[simonj]

I saw that Lidl have a good offer on Scallop at 12 for €5 at the moment
- well worth checking out for Christmas.

Scallop is one of my favorite seafood's, it requires very little in
the way of dressing up - its perfect as it is.

This recipe is kind of inspired by one of the Hairy Bikers Cook Off
programs on BBC, one of their 7 minute supper challenges was
made using scallops.

I'd normally serve scallop in its shell with a bacon and cheese type
sauce -they put it together a little differently than I would have -
with potato, so I decided to use Oca I grew this year in this dish
and serve with beetroot and spinach.

I'm used Oca in this meal, but diced potato would work
- and to be a little more exotic maybe sweet potato which
I think in Irish cities would be easier to find than Oca.

I got the original Oca seed from Cristophe at ecofarm.ie
As far as I know is the only person in Ireland who supplies Oca as seed.

If you do buy seed from him, please be sure to mention that
you heard about the farm on this blog,
that way I can try to blag a few free ones from him this year.

Simple Scallops
I had some bacon in the fridge - you could also use
streaky bacon. I cut off the piece with the most fat.

Slice the bacon thinly. Use one piece of bacon for each scallop.
Fry the bacon in butter and olive oil at a high temperature until crispy, rendering out the fat.

After about 6 minutes of cooking, the bacon was taken
out of the pan, put in an oven proof dish and
chucked in the oven to stay warm.
Reduce the heat under the pan to medium.

Then the Scallop is added to the pan,
using the rendered bacon lard to cook it.

This takes about 5 minutes
- so the top and bottom of the scallop is dark brown, caramelised
- but be very careful not to burn them.
I always cook them with the tounge, not only does it add to the flavour
- it also helps to colour the jus.

After they are cooked, put them in the oven with the
bacon to keep warm.

Drain the pan over the scallop and bacon.

NB: At this point put the serving plates in the oven.

When the greens (I used spinach for this meal - more detail in the blog)
are done, return the scallop, bacon and liquid to the pan for about
a minute, then remove the bacon and scallop
retaining any fat and liquid in the pan
-move to the warm serving plate.

Pour some white wine - about a third of a glass - into the pan to
de-glaze, then add three tablespoons of cream,
mix through and allow to reduce.

While that is reducing, get the veg fondant or whatever
other veg you are serving onto the plate.

The sauce should be reduced slightly, spoon it over the
scallops and bacon - be generous.

If I had parmesan cheese, I would have added a few shavings
on top of the scallop for taste and presentation, but scallop
really does not need much in the way of flavouring.

The Scallop was served with roasted Oca, beetroot potato fondant and
sauteed spinach with a side salad of winter cos and a
dressing made to compliment the oca.

More details as always in my garden blog - link in signature.

As a wine, I used a Kiwi Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc, available
at Super Value. Although the name suggests it comes
from New Zealand, its actually made in France.
I think as this is a European dish, influenced by
my time in New Zealand it is an apt choice, and
it does go very well with the meal.

I used store bought spinach as a veg .
My one regret was I did not use Beetroot leaves or
Swiss chard from the garden for this,
when I harvested the beets I did not think to reserve some greens
for this meal, so next time I will know better.

I was very tempted to use cavalo nero kale from the garden,
but the delicacy of the scallop put me off - perhaps next time -
as using chard, beetroot leaves or kale would have made
this a truly winter dish.

Anyway, the spinach is easy, shred, chuck in the pan
and saute until reduced slightly -
put directly on the warmed serving plates.

[Protein]

Can someone please ban Simonj from this forum for making us all incredibly jealous and hungry?



ps Simon, wot do the Oca taste like?

[simonj]

Jaysus - ban me? I was worried there for a second.

They taste great, sort of tart lemony / nutty potato.
They can also be grated and eaten raw in salads
- amazing veg, easy to grow, and great to have this time of year.

[Sive]

No, Protein.....let's not ban simonj.....much better idea.......we can raffle him for Christmas. ( could you imagine a better prize than that......simonj cooking your Christmas dinner ???? )

[Protein]

Now we talking... would love to see what Irish twist he'll add to the Festive Feast...

Right, let the raffle begin!

[simonj]

Sorry folks - with any luck I will be at sea for Xmass, and anyway - I'd need to be sober to cook Xmass dinner
Not a chance