Grilled Scallops on Silver Dollar Blini
Here’s a dish that captures the elegance of czarist Russian in both content and presentation. Keep in mind that the lemon vodka mignonette is an excellent sauce for any grilled fish or shellfish.
Ingredients
- Blini Batter
- Buckwheat Flour - 1/2 cup
- Unbleached All-purpose flour - 1/4 cup
- Sugar - 1/4 cup
- Milk - 1 cup
- Eggs - 2, slightly beaten
- Unsalted Butter - 4 , melted
- Active Dry Yeast - 1/2 teaspoon
- Butter - 1 tablespoon, melted
- Lemon Vodka Mignonette
- Apricots - 3 , finely diced
- Red Bell Pepper - 1, seeded, deribbed, and finely diced
- Lemon - 1, seeded, deribbed, and finely diced
- Whole fresh chive stems - 6, snipped
- Lemon Vodka - 1 tablespoon
- Sherry Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- Aged balsamic vinegar for sprinkling - 1 teaspoon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Lemon Beurre Blanc
- Dry white wine - 1/2 cup
- Parsley stems - 1/2 cup, chopped
- Fresh lemon juice - 4 teaspoons
- Shallots - 1 tablespoon, minced
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 3/4 cup
- Cold Unsalted butter - 1 cup (2 sticks), cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
- Vegetable Gateau
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Leek - 1/2 cup, finely diced, white part only
- Carrot - 1/4 cup, finely diced, peeled
- Celery - 1/4 cup, finely diced
- Shrimp - 4 large, peeled, poached, and finely diced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Lemon Beurre Blanc - about 1/3 cup (above)
- Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon, melted
- Sea Scallops - 12 large
- Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Garnish
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Asparagus tips - 32, blanched
- Sour Cream - 1/4 cup
- Osetra caviar - 4 ounces
- Fresh Chervil Sprigs - 4
- Chive Stems - 8
Instructions
To make the blini batter: In a large bowl, combine the flours and sugar. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, eggs, butter, and yeast, and stir. Place the pan over low heat and warm gently to not more than 150 F. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the dry ingredients, mixing well. Strain the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve and set aside for 1 hour at room temperature to allow the yeast to ferment.
To make the mignonette: In a small non-aluminum bowl, combine the apricots, bell pepper, lemon, and chives. Mix well. Add the vodka and vinegars, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
To make the lemon beurre blanc: In a small, heavy non-aluminum saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the wine, parsley stems, 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice, and shallots until the liquid has almost evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the cream and continue to cook over medium-high heat to reduce the liquid to 1/2 cup. Whisk the butter into the reduced cream, one tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly until all the butter is used and the sauce has a velvety consistency. Adjust the heat as you work by moving the pan on and off the heat; if bright yellow streaks of butter appear, take the sauce off the heat and immediately whisk in two tablespoons of butter, until the sauce recombines. Strain the sauce through a fine-meshed sieve and season with the remaining 1 teaspoon lemon juice and salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm over barely tepid water, or in an insulated container.
To make the vegetable gateau: In a large saute pan or skillet over low heat, melt the butter and cook the leek for about 2 minutes. Add the carrot and celery and cook for about 1 minute. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper, and remove from hat. Add just enough of the lemon beurre blanc to bind the shrimp mixture. Keep in a warm place until ready to assemble the dish.
To cook the blini: Heat a large griddle or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Lightly brush the surface of the griddle with half of the melted butter. Stir the batter briskly and spoon 12 tablespoon-sized portions onto the griddle to form the “silver dollar” blini. Cook until the tops are bubbly and the bottoms are golden, about 1 minute, then turn with a spatula and cook on the second side until golden, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside in a warm place. Repeat, making 12 slightly larger blini, about 2 inches across, using about two tablespoons of batter for each. Cut these blini with a 1-1/2-inch diameter ring mold or cookie cutter to form perfect circles. The blini may be made ahead of time and held in a warm place, covered, until ready to assemble the plates.
To prepare the scallops: Brush the scallops with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and cook them in a hot saute pan or skillet until they are firm and opaque, about 1-1/2 minutes on each side. Set aside.
To assemble and serve: Place a 1-1/2-inch-diameter stainless steel ring mold in the center of each warmed serving plate. In each, place one trimmed blini in the bottom, and spoon in one tablespoon of the gateau mixture. Layer with a second trimmed blini and 1 tablespoon of the gateau mixture, and to with another trimmed blini. Press down gently, the lift the molds.
Melt the butter and add the asparagus tips; saute until heated through. Arrange three of the silver dollar blini around each ring and spoon some of the vodka mignonette between each pair, placing it close to one of the scallops. Cross two asparagus tips between the mignonette and the next blini in each position. Place a scallop on each silver dollar blini. Pipe a rosette of sour cream on top of each tower. Spoon caviar on top of the sour cream and on top of each scallop. Drizzle the remaining beurre blanc around the edges of the plates. Garnish each with a sprig of fresh chervil and two crossed chives.
