An Early Christmas Present!

Learn how to do An Early Christmas Present! for your friends and family. this revenue from An Early Christmas Present! it is delicious

Make An Early Christmas Present!

Totally unexpected for most and most definitely totally delicious! Make sure you have phone or camera nearby to capture the looks of your guests when they see what they are being served for dinner!  One of the more perfect alternatives to the traditional Christmas dinners.

Seared Scallops with Parsnip, Blood Orange and Brown Shrimp

Ingredients

Serves 4

Total time:  1 hour 40 minutes.

Scallops

16 scallops

butter

oil

lemon juice

Blood Orange and Shrimp Butter

4 tbsp of brown shrimp (peeled, deveined, tail removed, chopped and lightly sauteed)

40 blood orange segments

2 shallots, cut into julienne

6 white peppercorns

2 sprigs of thyme, small

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 1/4 cups of white wine 

2 1/4 sticks of butter, diced

1 cup of lemon juice

1 pinch of cayenne pepper

chervil, chopped

thyme leaves, chopped

dill, chopped

salt to taste

Poached Parsnip

1 lb  parsnips, cut into 4x1 inch batons (sticks)

2 shallots, sliced

1 sprig of fresh thyme

1 garlic clove

4 white peppercorns

1/2 cup of white wine

2 cups of white wine vinegar

2 cups of chicken stock

Greens

Chard or Spinach, blanched
2 tbsp of butter
salt
pepper

Blood Orange and Shrimp Butter

Place the shallots, peppercorns, thyme, garlic and white wine in a saucepan. Gently simmer for 40 minutes, then pass through a fine sieve.

Place 3 1/2 fl oz of this reduction into a clean pan and bring to the boil.

Slowly whisk the butter into the reduction, one or two pieces at a time while cooking - only add the next piece of butter when what you just added has melted and emulsified into the sauce. Finish with the fresh lemon juice and season with cayenne pepper and salt. Set aside to add the blood orange segments and shrimp before serving.

Parsnips

Sweat the shallots in oil with the thyme, garlic and peppercorns until soft but without color. 

Add the white wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half, then add the white wine vinegar and chicken stock and bring to the boil.

Check the seasoning, then add the parsnips batons and poach until tender for 5 - 10 minutes

Chard or Spinach

Lightly saute in 2 tbsp of butter wilting the leaves.  Be careful not to over cook. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Scallops

Add a tablespoon of butter and a dash of oil to a frying pan and heat until very hot.

Season the scallops with salt and pepper and place them in the pan. Cook on a high heat for 2 minutes - DO NOT move the scallops around the pan until they have caramelized on each side.

Squeeze a little lemon juice over the scallops, remove from the pan and finish under a hot, pre-heated broiler.

Meanwhile, gently heat the orange and shrimp butter sauce and add both the prepared brown shrimp and the blood orange segments. When hot, stir in the herbs.

To serve, warm the Spinach or Chard in its cooking liquid, drain, then arrange into shallow warmed bowls. Spoon the sauce over the greens and arrange the scallops on top of the sauce. Finish with the  drained poached parsnips over the top. You can also add a few sprigs of micro greens for garnish.

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