Serves 4 as an entree
Prep time | 15 minutes
Cooking time | 15 minutes
I’ve been in the mood for some retro food lately. With mushrooms in season, I have decided to revisit a dish that I first tried as a kid in the 1980s and loved so much that the memory of it is still with me today.
Ingredients
• 20g butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 scallops in the half-shell (unattached)
• 8 (100g) small Swiss Brown mushrooms, stalk removed, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 cup thickened cream
• juice of half a lemon
• 4 g Gruyere cheese, grated
• salt and finely ground white pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Method
1. In a medium frypan over medium-high heat, add half the butter and half the oil until the butter is frothing and starting to brown. The pan must be hot. Place the scallops in the pan and sauté for a bare 15-20 seconds each side, enough for a small amount of gold to appear. Remove to paper towel and set aside. They will cook further in the sauce.
2. Add the remaining butter and oil to the pan. When the butter is frothing, add the mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes. The mushrooms will wilt and appear wet, then the moisture will evaporate and the mushrooms will brown. At this point, sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms in the pan. Add the wine and stir with a spatula to combine. Cook for about a minute.
3. Add the cream and stir again to combine. Taste and season with salt and white pepper.
4. Preheat grill to high. Wash and dry the scallop shells and put them on a baking tray. Place a spoonful of the mushroom cream sauce in each shell and top with a scallop. Top with another spoon of sauce. Divide the Gruyere cheese between the shells.
5. Place the tray under the hot grill for around 4 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Top with the chopped parsley and serve three to a plate with some lemon wedges.