Seafood intimidates me in the kitchen. I can count on one hand the number of times I ate fish as a kid--Seafood simply was not a part of my family's food repertoire. (Except that one time when my brother ordered shrimp at Denny's when he was a ripe age of six. Some things, like Denny's shrimp, just should not exist.) Between the smelly fishy smell and the peculiarly airy yet steaky texture, it was not until a weekend trip to Paris while studying abroad my sophomore winter of college that I fully appreciated how absolutely delicious fish can be. (The ten weeks I lived in Barcelona - and visited London, Paris, and Rome - is when my passion for eating and cooking foods from different cuisines first began to take root, a theme I will touch upon often).
I remember the moment vividly: I was spending the weekend with my good friend and her family, and her parents treated me to an authentic (...expensive...) French dinner. Although my sheltered self was inclined to order the most familiar dish on the menu (read: chicken), the incredulousness of being in Paris suddenly came over me and I chose to order the sole. As far as fish is concerned, this particular white fish is very mild in fishy flavor. Not to mention that my filet was swimming in luxurious butter and lemon juice. Regardless, for me, trying sole was a momentous leap in my culinary adventurousness. Since then, I have eaten more and more and more fish. Tuna, halibut, tilapia, and sea bass are particular favorites and on the top of my to-cook list.
Though I now eat seafood more often, even choosing to order it over pasta at restaurants (gasp), it was not until last night that I tried my hand at cooking it. Inspired by my fishy French roots, I made Scallops Gratin. Gratin (pronounced: grah-tahn) is a French cooking technique in which your dish is covered with a browned crust, usually consisting of breadcrumbs, grated cheese, and butter. Think baked mac and cheese. Git in my belly. Keep reading for the full recipe!
Scallops Gratin (adapted from Ina Garten)
//Serves: 4
//Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4-6 large garlic cloves, minced (more or less depending on your preferences. I always prefer more garlic, so I used 6 big honkers.)
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
- 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- A pinch of iodized salt
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tbsp. good olive oil
- 1 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, minced
- 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 4 tbsp. dry white wine
- 16 fresh scallops (buy your scallops by number and size rather than by the pound. scallops are rich in flavor and rich in price. each eater will need only 3-5 scallops. 4 golf-ball-sized scallops each was a good number for my family.)
- Lemon and chopped parsley for garnish
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
For the topping, mix the butter with garlic, shallots, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper with a handheld electric mixer until well combined. With the mixer on low, add the olive oil slowly as though making mayonaise, until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the prosciutto. Last, fold in the Panko breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Pour wine into the bottom of a 9x13 glass casserole dish. I threw in an extra splash for good measure. Pat scallops dry with paper towels, removing as much moisture as possible. Place in a single layer in the casserole dish. Spoon the topping mixture evenly over the top of the scallops. Scallops should be placed close enough that the topping does not fall into cracks, but each scallop should have a sliver of space around it so it cooks throughly. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until scallops are white and firm to the touch. If you want a crustier topping (of course you do!) switch your oven to broil and broil for 2 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and beautiful. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of chopped parsley. Serve immediately with a simple salad or crusty French bread.
For the salad, I combined equal parts arugula and spinach with grated carrots, grated celery, finely chopped mushrooms, fine;y chopped toasted walnuts, salt and pepper, and cherry balsamic vinegar.
~ ~ ~
I was exceedingly pleased with how this turned out. The scallops were cooked perfectly, buttery yet firm. Going off color when judging whether the scallops were done worked best for me. You do not want any translucent pinkish/brownish color remaining. The scallops should be opaque white. Sadly, I thought the topping was far too salty with the original recipe's calling: the prosciutto in there has such high salt content that too much additional salt is not necessary. I have accounted for that in the recipe here.
My mom and I did polish off a (big) bottle of white wine while making and eating this, so perhaps the wine made me think this tasted better than it actually did. My wine-while-cooking habit raises that question often. In all, though, a lovely Friday night dinner. Great way to end the week.
xx
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