Recipes

Seared Scallops with Orange Butter Sauce, Confited Orange Zest and Orange Section Garnish

For 4-6 people as a first course

This is an incredibly easy, but impressive, first course in which the fruit very naturally complements the sweetness of fresh scallops. You can of course simplify this by leaving out the complicated garnishes. When prepared as below, it is exactly what you would get at La R飲顴ion. It is a very French dish, not only in its elegance, but in that nothing is wasted. Good wines to serve with this include dry whites, a Sancerre (Jolivet is great), a Chablis, or restrained Sauvignon Blanc. Avoid overly-oaked Chardonnays or sweeter whites, as the confit-ed zest and orange sections have enough fruit and sweet already.

Ingredients:

For the Scallops:
1-1.5 lbs divers scallops about 1" thick (5-6 per plate)
peanut oil
gros sel and fresh ground pepper

For the Sauce:

About 15 juice oranges
8 tbsp best unsalted butter
3-4 tbsp sugar

For the Garnish:

4 c. washed and dried m⣨e or other flat green such as baby spinach
Orange sections from 3-4 juice oranges
1 c. loose 2-3" threads of orange zest

Make ahead:

The confit-ed zest and sauce base can be made ahead and refrigerated 2-3 days. Use a zester to remove a generous handful (about a cup, loose) of 2-3" strips of zest from 3-4 of the juice oranges and cut them into very thin juliennes. In a small saucepan, cover the zest with boiling water and simmer for 20 minutes, drain and again cover with water, adding 3-4 tbsp. sugar. Simmer over very low heat until sugar begins to crystallize on the threads, adding more water if necessary.

For the sauce, squeeze the zested juice oranges plus ten more, strain to remove pulp and seeds, and simmer in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, reducing the 2-3 cups juice to about a half a cup of liquid which should be the consistency of syrup. Be careful not to burn it at the very end. Reserve.

An hour ahead:

Wash and dry m⣨e or other flat-leaved green and fan leaves in a circle on small plates, setting them aside in a cool place. The orange section garnish, called suprꭥs in French, is cut out so no skin, pith, or membrane remains. To do this, use a very sharp knife to first remove the orange peel and pith and both ends of the orange. Holding the orange in your palm, carefully slice each section away from the membrane on both sides of it. You should have about 5-6 suprꭥs for each plate. Fan the suprꭥs out over the m⣨e, leaving space between for the scallops.

Final preparation:

Dry the scallops and set aside.

In a small skillet, heat the orange syrup but do not boil. Cut the 8 tbsps butter into small bits, and whisk the butter piece by piece into the sauce off the heat, returning the pan to the burner occasionally to keep the sauce hot enough to incorporate the butter. Keep on low but do not simmer when all the butter is gone.

Heat a large nonstick or heavy-bottomed skillet and then brush with peanut oil. Turn up the heat until the pan is almost smoking. (Yes.) Sear the scallops on one side, about thirty seconds, and use tongs to turn them over for another thirty seconds. Dash with sea salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Taste one of the largest scallops for doneness: it should be crispy and caramelized on the ends and tender but cooked in the middle.

Plating:

Put the scallops on the plates in a ring over the m⣨e, alternating supreme and scallop, drizzle each plate with sauce, and sprinkle with confit-ed zest.

Notes: The most common mistake I have made is not heating the pan hot enough to sear the scallops. Instead, they ended up saut魥d, which was good but lacking the crisp exterior versus smooth interior which is so lovely in the mouth. Also, try to pick out your own scallops at the fishmonger so they are all more or less the same thickness and size. That way, you can be reasonably sure they'll be finished cooking at the same time.

Recipe courtesy of Jacques Ratier, La Recreation Restaurant, Les Arques France, (tel.) 05 65 22 88 08

Posted by Michael at July 28, 2005