Fine dining at home as chef Chris Steele shares his recipe collection
This week Chris Steele, owner of The Stage Door Restaurant and Hollybush Restaurant shares one of his favourite starters.
Both restaurants use freshly caught hand dived scallops from the Scottish Isle of Barra. Scallops are a personal favourite of mine and likewise are a massive hit with our customer’s.
This dish would be the perfect start to a wonderful dinner party, especially accompanied with a chilled glass of Chenin Blanc.
Preparation time is less than 2hrs 30mins, cooking time is 10 to 15 mins and this serves four. Ingredients: 12 large hand dived Scallops; 1 tbs olive oil; 15g salted butter; head of cauliflower, cut into florets; milk to cover; 3oz of butter; two cloves; two bay leaves; salt and pepper; one bottle of cider and one pint of chicken stock ; 6oz of Scottish Pork Shoulder; 200g Pin Head Oatmeal; sprinkle of Chinese five spice; 2 tbs Hoi Sin Sauce; two roasted seeded red peppers; one diced white onion; 100g chopped tomatoes; 50ml white wine vinegar; 25g soft dark brown sugar. Method : Pre Heat Oven to 200c/ 400f/ Gas 6
For the roe – detach the roe from the scallops and place on a tray, and oven bake for one hour until dried out. Chill and place in a food processor and blend into a fine dust.
For the pork bonbon – place pork shoulder in small sauce pan, fill with cider & chicken stock, bring to boil and simmer for one hour thirty mins till pork tender for pulling. Take pork out and place in a food processor and pulse blitz gently adding five spice, hoi sin sauce & seasoning to bind the mixture together. Roll into small bon bons, tray and chill. Finally Paneed the bon bons in pin head oatmeal and deep fry for two mins prior to serve.
For the Cauliflower Puree – Place the florets into a small sauce pan and cover in milk, add the cloves, bay leaves and butter. Boil till cauliflower soft. Place the cauliflower in a colander and drain till completely dry. Place in a food processor and blend till smooth add the milk mixture to loosen if required.
For the coulis – Heat a small saucepan with a table spoon of olive oil, sweat the onions & red peppers for few minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, vinegar and brown sugar and cook for a further few minutes, Season well, use hand blender to puree and pass through a fine sieve.
For the Scallops – Heat nonstick pan, make sure your pan is very warm to get a good colour, add small drizzle of oil. Place the scallops into pan and sear on both sides of scallops for a few minutes and finish with a knob of butter to give richness and beautiful glaze on the white meat. To serve place the cauliflower Puree in to 3 quenelles using two dessert spoons. Add two small pools of pimento coulis onto the plate for the bon bons to sit on. Place the griddled scallops half on the cauliflower puree quenelles. Wedges of lemon and sprinkle the dish with the dehydrated roe and garnish with some micro herbs. I would recommend garlic, chives, red vein sorrel and red amaranth then finish with balsamic glaze to dress the plate.
Serve with a chilled glass of Chenin Blanc