Late in the summer, I got together with a dear friend whom I haven’t seen in quite some time. We had a long lunch chatting about what’s going on in each of our lives and ended up reminiscing about wonderful vacations we have each had in Spain. Of course, my head goes directly to food and I had couldn’t stop thinking about a spectacular dish we had during one of our first meals in Almaria: a scallop wrapped in Iberian bacon bathed in a corn emulsion! It was out of this world. The delicate flavours worked so well together. I thought this dish could make a lovely starter or a beautiful amuse bouche, appetizer or light main course for the holidays; of course, I put my own little spin on it and it is equally as compelling. In the Notes area, I have made suggestions on how to make this dish vegetarian or vegan.
Seared Scallops in Creamy Grilled Corn Velouté
A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe
Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a main
Ingredients:
- 300 g grilled corn (or frozen corn)
- ~200 mL chicken stock
- 20 g roasted almonds (with or without skins)
- sea salt to taste
- 20 g pancetta, cut into small bits
- 15 mL grapeseed oil
- 4-6 large scallops
- butter
- 45 mL white wine vinegar
- Splash of water
Directions:
- Rince frozen corn, if using, to defrost. Purée the corn with almonds and the chicken stock until desired consistency is achieved (I used 200 mL for a thicker velouté). Press through a fine sieve to catch all of the corn skins, discard skins. Reserve the creamed corn at room temperature until required.
- In a small pan, fry the pancetta in the grapeseed oil until crisp; set on paper towel to remove excess oil. Reserve the pancetta fat (there isn’t much).
- Add the butter and reserved pancetta fat to a large cast iron frying pan. Dry the scallops well. When the oil is smoking hot, add the scallops and sear each side without turning or moving. The scallops will release from the pan when they are ready. Flip each scallop only once.
- Remove the scallops and cover to keep warm.
- Deglaze the pan with the white wine vinegar and splash of water, if using and reserve for drizzle (I did not need to add water).
- To serve, spoon the corn velouté into shallow bowls (I like a rimmed soup bowl for a main or a small shell dish as an appetizer. Add the hot scallops, sprinkle on the crispy pancetta and drizzle with the deglazing liquid. Serve immediately garnished with shallot curls.
Notes:
- This dish can easily be made into a vegetarian or vegan by using King Mushrooms instead of scallops as I have done here (they have a similar texture to scallops and will sear just like scallops). Substitute a robust olive oil for the butter and vegetable stock for chicken stock. Obviously, omit the pancetta but sprinkle the finished dish generously with sea salt for balance.
- Searing is possible only when the scallop or King Mushrooms are perfectly dry, so pat them dry before you cook them.
- If you are using frozen corn, add a pinch of sweet smoked paprika to emulate the smokey flavour of grilled corn.
[…] Seared Scallop on Creamed Corn […]
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[…] hit our tastes perfectly. I filed it in my recipe vault in my head and in 2018, I recreated the dish and it did not […]
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How exquisite!
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I will have to try your version next summer when corn is at its best.
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Simple but very elegant.
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Oh that does look heavenly! I must admit I’m a big fan of corn anything and as a soup especially!
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Oh, my! So elegant and delicious!! I adore scallops but can’t get Bill on board…but this would be a perfect treat for me when he’s out of town 🙂
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How fabulous! I wish I could taste this!
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They both amazing Eva. I think the actual with three scallops are the more appealing to me!
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So yummy! That creamy sauce would be wonderful for some meaty white fish or giant prawn too.
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