- 150 ml dry white wine, like muscadet or sauvignon blanc
- 250 ml heavy cream
- 50 g shallots, finely sliced
- 1 g fresh tarragon, finely chopped
- 125 g plain unsalted butter, must be fridge cold
- ½ tsp crushed black pepper
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- orange or lemon zest, julienned
- chives, finely sliced
- 1-½ lbs scallops
ingredients
directions
1. Clean scallops: Start by cleaning your scallops thoroughly under running cold water. When done, pat them dry with a kitchen towel and reserve in a dish (covered) in the fridge. |
2. Mise en place: Wash, peel, and finely slice the tarragon & shallots. Cut the citrus zest in julienne strips and blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Cut the butter into small cubes. Measure the wine and cream. |
3. Start the sauce: In a saucepan on medium heat, add the shallots, tarragon, and white wine with some crushed black pepper. When done, leave to reduce until almost dry. Reduce the heat, add the cream in and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the heat down to very low, take the butter out of the fridge and start incorporating it to your sauce a little bit at a time (while whisking gently). As soon as all the butter is in pass the sauce through a sieve into a smaller pan and leave to rest on the side of the stove (ideally on a very low heat as it needs to be kept warm). |
4. Pan fry the scallops: You can use whatever method you like to pan-fry your scallops. In my case I used a tablespoon of plain butter that I put on low-to-medium heat until it reached a hazelnut color (beurre noisette). I then pan-fried the scallops for 2 minutes a side, and left them to rest for 1 more minute on the side of the stove while I finished the sauce. |
5. Finish the sauce and serve: While the scallops are resting, correct the seasoning of the sauce by adding a pinch of cayenne and a bit of salt. Plate the scallops on a bed of sauce and decorate with the julienned citrus zest and some finely sliced chives. |
Notes
 Equivalencies: 150 ml white wine = 5 oz. 250 ml cream = 8.45 oz. 50g shallots= 1.75 oz. 125g butter = 4.4 oz. 1g fresh tarragon ≈ 1 tsp. |
