Scallops with Cheese and Cream

Cooksie

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Scallops with Cheese and Cream/Coquilles Gratinees St Michel

8 sea scallops, cleaned (or an equal amount of bay scallops)
1 onion, minced
¾ cup white wine
¾ cup water
¼ cup flour
5 T butter, room temperature
2 T grated gruyere cheese
¼ cup heavy cream
Salt
Pepper
2 T dry bread crumbs

Poach the scallops in a saucepan with the onion, wine, and water until opaque and tender. This recipe is written for sea scallops, and it says to poach them for 6 to 8 minutes. Since bay scallops are smaller, they won’t take that long. Remove the scallops and set aside.

Boil the poaching liquid briskly for 2 minutes to reduce, then strain, and return to the pan.

Mix together the flour and ¼ cup of the butter. Add to the poaching liquid and simmer, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Sir in half the cheese, the heavy cream, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add the scallops to the sauce to re-heat. Divide the scallop mixture evenly into individual serving dishes. Sprinkle with a mixture of the bread crumbs and the remaining grated cheese. Dot with the remaining butter, and brown quickly under a pre-heated broiler.

Notes:
1) The original recipe calls for straining the poaching liquid before returning to the pan and adding the butter/flour. I didn’t do that because those little bits of onions don’t bother me.
2) ¼ cup crème fraiche can be used instead of the heavy cream. I used heavy cream.
3) I added a little more cheese to the topping mixture.

Adapted From: Provincial French Cooking by Helge Rubinstein
 
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