PORTLAND, Maine — Monique Coombs is a member of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, the organization behind “Catch: A Maine Seafood Cookbook.” She came by the 207 kitchen to share recipes from the book, including seared scallops with red flannel hash and mustard-scallion crème fraiche. Chef Jesse Souza from Front & Maine restaurant in Waterville contributed the recipe to the book.
This recipe serves six.
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds scallops
- ½ pound slab bacon, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- ¼ cup fennel, diced
- 2 cup potato, parsnip, turnip, carrot (or any mix of potato and root vegetables that you like),
- diced and par-cooked
- 2 cups red beets, cooked, peeled, diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped,
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
- Olive Oil, as needed
- 1 cup crème fraiche
- ¼ cup grain mustard
- ¼ cup scallion, washed, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Garnish options: snipped chives, picked dill, micro herbs, shaved radish.
Mustard-Scallion Crème Fraiche:
Stir together crème fraiche, mustard, lemon juice, scallions, and salt and pepper.
Red Flannel Hash:
- Heat skillet over medium heat and render bacon until crisp, then remove bacon and place on
- paper towel; reserve bacon fat.
- Add 2 tablespoons bacon fat back to the pan and sauté onion, fennel, and garlic for 3-4 minutes or until softened and fragrant
- add potato and root vegetable mix and season well with salt & pepper.
- Cook, stirring regularly until vegetables begin to caramelize and soften.
- Add beets, thyme, and rosemary, and check seasoning; cook another 3-4 minutes.
Scallops:
- Heat another skillet or non-stick pan over high heat
- while heating the skillet, season scallops well with kosher salt.
- The skillet should be hot enough that oil lightly smokes when added.
- Add olive oil, swirl to coat well, then carefully add the scallops, working in batches and not overcrowding the pan.
- Once you have a golden-brown crust on one side, flip and add a knob of butter, basting the melted butter over the scallops.
- Remove and keep warm while sautéing the remaining scallops.
To plate:
- Spoon crème fraiche and warm flannel hash onto plates, and divide scallops evenly between them.
- Garnish with your choice of chives, dill, herbs, and/or shaved radishes.