The second starter on New Year’s Eve, was also a seafood dish. Nice big scallops fried on high heat with a truffled celeriac puré, apple caramel and crispy apple. Sooo good!

The recipe is courtesy of Daniel Clifford, and I found it in an Electrolux folder I picked up at the Taste of Christmas fair.

Pan-fried scallops with truffled celeriac puré and apple caramel, serves 9

Adapted from Daniel Clifford’s recipe.

The scallops are best cooked really quickly on high heat. Treat it them as a steak. You want the maillard effect or the surface to caramelize, but they shouldn’t be cooked all the way through, nicer with a slight wobble in the middle. If overcooked they are often rubbery.

The celeriac puré can be made in advanced and reheated when serving., just like the apple caramel. The apple sticks can be cut ahead of time too; just make sure you cover them with lemon juice and place them in an airtight container to prevent discolouring.

18 large scallops, side muscles removed

butter for frying

salt, pepper

1 lemon, the juice

Celeriac ipuré:

700 g peeled celeriac cut into pieces

milk and water

300 ml double cream

truffle oil

Apple caramel:

1 litre freshly pressed apple juice 

Garnish:

1 green apple, cut into matchsticks

truffle oil

Place the celeriac in a sauceoan and cover with half milk half water. Add salt. Bring to the boil and cook on medium heat until tender. Drain. Bring the cream to the boil in a seperate saucepan. Mix celeriac and cream to a puré. Add lemon juice and truffle oil to your liking. Season. 

Pour the apple juice in a saucepan and let it reduce on high heat until 1/3 of the liquid is left. Or reduce further until you have a thicker liquid. 

Heat up a frying pan on high heat. Add butter. Dry the scallops on a towel to remove liquid so they can brown easier. Season well and fry for 1-2 minutes on each side, only turning them over once. Place on a plate to rest. Squeeze with lemon juice.

Plate; first the puré, then the scallops on top (2 per person). Spoon over the caramel and drizzle with truffle oil. Top with the apple matchsticks.