Breezy Coquilles St. Jacques

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY!!! This is our traditional Bastille Day meal, & my very own take on "Coquilles St. Jacques" after trying out many different recipes. Don't be put off by the number of steps - it does put together quickly. Rich, colorful, DELICIOUS, & easily increased for larger parties.

(Serves 2-3 as an entree - 4-6 as an appetizer.)


Breezy Coquilles St. Jacques

Ingredients:
1 pound bay scallops (thawed frozen work fine), rinsed
Approx. 1 cup dry vermouth (or dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Chablis)
Approx. 1 cup water
1 Bay Leaf
Approx. 1/2 cup half-and-half
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon flour
8 ounces sliced White Button Mushrooms
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 "clove" of shallot, peeled & minced
Approx. 1/2 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Approx. 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
Freshly ground white (or black) pepper to taste

Special Equipment:
Buttered baking dish, buttered individual gratin dishes, or large natural scallop shells brushed with melted butter. (I use the large natural scallop shells when serving this as an appetizer.)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet large enough to hold vegetables & saute mushrooms, bell pepper, shallot, & parsley until tender & softened, but not browned. Set aside.

Bring wine, water, & bay leaf to a boil & add scallops. (If necessary, add more wine & water in equal portions to cover scallops completely.) Lower heat & poach for 1-2 minutes ONLY, depending on size. Using a slotted spoon or spider, remove scallops to a bowl & set aside. Raise heat & reduce wine/water mixture until only approximately half a cup remains. Remove & discard bay leaf. Pour liquid into measuring cup & set aside.

Add half-and-half to wine/water mixture in measuring cup to make 1 cup of liquid. In a saucepan large enough to hold all ingredients, melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter & stir in tablespoon of flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for just a minute or two to remove raw taste from flour. Still stirring constantly, slowly pour in measuring-cup mixture & continue cooking until it starts to thicken. Gently add in vegetable mixture & scallops.

Spoon into baking dish, individual gratin dishes, or scallop shells & top with shredded Gruyere cheese. Depending on what size baking dish(es) you're using, bake until heated through & cheese is melted & bubbly.

Serve with a nice mixed green salad & good crusty bread.

I'm drooling and will be making this recipe soon, very soon, Thanks.

Sounds delicious! I have some of those natural scallop shells too. I just love them.

I haven't made this in quite some time. It is delicious. I thought I'd add these two recipes which are out of print now. One is by Vincent Price and the other one is from woman's Day French cooking or something like that.

COQUILLES ST. JACUES BAUMANIÉRE (Scallops in Cream Sauce)

From: A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary and Vincent Price "1965"
SERVES 4
Of all the recipes for seafood served in scallop shells, this is one of the most delicious-and simple and quick to make into the bargain. We like the fact that the coquilles can be prepared in advance and need only be heated in the oven at the last minute.
SCALLOPS
SHALLOTS
SALT, WHITE PEPPER
DRY VERMOUTH
CREAM FLOUR
BUTTER
PARSLEY
___________________________________________________________________
SCALLOPS
Wash 1½ pounds scallops. If these are large sea scallops, cut them into quarters. Put in saucepan with: 1 Tablespoon chopped shallots, ¼ teaspoon salt, dash white pepper, and ½ cup dry vermouth. Bring liquid to boil, cover saucepan, and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes only. Remove scallop with slotted spoon, and divide into 4 scallop shells. Cook liquid remaining in saucepan over high heat until reduced to half.



SAUCE
1. Add to reduced liquid: 1 cup cream. Boil rapidly until cream is reduced and sauce is the consistency of syrup.
2. Combine: 1 tablespoon flour and 4 tablespoons soft butter. Reduce heat and gradually stir in butter bit by bit.


PRESENTATION
Pour the sauce over the scallops, sprinkle with minced parsley, and heat in the very hot oven for 5 minutes.

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• [FONT=&quot]Combine wine, salt, pepper, bay leaf and shallots in a stainless steel or enameled saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Add scallops and mushrooms and enough water to just cover scallops. Bring to boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove scallops and mushrooms and set aside.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Boil liquid down rapidly until it is reduced to 1 cup. Remove bay leaf.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Melt 3 tablespoons butter in saucepan. Stir in flour. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the scallop liquid and the milk. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and is smooth and thickened.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Beat together egg yolks and cream. Beat some of the hot sauce into egg yolks. Return to mixture in saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Cut scallops into small pieces. Fold into sauce with mushrooms. Butter scallop shells or small individual casseroles. Fill shells with scallop mixture. Sprinkle cheese over top of shells. Dot tops with 1 tablespoon of butter.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Preheat broiler.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Place on broiler rack and broil about 7 inches from source of heat until sauce is bubbly and the top is lightly browned.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

Thanks, Breezy.

Raw Material



Prepped







Left overs

That looks really great!! I will definitely be trying this soon! Thanks for the pix.

Buzzard - thanks for the lovely pictorial of my recipe!! You even used the exact same brand of Gruyere that I did - lol!!! Hope you enjoyed it.

Guts said:

A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary and Vincent Price "1965"
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

Click to expand...

Isn't the above a WONDERFUL book?? I particularly love the old copies of menus from famous restaurants. The unbelievably low prices that were so "high" back then for gourmet dishes.

I bought two original editions (with the leatherette bindings & red silk bookmarks) - one for myself & one for my foodie mother. Got them both off of E-Bay for practically nothing. Definitely a book worth looking for whether you're a foodie or a Vincent Price fan (of which I am both!).