Poached Achiote Scallops Recipes

SCALLOPS POACHED IN ACHIOTE SAUCE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. saute the onions with the salt until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and achieve paste and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to avoid scorching. Add the tomato paste and pour in the fish stock or clam juice and boil 5 minutes longer. Stir in the pepper and vinegar and remove from the heat.
• Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree. Pass through a strainer. The sauce keeps up to 4 days.
• To finish, pour the sauce into a large skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the scallops or shrimp, reduce the heat to medium and cook 3 to 5 minutes. Serve over a bed of white rice and garnish with the capers or pickled onions.

WHITE WINE-POACHED SCALLOP AND HERB SALAD

Steps:

• Bring wine, a pinch of salt, bay leaf, celery, and fennel to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce to a simmer; cook until vegetables are just tender, about 8 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a medium bowl; discard bay leaf. Set aside. Add scallops to pan; simmer until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer scallops to bowl of vegetables; refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup poaching liquid in a small bowl. Refrigerate until cold, about 20 minutes.
• Stir lemon juice into poaching liquid. Add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until emulsified. Slice scallops in half horizontally; toss with dressing and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Toss herbs, celery leaves, and fennel fronds in a small bowl, then divide among 4 serving plates. Top each with scallops and vegetables, dividing evenly. Drizzle with oil and dressing from bowl. Garnish each salad with a lemon wedge.

SEA SCALLOPS POACHED IN WHITE WINE

Steps:

• For 1 1/2 pounds whole scallops. Simmer 1/2 tablespoon minced shallots for 3 minutes with 1/3 cup each of dry white French vermouth and water plus 1/2 teaspoon salt and a small imported bay leaf. Then add the scallops and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, just until lightly springy to the touch. Remove from heat and let cool in the liquid at least 10 minutes, to pick up its flavor. Remove scallops, discard bay leaf, and rapidly boil down liquid until almost syrupy.
• serving suggestions: fines herbes
• Stir fresh minced parsley and/or dill, tarragon or chives into the reduced liquid, and briefly reheat scallops, folding in, if you wish, a few tablespoons of heavy cream.
• provençal-with tomatoes
• Stir 1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, juiced, and chopped fresh tomatoes (see box, page 30) and 1 large clove of minced garlic into the reduced liquid. Cover and simmer 5 minutes, then uncover and boil down rapidly to thicken. Season. Fold in the scallops and reheat briefly. Fold in minced parsley or other green herbs and serve.
• Note
• Simmering times for quartered sea scallops and bay scallops, 15 to 30 seconds; for calicos, bring just to the simmer.

SAUTEED SEA SCALLOPS WITH CARAMELIZED PEACHES

Steps:

• place oil in sautee pan and heat until light smoke.
• lightly season scallops w/salt and pepper.
• carefully add scallops to pan (do not crowd).
• lightly brown and turn scallops.
• add shallots garlic and peaches.
• shake and flip in pan to mix.
• add sugar and keep moving for 2 (two) minutes.
• place on plate.
• put peaches on top.
• squeeze fresh lemon just before serving.
• goes great with jasmine or basmati rice steamed.

OLIVE-OIL-POACHED BAY SCALLOPS WITH CHICKPEAS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, heat the cream until just warm, being careful not to let it bubble. Add the rosemary, turn off the heat and let it steep for a half hour. Refrigerate the cream until cold and then whip it into soft peaks. Set aside.
• In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrot, celery and onion, adjust the heat to low, cover and sweat the vegetables for about three to four minutes. Add the chickpeas, stock and bay leaf, then cook gently over medium heat, uncovered, until the peas are soft and cooked through, 30 to 45 minutes. Let them cool, then peel. Discard the vegetables.
• In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat, until fairly warm, but not hot. Add the scallops and cook them gently until barely cooked through, about one-and-a-half minutes. Drain off most of the oil, then add the chickpeas, tomato and rosemary leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the scallops and chickpea mixture into soup bowls, top with a dollop of rosemary cream and serve.

SAVORY SEA SCALLOPS AND ANGEL HAIR PASTA

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the angel hair pasta, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant and softened, about 1 minute. Slice any scallops over 3/4-inch thick in half so they'll cook evenly; stir scallops, basil, and parsley into the skillet. Cook and gently stir just until scallops feel slightly firm when pressed with a finger, 2 to 3 minutes. Scallops will become tough and chewy if overcooked. Stir in lemon juice, and season with salt and black pepper. Pour in cream if you like a thicker sauce. Bring the mixture just to a bare simmer.
• Serve over hot angel hair pasta; sprinkle to taste with Parmesan cheese.