 2 shallots, sliced
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- 1 garlic clove
- 4 white peppercorns
- 100ml of white wine
- 50ml of white wine vinegar
- 500ml of chicken stock
Method
To make the blood orange and shrimp butter, place the shallots, peppercorns, thyme, garlic and white wine in a saucepan. Gently simmer for 40 minutes, then pass through a fine sieve
Place 100ml of this reduction into a clean pan and bring to the boil
Slowly whisk the butter into the reduction, one or two pieces at a time while cooking – only add the next piece of butter once the rest has melted and emulsified into the sauce. Finish with the fresh lemon juice and season with cayenne pepper and salt. Set aside until ready to serve
To cook the salsify, sweat the shallots in oil with the thyme, garlic and peppercorns until soft but without colour
Add the white wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half, then add the white wine vinegar and chicken stock and bring to the boil
Check the seasoning, then add the salsify batons and poach until tender for 5 – 10 minutes
To cook the scallops, add a knob of butter and a dash of oil to a frying pan and heat until very hot
Season the scallops and place them in the pan. Cook on a high heat for 2 minutes – do not move the scallops around the pan until they have caramelised on each side
Squeeze a little lemon juice over the scallops, remove from the pan and finish under a hot salamander or grill
Meanwhile, gently heat the beurre blanc with the brown shrimp and the blood orange segments. When hot, stir in the herbs
To serve, warm the salsify in its cooking liquor and arrange into hot bowls. Spoon over the sauce, then place the scallops around. Finish with the blanched monk’s beard over the top