Aqimero at The Ritz Carlton, Philadelphia
Recipe (Serves Four)
Ingredients for scallops:
1 lb. dry sea scallops (U10 size)
2 tsp. unsalted butter *Optional
2 tsp. blended oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Ingredients for beurre blanc sauce:
1 orange
cup Chardonnay or Grenache Blanc white wine
2 tsp. shallot (minced) * Optional
lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter - very cold and cut into tb-sized pieces
Salt & pepper to taste
Ingredients for Pea Puree:
2 cups peas (preferably fresh, but can use frozen if necessary)
Salt & pepper to taste
cup water
2 sprigs mint
For the peas:
Quickly blanch the peas in boiling water (2-3 minutes) and shock in an ice bath to thwart cooking process
Drain and add peas, mint, salt and pepper to a blender
Add cup of water and blend until completely pureed (add more water if necessary, until desired consistency)
Microgreens *Optional Garnish for finished dish
Method:
For the scallops
Add blended oil to a 14-inch sauté pan on high heat
Chef Tip: Use a blended oil. The high heat cooking will burn olive oil and give the scallops a bitter taste
Salt and pepper the scallops on both sides
Once the pan starts to smoke lightly, add the scallops making sure they aren't crowded
Sear the scallops, cooking 80% of the way on the first side to give it a nice color and then flip and cook the remaining 20%
Chef Tip: Cook about 4 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the 2nd
Chef Tip: At the end of the cooking process, you can also add a little butter to the pan if you like and baste the scallops with butter.
For the English pea puree
Blanche peas in water
Set aside cup of peas, puree remaining peas with some of the water from blanching and a sprig of mint
For the sauce
Juice and zest orange - reserve
Boil orange juice, wine, shallot, salt and pepper
Chef Tip: You can hold the orange from the sauce and add juice and zest to the finished dish. The shallots are optional
Lower heat and reduce sauce by half over medium heat (roughly 6-8 minutes)
Chef Tip: You can prepare the sauce ahead of time and reheat just before use
Turn off heat and start slowly whisking in butter one bit at a time to ensure sauce doesn't break
Chef Tip: It's an emulsified sauce so be sure to add cold butter to the white wine to give it a creamy, velvety consistency
To serve
Spoon English pea puree into a line on your serving plate
Add 4 scallops to the plate, abutting the puree
Add reserved English peas to your beurre blanc and heat
Chef Tip: Do not overheat. You just want it hot
Drizzle sauce along edge of scallops, opposite the pea puree
Garnish with orange zest and squeeze of a fresh orange
Chef Tip: You can also garnish with microgreens
Serve immediately
At Aqimero, the scallop dish is finished with a scallop that's been cured for 1-2 day days and dried for a week, much like a charcuterie. It's a time-consuming element that brings out the scallop flavor of the dish.
Cure
Sprinkle salt on both sides of scallops and pat dry 1 cup
The Deal: Complimentary Amuse Bouche with any purchase when you mention seeing the segment on 6abc. Offer good through Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Aqimero at the Ritz Carlton
10 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 523-8000
https://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/philadelphia/dining/aqimero?scid=45f93f1b-bd77-45c9-8dab-83b6a417f6fe