Sea Scallops And Asparagus With Vermouth Recipes

SEA SCALLOPS WITH VERMOUTH

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
• Add 2 turns of the pan of olive oil, about 2 tablespoons and the chopped shallots to the pan.
• Cook shallots in oil a minute or so.
• Add artichoke hearts and toss to heat through.
• Season artichokes with salt and pepper and combine with parsley and capers.
• Transfer artichokes to a serving dish.
• Wipe out pan and return to the heat, raising heat a bit.
• Season drained and trimmed scallops with salt and pepper.
• Add 1 turn of olive oil to the very hot pan and immediately place the scallops in the pan and sear in a single layer, causing them to carmelize, 2 minutes on each side.
• Add vermouth and cook out the alcohol, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Arrange scallops in vermouth over the top of the artichokes and serve.

SCALLOPS IN VERMOUTH-CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Coat the scallops with flour, dusting off excess.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add the scallops and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, till they are opaque, and then remove from skillet.
• Add vermouth to the skillet and scrape the pan to loosen bits stuck to the bottom.
• Bring to a boil and reduce the volume of liquid by half.
• Stir in cream, salt, and pepper and turn heat down to low.
• Add the scallops back to the pan and cook till heated through.

CREAMY ASPARAGUS SOUP WITH SEARED SCALLOPS

Steps:

• Snap off the tough stem ends from the asparagus spears.
• Cut the tips, each about 2 inches long, off 4 spears.
• Set the tips aside.
• Chop the remaining asparagus into 1-inch pieces.
• Bring a large pot two-thirds full of generously salted water to a boil over high heat.
• Add the chopped asparagus and cook until bright green and just tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon or long-handled strainer, transfer the asparagus to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
• When the asparagus is cool, drain and set aside.
• In a heavy soup pot over medium heat, melt 3 Tbs of the butter.
• When the butter is just hot, add the shallots and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the chopped asparagus and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the cream and stock.
• Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the spinach and cook for 2 minutes more.
• Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth, about 2 minutes.
• Pass the soup through a chinois into a clean saucepan and keep warm over very low heat.
• Season the scallops with salt and pepper.
• In a small sauté pan over medium-high heat, melt the remaining 1 Tbs butter.
• When it is nearly smoking, add the scallops and cook until evenly browned and slightly translucent in the center, about 2 minutes per side.
• Divide the scallops among 2 warmed soup bowls.
• Add the reserved asparagus tips to the sauté pan and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes.
• Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.
• Ladle the soup into the bowls, garnish with the asparagus tips and serve immediately.

SEARED SCALLOPS AND ASPARAGUS WITH ASIAN CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Finely chop peppercorns in processor. Cook sake, shallots, ginger, vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon chopped peppercorns in small saucepan over medium heat until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 15 minutes. Add cream; simmer until liquid coats spoon, about 6 minutes. Strain into another small saucepan.
• Cook asparagus in saucepan of boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain. Refresh under cold water; drain. Sprinkle remaining chopped peppercorns over both sides of scallops. Season with salt.
• Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add scallops; cook until golden and almost cooked through, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add asparagus; sauté until scallops are cooked through and asparagus is hot, about 30 seconds. Arrange scallops on plates. Bring sauce to simmer. Spoon sauce around scallops. Garnish with asparagus. Sprinkle with chives.

SEA SCALLOPS ON ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Coarsely chop the mushrooms and combine them in a large, non-reactive saucepan with five cups of water. Simmer gently for about one-and-a-half hours.
• Strain the liquid, pressing to get all possible juice. Discard mushrooms or reserve. Return the liquid to the pan and boil over high heat until reduced to about a half cup. Set aside.
• Break off the woody asparagus bottoms and peel the lower third. Remove the heads and halve them the long way, then slice the stems across into coins about one-eighth-inch-thick. Combine the honey, lime juice, tarragon and thyme in a small cup.
• Put the dark olive oil in a wide, nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the asparagus pieces and stir-fry for one-and-a-half minutes, or just until they start to change color. Stir in the honey mixture and cook one minute more, then remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add the mushroom essence to the asparagus pan, raise the heat to high and reduce to a generous quarter cup. Set aside.
• Right before serving, put one tablespoon of the light olive oil in a wide, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Dust half the scallop pieces with seasoned flour (see note), place them in the pan and add one tablespoon of the butter. Cook the scallops about one-and-a-half minutes per side, basting with the fat. They should be golden, barely cooked. Set aside, uncovered, and repeat with the remaining oil, butter and scallops.
• Add the reduced mushroom essence to the scallop pan and bring to a boil, scraping. Stir in the asparagus, plus any escaped juices, and reheat.
• Make a nest of the asparagus on each plate and pour the juices over them. Arrange six scallop pieces on each nest and serve at once.

SEARED SCALLOP GEMELLI WITH ASPARAGUS, SNAP PEAS AND PECORINO

Steps:

• Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions; drain.
• Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pancetta, and cook 3 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet, and drain on paper towels. Return skillet to cooktop, and add 2 tablespoons oil, onion, and garlic; cook, over medium-high heat, 5 minutes or until onion starts to soften, stirring occasionally. Add asparagus; cook 2 minutes or until bright green. Stir in peas, and cook 2 minutes. Add vermouth; cook 1 minute or until reduced to a glaze. Stir in tarragon and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a separate skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle scallops with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add to skillet, and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until browned.
• Return large skillet to cooktop. Add cooked pasta and 2 tablespoons butter, and cook 1 minute or until butter melts. Remove skillet from heat, and stir in cheese, half of reserved pancetta, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Divide pasta among 4 bowls, top each evenly with scallops, and sprinkle with remaining pancetta.

STIR-FRIED SCALLOPS AND ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Discard seasoning package from ramen noodles or save for another use. Cook ramen noodles according to package directions; keep warm. , Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry asparagus and red pepper until vegetables are crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Add green onions and garlic, stir-fry 1 minute longer. Add scallops. Stir-fry until scallops are firm and opaque, 3 minutes. , Combine the lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and hot pepper sauce; stir into skillet. Serve with ramen noodles.

SAUTéED SCALLOPS WITH ASPARAGUS PURéE

Steps:

• Asparagus: Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously (make it as salty as seawater). Trim the woody ends from asparagus and discard; then submerge asparagus in the boiling water. Cover with lid just until the water comes back to a boil, then uncover and cook until al dente (tender but with just a little crunch), 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice water.
• Asparagus are done when they bend without snapping. Use a spider strainer to transfer them to the ice bath; submerge and stir to immediately stop the cooking. Reserve cooking water (to thin purée). Cut asparagus tips and reserve for garnish. Cut stalks into 2-inch pieces and set aside.
• Place asparagus stalks in the blender and cover with lid; pulse a few times. Remove the smaller cap in the lid and turn blender to medium speed. Ladle in a slow stream of cooking water (about ½ cup) to help the asparagus purée. Use caution, as the water and purée are hot! Replace the cap, then purée on high speed. When the purée is smooth, strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl to remove any fibrous strands. Salt the purée to taste and set aside.
• Scallops: Place scallops on paper towels in an even layer and pat dry; this is an important step to get a nice sear. Pull off and discard any tough side-muscles (their fibers run against the grain of the rest of the scallop). Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, then add oil. (Add more as needed to coat the bottom of the skillet.) When the oil begins to ripple, add scallops in an even layer without crowding. Let cook undisturbed, 60-90 seconds. Scallops are ready to flip when they are evenly caramelized and no longer stick to the skillet. Before flipping, sprinkle with sea salt. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the asparagus purée.
• When scallops are golden brown on the first side, they should release easily from the skillet. Using a small offset spatula, flip each scallop to sear the second side; continue sautéing, 30-45 more seconds, depending on size. Remove scallops to a paper towel-lined plate and let rest while finishing the sauce.
• Add half of the asparagus tips to the warmed purée. Add butter, then swirl the saucepan continuously until all the butter has melted and emulsified into the purée to make a rich sauce.
• Immediately before serving, add the lemon juice to the asparagus sauce and stir to combine; taste and adjust seasoning. Divide the sauce among plates or large bowls, then place the scallops on the sauce. Garnish with remaining asparagus tips and serve immediately.

SCALLOPS WITH ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Trim asparagus, then cut stems into 1/4-inch-thick diagonal slices, leaving tips whole.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté asparagus, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate, reserving skillet off heat (do not clean).
• Pat scallops dry and sprinkle with pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté half of scallops, turning over once, until browned and just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes total. Transfer scallops with tongs to another plate as cooked.
• Wipe out skillet with paper towels, then add remaining tablespoon oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté remaining scallops, turning over once, until browned and cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes total, transferring to plate. (Do not wipe out skillet after second batch.)
• Carefully add wine and vinegar to skillet (mixture may spatter) and boil, scraping up brown bits, until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 1 minute. Add any scallop juices accumulated on plate and bring to a simmer.
• Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated.
• Add asparagus and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.
• Serve scallops topped with asparagus and sauce.