JCALLOP CHARTREUSE with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and A Rose Butter Sauce
This dish was inspired by my very good friend and a great chef, Charlie Trotter of Chicago. Serves 4 to 6
PESTO
lh cup Pesto (page 224) 1 tablespoon finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I suggest the very sweet San Remo as one particularly nice brand.)
SCALLOP MOUSSE
V2 pound sea scallops
1 whole egg % cup heavy cream
CHARTREUSE LINING
V2 tablespoon butter
2 large bunches leeks, white part only, cleaned and cooked in lightly salted simmering water until just soft, refreshed in icy water, and drained
3V2 tablespoons very soft but not melted butter 1 egg white Salt and pepper to taste
SAUCE
2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
'/2 cup rose (I recommend rose from the Bandol region of France)
% cup heavy cream Ч2 pound (2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces and kept cold Salt and pepper to taste
Basil leaves, for garnish
1. Prepare the pesto and add the finely chopped sun-dried tomato to it.
2. Prepare the mousse: Process the scallops in a food processor. With the machine running, add the whole egg and then the cream. Now, working quickly, add the soft butter. Turn off the machine, scrape the mixture into a bowl, and keep cold.
3. Beat the egg white to soft peaks and fold into the mousse. Add the pesto and fold that in, also. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Refrigerate.
4. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Choose a pan just large enough to hold 4 to 6 half-cup ramekins or souffle molds. Put a kitchen towel in the pan, fill pan almost half full of water, and put it in the oven.
5. Lightly butter ramekins. Arrange the leek strips, cutting them as necessary to line the buttered ramekins. They should barely overlap each other, with their ends hanging over the sides. Try to avoid any leeks that seem tough or stringy. The inside pieces are a bit more difficult to work with, but they are more tender.
6. Spoon the chilled mousse into the leeks until the containers are full. Fold the leek ends over the mousse to make neat, compact packages.
7. Put the ramekins of mousse in the water bath, being sure there is not so much water in the pan that it washes over the sides of the ramekins. Bake about 15 to 20 minutes, or until a thin skewer inserted into the mousse comes out very warm to the touch, and the mousse is just firm.
8. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: Reduce the shallots and cracked black pepper in the red wine vinegar and rose. When the mixture is reduced by three-fourths, add the cream. Reduce it by half. Lower the heat and beat in the butter, piece by piece. Taste and adjust to your liking. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Keep warm.
9. If you have not done so already, remove the scallop mousse from the oven. Cool for a few moments. Invert onto a cutting board.
10. Spoon some of the rose butter sauce onto serving plates. Place one mousse in the middle of each plate. Garnish with perfect basil leaves.
Note: Any extra mousse can be used by simply buttering soup cups lightly, filling them with the mousse, and cooking them in a bain-marie, uncovered, until they are set. They can be served warm or cold.
VJAME BIRD RAVIOLI, CITRUS PASTA,
Sauce Adobado
This is an intense, visually striking first course dish. You can use odds and ends and leftovers with terrific results in fillings for ravioli and tortellini. If you roast squab, quail, or pheasant, and end up with some extra cooked meat, just shred the meat from the skin and bones and you have the beginnings of another dish.
Serves 4
1 recipe Basic All-purpose Flour Pasta dough (page 206) PA tablespoons zest of orange and lime, combined and incorporated into the dough with the eggs
SAUCE ADOBADO
6 ancho chiles 2 cups chicken stock
'A cup (4 tablespoons) duck fat or butter 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange
1 small onion, finely diced juice
'A tablespoon finely minced garlic 2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon ground cumin 2 tablespoons brown sugar
>A cup Spanish sherry wine vinegar