Scallops with Jerusalem artichoke and lovage (second course) - Fine dining Christmas menu special

Today we’re going to make the second course of the Christmas special menu, seared scallops with Jerusalem artichoke, lovage and a mandarin beurre blanc.

The scallops

Insert your knife into the side and twist it so the shell opens. Now cut the muscle on the flat side. Then remove the flat shell. Now take the shell and use a spoon to remove the scallop. You can cook the roe, but I’m not using it for this dish. Then transfer the scallops into a bowl of water and clean them. After that keep them between some kitchen paper in your fridge.

The Jerusalem artichoke crisp

400 grams

Jerusalem artichoke

Pour some water into a pan and season it with salt. Then add the Jerusalem artichoke and cook them for 30 minutes. Once there cooked cut them in half and when still hot peel of the skin. Then transfer the skin on a silicon sheet and let them dry at 60 degrees Celsius. This takes around 5 hours. Now heat up a pan with some frying oil till it’s 190 degrees Celsius. Fry the dried skins so they start to puff up. Then season with some salt and keep them dry and covered for later.

The Jerusalem artichoke cream

250 grams	Jerusalem artichoke meat
90 grams	cream
3 grams	salt
10 grams	white wine vinegar

Transfer the Jerusalem artichoke meat into a saucepan and also add the cream, the salt and the white wine vinegar. Now bring this to a boil for 2 minutes and then blender till smooth with a hand blender.

The lovage oil

45 grams	lovage leaves
200 grams	neutral oil

Transfer the leaves into a blender together with the neutral oil and spin it till the oil is 65 degrees Celsius. After that put it through a sieve that’s laid with a kitchen paper. Let this sit in your fridge for 1 hour.

The lovage tuille

40 grams	lovage oil
6 grams	salt
8 grams	sugar
60 grams	egg white
50 grams	flour

Pour the lovage oil into a blender and add the salt, the sugar, the egg white and the flour. Now blender this till smooth and then spread it on a silicon mold. I use the autumn leaf molds from Mold Brothers. Bake them at 160 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Now remove them from the mold and keep them dry and covered.

The king mushroom crisps

2	king mushrooms
	sushi vinegar
	salt

First trim the side of the mushrooms and cut them in thin slices on a mandolin. Now lay them on a silicon sheet and glaze them with some sushi vinegar and season with salt. Cover them with another silicon sheet and bake them at 130 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. Then keep them dry and covered.

The baked king mushroom

Take 2 king mushrooms and cut of the bottom. Cut the top in 8 equal pieces. Then heat up a frying pan, add a splash of oil and fry the mushrooms. Now season with some salt and once the start to color add a knot of butter and fry till golden brown. Then take them out of the pan and keep them in your fridge.

The beurre blanc

2	onions
2	mandarins
300 grams	white wine
100 grams	sushi vinegar
4 grams	salt
3 springs	sage

100 grams	mandarin castric
4 grams	salt
220 grams	cold cubes of butter

Cut the onions in half and clean them. Then chop them and cut the mandarins in half. Now pour the white wine into a saucepan together with the sushi vinegar, the chopped onion, the mandarin and the salt. Now reduce this till it’s 200 grams of liquid and add the springs of sage for the final 10 minutes. After that drain it and use a ladle to press out any liquid. Now weigh 100 grams of this liquid into a saucepan together with the salt. Bring this to a boil and once it’s boiling add the cold cubes of butter while mixing with a hand blender.

How to finish the dish

First season the scallops on all sides with salt. Then heat up a frying pan, add a splash of oil and fry the scallops. Once you see some color forming on the side add a knot of butter and let this caramelize till golden. Then turn them around and base them with the hot fat for 30 seconds. Now take them out and let them rest for 1 minute. Then pipe a couple of dots of the cream on a plate and add the baked king mushroom. Now put the scallop that I’ve cut in half on top. Then add the king mushroom crisp, the Jerusalem artichoke crisp and the lovage tuilles. Pour some of the lovage oil around the dish and finish it off with the beurre blanc.