Delia Smith Scallop Food

SCALLOP CREAM SOUP

Steps:

• First, melt the butter in a fairly large saucepan, add the onion and cook it very gently without colouring it at all, about 10 minutes. Next, add the diced potatoes, mix them in with the butter and onions and season with salt and pepper. Then, keeping the heat very low, put the lid on the pan and leave the mixture to sweat for another 10-15 minutes. After that pour in the hot fish stock, give it a good stir, cover the pan again and leave to simmer gently for a further 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can prepare the scallops: wash and dry them thoroughly and cut off the coral-coloured bits of roe (if using) - chop these and keep them on one side on a separate plate. The white parts should be diced roughly, put in a saucepan with the cold milk and a little salt and pepper, then poached very gently for 3-4 minutes or until opaque. When the vegetables are cooked, transfer them and their cooking liquid to a blender and whiz to a purée. Now combine the white parts of the scallops (and the milk they were cooked in) with the potato purée. At this point any pieces of coral roe (if using) can be added and the soup gently re-heated. Finally, beat the egg yolks thoroughly with the cream, remove the soup pan from the heat, stir in the egg and cream mixture and return the pan to a gentle heat. Cook, stirring, until the soup thickens slightly - but be very careful not to let it come anywhere near the boil or it will curdle. This final stage should only be done at the last minute, just before serving, so if you want to make this soup in advance, prepare it up to the egg yolk and cream stage. To make the croutons, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C). Place the cubes of bread in a bowl, together with the oil, and stir them around so that they get an even coating. Then arrange them on a baking sheet. Bake them on a high shelf in the oven for 10 minutes or until they are crisp and golden. One word of warning: do use a kitchen timer for this operation because it's actually very hard to bake something for just 10 minutes without forgetting all about it. Then cool on the baking sheet and store in an airtight container. To serve the soup, ladle it into warm soup bowls and garnish with croutons and some chopped fresh parsley.

SCALLOPS WITH MUSHROOMS & WHITE WINE (COQUILLES ST JACQUES PARISIENNE)

Steps:

• For the potatoes, boil them until tender. Drain them, put them back in the pan and dry them for 1-2 minutes over a low heat. Take off the heat and mash the potatoes with the butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper, then beat over a low heat until fluffy. Take the potatoes off the heat and beat in the egg yolks to thicken. Adjust the seasoning. Let the purée cool slightly, then spoon it into a large plastic sandwich bag with a 2cm/3⁄4in cut in a corner (or piping bag with a plain nozzle) and pipe a generous border of potato around each scallop shell.
• Discard the white muscle from each scallop and cut any large scallops horizontally in half. Heat the fish stock and wine in a pan, add the scallops, cover and poach 1-2 minutes until the scallops just whiten (remember that they will cook further in the sauce). Transfer them to a bowl, reserving the stock separately.
• Cook the mushrooms, covered, with the lemon juice, salt and pepper, in a thin film of water until tender, about 5-7 minutes. If any liquid remains, simmer uncovered until it has evaporated. Add the mushrooms to the scallops.
• For the sauce, boil the reserved stock for 10 minutes until reduced to 450ml/16 fl oz. Fry the shallots in the butter until soft, 1-2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook until it's foaming. Whisk in the stock and bring to a boil, whisking, then simmer until the sauce thickens to coat a spoon, 3-5 minutes. Add the crème fraîche and any liquid released by the scallops, and simmer until the sauce reaches coating consistency. Season.
• Heat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan 180C. Stir the scallops and mushrooms into the sauce and spoon into the shells. (Can be prepared ahead to this stage and kept in the fridge for 6-8 hours.) Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and melted butter. Set the shells on a baking sheet, steadying them on a slice of bread or a bed of foil. Bake until browned and bubbling, 12-15 minutes. Serve very hot.