Corn, Scallops and Prawns
Recipe by Eric Keener
This meal was insanely tasty and visually stunning. It’s pretty easy to make but also a bit time consuming - thankfully you can do the oil and corn the day before. The result will absolutely wow your dinner guests. Also, a huge shout out to Brent Herb, executive chef of Sam’s Cafe in Tiburon, CA, for delivering 40 pounds of spot prawns to Fin + Forage.
Cilantro Oil
You’ll want to start this in the morning before cooking (or day before). It’s very quick and easy to make but takes up to 6 hours to strain. This oil is beautiful and an amazing way to step up your presentation and get additional depth of flavor to your dish. You can use any soft leaf, fresh herb(s) you think will go best with your dish (e.g. parsley, tarragon, mint, chives, dill, basil, etc).
2 bunches of fresh, fragrant cilantro, with stems
¾ C High quality olive oil (or neutral oil)
Boil salted water in a large sauce pan. Blanch the herbs, 1 bunch at a time, in boiling water. Let boil for 10-20 seconds (any longer and they will lose taste- boil just long enough for stems to turn bright green) and immediately remove and drop them in a large mixing bowl that already is filled with ice and water. Keep them in the cold water for 3 minutes to get entirely chilled. Pull them out, separate them a bit on a kitchen towel and dry them off as best as you can - dryer the better. Drop them in a high power blender (regular blender can work, but something like a Vitamix is a staple in a kitchen) with the oil and blend until as smooth as possible.
Add mixture to a coffee filter and let it drain into a container for up to 6 hours. You can also line a sieve with cheesecloth layered 3 times but the coffee filter works better for filtration. You can stir it once an hour, but do not press it through. Keeps for up to a week in the fridge.
Corn Puree
5 ears of sweet white corn
2 small shallots or 1 large, sliced thin
2 tbsp butter
Large pinch of salt
Pinch of smoked paprika
Pinch of chili powder
Pinch of cayenne
1 C fish stock/fumet (recipe here)
3 Tbsp heavy cream
1 Tbsp olive oil
Boil corn for 5-10 minutes, remove from water and allow to cool.
While the corn is cooling, melt the butter and oil in a pan over medium heat and add shallots. Let them turn translucent and just barely start to brown. Once sautéed, add it to a high power blender.
Cut the corn from the cob, reserving about 1/3 C of the kernels for garnish, and put the rest in the blender. Add all other ingredients to the blender and puree until extremely smooth. Add to a warm bowl, and set aside in microwave to keep warm.
Scallops and Chorizo
Several Large scallops, dried off and room temperature
3 oz. pork chorizo, chopped into small pieces
Several colorful cherry tomatoes, halved
Get a cast iron or other searing pan med-hot (for many pans, high heat can be damaging, especially non-stick) and add some high heat oil and chorizo. Let cook through and start to develop some texture. Remove from pan and set aside.
Turn up the heat to piping hot and add some more oil if needed (leave chorizo oil in pan).
Add some salt to the scallop and pat dry before placing in the pan. Once the scallop is in the pan, don’t move the scallop – let it hard sear. Scallops get chewy when overcooked, so leave on pan just long enough to get a nice brown crust. Flip for 10 seconds and remove from pan.
Let pan cool to medium high heat to use for prawns.
Spot Prawns
Spot prawns are regarded as one of the best tasting prawns in the world. They are sweet and light with a delightful texture. They are very easy to overcook, so mind the below method well.
2 Tbsp olive oil
15 local spot prawns or black tiger prawns (small to medium in size)
5 cloves garlic (chopped fine)
Salt
Red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons parsley (chopped fine)
Chardonnay
Peel and de-vein (if needed) but leave the tail on. Pat the prawns dry and sprinkle salt and red pepper on them.
Using the same pan as the scallops, add some butter and garlic. Let garlic begin to turn translucent and add ½ of the prawns to the pan. Cook only 15 seconds, flip and cook 15 more seconds. At the point of you flipping, add a splash of wine to the pan and toss in parsley. Remove prawns from pan and do the same to the next batch. Keep the sauce in the pan.
Plating
Fresno chili pepper
Fresh ground pepper corns
Chopped parsley
In a shallow bowl or deep plate, add the corn puree. Sprinkle some chorizo around it. Rough grind some pepper corns on it. Add the scallop slightly off center and pile shrimps on the side of the scallop. Place some tomatoes cut side up around the dish. Sprinkle parsley on plate. Find pockets of corn that don’t have ingredients to drizzle the herb oil (or pour around the edge of the plate only – best to use white plate if doing the latter). Take some of the sauce left in the pan and drizzle over the scallop and prawns. Serve Warm.