"One of my earliest memories of living in Paris...

...is entering the local bistro as a three-year-old, being greeted by the courtly waiter, and then being charmed by a dish that immediately caught my eye:  escargots on display in a glass case..."-excerpt, Olives and Oranges, page 209.

Recipe:  Roasted Scallops with "Snail Butter" and Mâche 

(quick cook recipe - makes 4 main course servings or 6 small plates)

Snail Butter

1 1/4 cups loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Scallops

4 ounces field-grown mâche, baby spinach or watercress

2 pounds dry-packed medium scallops

Medium-coarse sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 Tablespoons)

Crusty bread, sliced and toasted

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

FOR SNAIL BUTTER:  Finely chop parsley and garlic together.  Place in a bowl, add butter and zest and mash together with a fork until well combined. 

Place mâche in a large bowl.  Set aside.

FOR SCALLOPS:  Generously season scallops with salt and pepper.  Heat a large cast-iron pan over high heat until quite hot.  Add oil and then scallops, slowly feeding them into the pan, being careful not to crowd pan or lower the temperature of it.  As scallops form a crusty brown sear on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes, move them on top of each other and add more to the pan.  When all scallops are browned on one side, remove pan from heat and dot scallops with snail butter.

Place skillet in oven for 5 minutes to melt butter and cook scallops through.

Transfer scallops and butter to bowl with mâche, add lemon juice, toss and serve immediately, with crusty bread to sop up buttery juices.

..

Olives and Oranges

Recipes and Flavor Secrets from 

Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Beyond

by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox

Photographs by Alan Richardson

click to order in these countries:

(us) ~ (fr) ~ (uk) ~ (ca) ~ (de) ~ (it)~ (es)

One of my favorites! ~

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