Becky Diamond, Author
  • About
  • Thousand Dollar Dinner
  • Mrs Goodfellow
  • Reviews/Events
  • Becky's Blog
  • Writing Clips
  • News/Articles
  • Food for Thought
  • Book Clubs
  • Excerpt - Thousand Dollar Dinner
  • Excerpt - Mrs. Goodfellow
  • Anna Maxwell's Recipes
  • Fun Food History Videos

Brook Trout and Scallop Turbans with Vanilla White Butter

11/16/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Last night I got fancy and decided to try Brook Trout and Scallop Turbans with Vanilla White Butter. So glad I did - it was delicious and well worth the effort! Actually, the recipe it really pretty simple - it is more a matter of timing the different steps since some components of the recipe need to be refrigerated before starting the next step. Also, the vanilla white butter needs to be made at the very end and then served immediately.
I have now moved on to writing about the "Fish course" in my current book - The Thousand Dollar Dinner. As part of the research for this chapter,  I stumbled upon this interesting recipe in a charming little cookbook called Fish by Jean-Paul Grappe, a chef originally from Dijon, France who is the author of eight cookbooks and now lives in Montreal, Quebec.  I was charmed by the presentation: a ramekin is lined with brook trout, then stuffed with scallop mousse and topped with two plump sea scallops. Plus, I had never seen trout paired with scallops - just thought it sounded so good. I rounded out the meal with some peppery sautéed mustard greens and pearled tricolor couscous.  A bottle of Monsieur Touton Sauvignon Blanc complemented it nicely.

Ingredients:
  • 4 small trout fillets (I used rainbow trout)
  • Salt and ground white pepper
  • 10 oz scallops (little over 1/2 pound)
  • 1/2 egg white
  • 2/3 cup cream
  • 1/4 cup soft, unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups white butter (see recipe below)
  • 1/2 drop vanilla
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 10 cups spinach leaves (or any green - I used mustard greens)

Directions: 
  1. Using the flat bade of a large knife, gently flatten the fillets until large enough to contain the scallop mousse. Set aside. (I didn't really have to do this as the fillets I bought were already flat and thin).
  2. Wipe the scallops and place in a food processor. Add salt and pepper. Blend 30 seconds; add egg white and cream. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
  3. Butter ramekins well using a pastry brush. Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper and flatten against the inside edges of the ramekins. Fill centers with scallop mousse. Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 310 F
  5. Pour 4 cups water in a large jellyroll or broiling pan. Arrange ramekins in pan and bake until they reach 155 F in the center. While baking, prepare vanilla white butter.
  6. To cook greens, spray a skillet with some olive oil and sauté  garlic for about a minute, then add greens. Cook for a minute or until they start to wilt, then add scallops and sauté on one side of pan.
  7. Serve greens alongside the ramekins with some pearled couscous and the vanilla white butter in a separate sauce dish.
White Butter (Beurre Blanc):
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp white wine
  • salt and white pepper
  • 3/4 cup butter, melted
In a steel bowl, over the bottom of a double boiler, heat lemon juice and wine, add the salt and pepper and whisk vigorously. Incorporate the warm butter.
NOTE: Always add the salt and pepper before the butter so the acidity of the wine and lemon juice dissolve the salt before the butter is added. It is important to make the white butter at the last minute since it is very fragile and must be served immediately. A half drop of vanilla complements the flavor of the dish.

Adapted from Fish by Jean-Paul Grappe

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    So much of our history can be learned through food!
    My second book, The Thousand Dollar Dinner, follows the unique story of a luxurious 17-course feast that helped launch the era of grand banquets in nineteenth century America. I am also the author of Mrs Goodfellow: The Story of America's First Cooking School.

    Archives

    December 2020
    May 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

PictureNIEA 10th Annual Award Winner, New Non Fiction
Author photo in website banner by Heather Raub of FrontRoom Images
Hair by Kelly McGrenehan, Innovations IV Hair Salon
Makeup by Gina Kozlowski
Site design by Braintree Publicity