RECIPE: Roasted sea scallops, Cippolini Onion Marmalade, Cockles, Fresh Peas, Mint, Green Peppercorn sauce
Yields 8 servings 5 lbs. of jumbo sea scallops, cleaned
1 lb. cockles, washed thoroughly
1 lb. fresh spring peas
1 bunch fresh mint
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup red wine
1 lb. peeled cipolini onions
1 tbs green peppercorns
1/2 cup cognac
1 cup heavy cream
2 sprigs thyme
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch Italian parsley
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 stick unsalted butter
For Onion Marmalade:
- In medium low sauce pot, melt 1/2 stick butter. Add peeled onions, thyme, garlic. Cook on low heat for 1.5 hours, stir every 10 minutes. Once onions are completed caramelized/ melted, add red wine and reduce for another 15 minutes. Season to taste. Cool. For Peppercorn Sauce:
- In medium high sauce pot, add 2 tbs olive oil, and sweat shallot and garlic. Add thyme and peppercorns. Stir for a minute until peppercorns release aroma. Deglaze of cognac, reduce by half. Add heavy cream, and reduce again for 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Put aside. ( If you prefer, you can strain peppercorns out of the sauce with a fine sive). For Peas:
- Shuck fresh peas into bowl. Add peas to heavily salted boiling water for 1 minute. Strain into ice bath to stop cooking. Remove from ice. Set aside.
For assembly:
- Take Scallops, dry well and season both sides with salt. In large surfaced saute pan, sear scallops on medium-high heat in olive oil. Once golden brown on both sides, remove scallops and lay on paper towel. Lower heat on pan, add more olive oil with cockles, parsley, white wine. Cover for 2-3 until cockles open. Add blanched peas, mint, and remainder of butter to pan, emuslifying everything. Put scallops on top of cockles to warm through. In small saucepot, warm peppercorn sauce. Plating:
- Take onion marmalade, cockles, peas, mint mixture into the bottom of a bowl, with scallops on top. Drizzle peppercorn sauce around and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
