Have you seen those dishes where they create artwork on the plate with mashed potatoes or sauces and then add the main dishes on top? Well this is one way of doing such a thing. The nice part about this dish is that you can used mashed potatoes, sweet mashed potatoes, or any kind of puree.
Puree is a French based cooking style that blends foods into a sauce like texture, which is extremely easy to eat. This style of cooking is also very good for people who have difficulty chewing or swallowing, which is something you can consider when selecting a dish to make.
Cooking Scallops
Cooking with scallops can be difficult as most people are not used to cooking it. Most of the time, people overcook the scallops leaving them to become chewy and difficult to eat. A well done scallop will have some firmness on the outside while still soft on the inside. This is done most easily when cooking with large scallops. Smaller scallops you have attend to much more quickly. To do this, we use a technique calling searing.
Searing is when you brown the crust of a food over extremely high temperatures which can be very useful for moisture preservation when roasting or cooking certain meats. Searing brings forth desirable flavors for the palate, and provides a beautiful contrast in colour that makes the dish more desirable. As you can see in the above picture, the browning contrasts with the white scallop to create a more dynamic colour scheme and is much more appetizing than just plain white scallops.
Another important tip is to ensure that the scallops are not wet when you cook them. The wet surface interferes with the cooking process. To do this, pat the scallops dry with a paper towel before adding them to the pan. It is also a good idea to sprinkle them with Kosher salt just before adding them to the pan for the best texture and flavour. Also note that scallops cook really quickly but also cool very quickly so always cook them last.
Time to cook: 20-30 minutes.
Utensils:
Hand blender or Kitchen-aid
Large pot
Knife
Paper towel
Pan
Tongs/Chopsticks/something to flip scallops
Ingredients:
Large scallops
Oil
Kosher Salt
5 sweet potatoes
Block of Cream Cheese
1/4 cup of butter
Pepper
3 Tbsp of Paprika
4 Tbsp of Sour Cream
4 Tbsp of Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp of Onion Powder
Chives (optional)
Directions for Sweet Potato Mash
Boil water in a large pot and add a dash of salt.
While waiting for the water to boil, peel and cut the sweet potatoes into small cubes. Add to the pot once it has boiled and lower the heat to medium. Let it cook for about 15 minutes or until soft and you can pierce with a chopstick or dull utensil with ease. Drain.
Place in a mixing bowl and mash or blend with the garlic to a desired consistency.
Add in the butter, cream cheese sour cream, a pinch of salt, onion powder, paprika, and pepper.
Blend in well to melt and incorporate the butter. Feel free to add more salt/other spices until desired flavour has been met.
Cover and keep warm while you cook the scallop.
Directions for Scallops
Place the scallops on a paper towel and pat it down until dry.
Heat up oil in a frying on medium high heat. Hover your hand above the pan to check if the pan is hot enough. DO NOT add scallops until pan is very hot.
Sprinkle kosher salt over all of the scallops at this moment.
Add the scallops in a clockwise fashion starting at 12 o'clock so it is easier to keep track of which ones are done first as they cook fairly quickly. If you are using large scallops, sear the scallop for 1.5-2 minutes and begin turning them in the same order that you began adding them. Check the first one before flipping the others. If you achieve the ideal level of brownness then begin flipping the others.
Assembly:
Add the sweet mashed potato to a large plate and design the plate however you like. You can pile it high in the middle and add 3 scallops. You can also add a lump somewhere more towards one side and then use a spoon to drag it to look like a comma and add 3 scallops. This is where your creative juices can thrive! Sprinkle with Chopped Chives and serve!
Did you try it? Let me know what you think. Like, comment, and subscribe! Thanks for all the support!
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