Seared Digby Scallop With Braised Fennel And Chive, Lime Butter Sauce

Serves 4
Level of difficulty: Advanced

• 20 large scallops (10-20 per pound size)
• All purpose flour for dusting
• 300 grams fennel bulb sliced
• 100 ml 35% whipping cream
• 25 gram gruyere cheese grated
• 1 teaspoon parmesan cheese grated
• 20 gram shallots fine chopped
• 12 pepper corn freshly crushed
• 25 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
• 60 ml dry white wine
• 100 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• Sautéed julienne of vegetables (for garnish)
• 100 gram unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste



Season the scallops with salt and pepper and dust with flour. Set a thick bottom Teflon frying pan on high heat with half quantity of olive oil and unsalted butter. Once the pan is smoking hot, sear the scallops on both sides until golden brown making sure not to over cook the scallops. Remove the scallops from the pan, reduce the heat and use the rest of the olive oil and unsalted butter to sweat the shallots. Add the crushed pepper corn, lime juice and white wine and cook until the wine is reduced in half. Add the vegetable stock and reduce again. Now slowly work in the chilled butter while making sure that you do not allow the sauce to boil. Pass the sauce through fine sieve and add chives and correct the seasoning.
In a separate pan, sauté the slice fennel then add the cream. Let it reduce and then correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Add both cheeses in at the last moment.
Place the fennel in the center of each plate and arrange the scallops around. Pour the sauce over the scallops and garnished with julienne of sautéed vegetables in the center top.

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