Coquilles St. Jacques

Title:
Coquilles St. Jacques

Yield:
3 Servings

Categories:
French,
Shellfish,
Appetizers,
Main
Dishes




Ingredients:





     1 lb Scallops


     4 tb Butter


   1/2 c  Sliced mushrooms


     3 tb Flour


     1 c  Dry white wine


   2/3 c  Water


     2    Parsley sprigs


     4    Whole black peppercorns


     1 pn Dried thyme


     1    Bay leaf


   1/2 c  Shallots; or onion


          -chopped


     1    Egg yolk


   1/2 c  Heavy cream


     1 ts Lemon juice


          Cayenne to taste


   1/2 c  Dry bread crumbs


   1/4 c  Grated Parmesan cheese


          Butter


 1 1/2 c  Potatoes; cooked and


          -whipped






 Melt 1 Tb butter in a heavy skillet and saute mushrooms. Remove mushrooms


 and set aside. Add remaining 3 Tb butter and the flour and cook together


 over medium heat 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.


 


 Combine the wine, water, parsley, peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf and onion in


 a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil 10 minutes, strain and return liquid


 to the pan; add scallops, cover and let simmer 3 minutes. Remove scallops


 and set aside. Bay scallops can be served whole; the larger sea scallops


 should be sliced into thirds across the grain. Reduce liquid to 1 cup; add


 butter-flour mixture and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. Stir


 egg yolk into cream [or you can use evaporated skim milk for a reduced fat


 version], add a little of the hot sauce, stir into yolk mixture then stir


 back again into the hot sauce and turn off heat. Stir in lemon juice,


 cayenne, mushrooms and scallops. Divide into lightly greased scallop shells


 (6 servings, if an appetizer) or 3 individual serving casserole dishes (if


 entrees). Melt the butter and fry the bread crumbs in a small skillet. Mix


 in the grated Parmesan. Sprinkle this mixture over the scallops. With a


 pastry tube pipe a line of whipped potatoes around the edges of the


 shell/dish.


 


 Place in a 400 degree preheated oven and broil 2 to 4 minutes until the


 topping is golden brown.


 


 From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini