NCT Cooks Challenge 12 Week July 19-July 26 FRENCH!

mhend said:

Cooksie, that looks amazing!

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Keltin said:

WOW! Cooksie that looks and sounds incredible! Awesome job!!

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VeraBlue said:

Thinking of making crepes with peaches and creole cream cheese on Saturday. It's hard to scale down recipes for just two people.. Anyone want to come to New Orleans for crepes and bourbon?

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• Combine wine, salt, pepper, bay leaf and shallots in a stainless steel or enameled saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

• 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.

• Boil liquid down rapidly until it is reduced to 1 cup. Remove bay leaf.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Preheat broiler.

• Place on broiler rack and broil about 7 inches from source of heat until sauce is bubbly and the top is lightly browned.

• I saute the mushrooms in butter instead of simmering them with the scallops. I think the saute and light browning adds to their flavor. We've learned a lot about browning and fonds and layering flavors over the 40+ years since she first published the book. Then I fold them into the sauce later.

• I also slice the scallops in thirds before poaching them. I never actually boil or simmer them. I just lightly poach them in the hot liquid for no more than 1 minute. Remember, in the 1960's when she wrote the book, common thought was that seafood had to be well done for safety reasons. Now we have learned to lean toward lightly done instead of over done.

• Cook the flour and the butter for a minute or 2 before adding the liquids to eliminate the raw taste of the flour. I'm sure she mentioned this in the original.

• Add a good squeeze of lemon juice to the sauce before folding in the scallops and the 'shrooms. This helps brighten the sauce and cut just a little of the inherent richness. I am always surprised at what a big difference a good squeeze of lemon can make in a dish. Even though you never really taste it, it takes a good sauce to the next level.