Baked Scallops with Citrus and Fennel by David Barnett of The Torridon Hotel & Inn in Wester Ross
David has been in charge of the kitchen at Torridon for three years. Its 1881 restaurant is constantly evolving and the whole team is striving to better themselves on a daily basis.
This dish showcases the fantastic local ingredients we have here in Scotland. The scallops were landed in Ullapool, the smoked trout roe are from Inverewe Smokehouse and all the herbs are from the Torridon kitchen garden.
The Torridon Hotel & Inn is a finalist in the Restaurant of the Year category at the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards 2016. The winners will be announced on October 21.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
8 large king scallops in the shell, shuck and clean the shells
2 bulbs of fennel, finely sliced
75g butter
100ml Noilly Prat
300ml fish stock
1 star anise
1 juiced lemon
50ml double cream
Garnish:
sweet sicily
fennel pollen
sea fennel
fennel oil
lemon verbena
borage flowers
seaweed powder
8 tsp smoked trout roe
Method
1 Sweat off the fennel in the butter. Add the Noilly Prat and star anise and reduce rapidly until all the wine has gone. Pour in the fish stock and reduce by half, add the lemon juice. Strain the liquid into another saucepan and reserve the fennel. Bring the liquid back to the boil with the cream and remove from the heat.
2 To build the scallops take a tablespoon of sliced cooked fennel in the center of the clean scallop shell, top with a scallop cut into 3 slices, pour over 2 spoonsful of the sauce, season the scallops with a pinch of Maddon sea salt and some seaweed powder. Place the other half of the shell on top and seal around the edges with tinfoil.
3 I recommend cooking them on a barbecue for 12-15 minutes but if the weather in not great, place them in the oven at 190 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
4 Serve them in the shell garnished with some fresh herbs, the smoked trout roe and a few drops of fennel oil.
In association with Taste Communications.
www.taste.communications.co.uk
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