Coquilles St-Jacques (Gratinéed Scallops)
Although coquilles St-Jacques simply means "scallops" in French, in the idiom of American cooks, the term is synonymous with the old French dish of scallops poached in white wine, placed atop a purée of mushrooms in a scallop shell, covered with a sauce made of the scallop poaching liquid, and gratinéed under a broiler. This rich, classic recipe was a signature dish of most of the small French restaurants in New York when I came here in the late 1950s. While working at Le Pavillon back then, I must have made it thousands of times. These days, most chefs, myself included, have moved away somewhat from that dish, favoring lighter preparations. But I'll tell you one thing: last time I made coquilles St-Jacques, it was for students at Boston University. I prepared two dishes for them: scallops cooked in a modern way, served with a green herb salad, and also the classic, gratinéed version. Now, these were not chefs-in-training; they didn't know what they were supposed to like. And there wasn't one student who didn't choose the old way over the new. It just goes to show: Truly good food never really goes out of style. —Jacques Pépin, chef, cookbook author, and PBS-TV cooking series host
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Credit: Todd Coleman
INGREDIENTS
8 oz. button mushrooms, minced6 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 small shallots, minced
2 tbsp. minced parsley
1 tbsp. minced tarragon, plus 6 whole leaves, to garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¾ cup dry vermouth
1 bay leaf
6 large sea scallops
2 tbsp. flour
½ cup heavy cream
⅔ cup grated Gruyère
½ tsp. fresh lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat mushrooms, 4 tbsp. butter, and ⅔ of the shallots in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat; cook until the mixture forms a loose paste, about 25 minutes. Stir parsley and minced tarragon into mushroom mixture; season with salt and pepper. Divide mixture among 6 cleaned scallop shells or shallow gratin dishes. Bring remaining shallots, vermouth, bay leaf, salt, and ¾ cup water to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add scallops; cook until barely tender, about 2 minutes. Remove scallops; place each over mushrooms in shells. Continue boiling cooking liquid until reduced to ½ cup, about 10 minutes; strain. Heat broiler to high. Heat remaining butter in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add flour; cook until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add reduced cooking liquid and cream; cook until thickened, about 8 minutes. Add cheese, juice, salt, and pepper; divide the sauce over scallops. Broil until browned on top, about 3 minutes; garnish each with a tarragon leaf.See all 150 classic recipes featured in our 150th issue »
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A must try dish sure to please!
My wife and I are always looking for ways to reduce the calorie/fat content of dishes like this and it appears there are some substitutions that may not affect the overall experience.
I submit them for your review and comment;
When poaching the scallops, use a smaller saucepan and 1/3-1/2 cup of water instead of the 3/4 cup called for in the recipe, with the vermouth and other ingredients. That should provide adequate depth to cook the scallops while intensifying the flavors beyond the original.
After taking the scallops out instead of using cream, flour and butter to thicken the sauce, use a cornstarch/water blend after reduction. Cornstarch tends to blunt flavors and in this case should bring the overall sauce profile back into the original tart-sweet of vermouth and scallop meat. One can adjust the tartness with lemon in a final tasting.
Proceed with remainder of the recipe.
Again, I invite comment and critical review of my recipe.