A first course dish of fresh queen scallops sourced locally on the Isle of Mull served with turmeric ice-cream, a simple salad with Asian influences and a local seaweed chutney. Nothing could be more perfect.
Starter fit for a quine
On the last night of my birthday sojourn to the lovely Isle of Mull, I decided to pull out all the stops, cooking a meal from the finest local produce picked up on a pleasant stroll around Tobermory. This dish of queen scallops—known as "queenies" in some parts of Scotland—was never going to escape my menu...
These queen scallopes with turmeric ice-cream are a very simple dish.
I served this starter of fresh Scottish seafood with Asian twists as the first course, but you can easily scale it up for a main course. God knows, I would nae have minded if those queenies had kept coming...
The portions here are for two diners as a starter. But you can readily use your primary education arithmetic skills as needed. The dish is actually very simple. It consists of marinaded scallops, seared, then served with a simple cucumber and spring onion salad, turmeric and green chilli "ice-cream" and a seaweed chutney. On this occasion, the seaweed chutney celebrated the local bounty. But, is that's not easily to hand, nae problem: alternatives are available.
I served it with an "oatie crusted" cod main dish. You can learn more about that here.
Shopping list
2 to 3 queen scallops (with the "tails" on) per diner
Half a cucumber, scrubbed and cut into julienne-style sticks
4 or 5 spring onions, chopped
Sticky teriyaki marinade; store-bought or make your own
A large piece of fresh ginger, cut into "matchsticks"
A handful of cashew nuts
2 tbspns of yuzu juice
2 tbspns turmeric
2 hot green chillies, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic, very finely grated
A little sesame oil; approx. 2 tbspns
Approx. 100ml fresh single cream (it REALLY must not be double cream)
Approx. 50g of crowdie (If you can't get this Scottish soft cheese, substitute with a cream cheese, the "chunkier" the better, but not cottage cheese because it simply doesn't contain enough fat.)
Seaweed chutney—yes, I actually do have a recipe for this, but you'd be mad to make it yourself when you can buy the perfect version from Isle of Mull Sea Weed
Cooking Method
for the queen scallops with turmeric ice-cream
At least three hours before (preferably the night before) you plan to serve, place the washed and drained scallops into a snug-fitting bowl (so that not all the marinade sinks to the bottom). Gently pour over the teriyaki marinade and turn a few times, ensuring all parts of the queen scallops are coated
Sprinkle the ginger "matchsticks" among the scallops. Cover and place in the fridge
for the turmeric and green chilli ice cream
Start a good four hours before you plan to serve. But, do NOT prepare this dish too far in advance (such as the night before). It is not a true ice-cream. Leaving it in the freezer too long results in too many ice crystals forming inside it, spoiling its "melting creamy" effect upon serving
Heat the small amount of sesame oil in a small saucepan (ideally quite deep) until it is hot, but not scalding. Add the finely grated garlic and the sliced green chillies (without waiting for the garlic to brown)
When the chillies show the first signs of softening, add half of the turmeric, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. Before the turmeric is able to "catch" (it will quickly bond with whatever oil remains in the pan), starting pouring in the single cream, still stirring
Reduce the heat and continue to stir. A bit like with other "cooked cream" dishes (e.g. panna cotta) you want the cream to thicken. But, here, not as much so. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool naturally (or on a window sill in the mode of the old-fashioned apple pie) for at least 20 mins
Once the mixture is cooled to at least room temperature, add the rest of the cream and the crowdie (or cream cheese) and stir in. Then blend finely using a hand-hand blender or vigorous whisk (you can also use a more conventional blender, but obviously it will "lose" some of the mixture)
Decant to a small dish suitable for freezing. And, only when fully cooled, cover and place in the freezer. About every hour before serving, remove from the freezer and vigorously stir the mixture (even when only half frozen) with a standard fork (it's all about ice crystals, baby). Then press down into the dish with a smooth-surfaced implement—such as a large spoon or spatula—before returning to the freezer
the last stretch
This is one of those really "helpful" starters where pulling it altogether is very easy and there are no dramatic stress points that result in a mix of tears and mascara on your cocktail dress as you fail to be the hostess with the most-ess...
Arrange the simple cucumber and spring onion salad on the plates and drizzle with a little yuzu juice. If you've made your turmeric ice-cream on the earlier side, just check whether it needs to be taken out of the freezer for a few minutes of thawing. Chances are it wont need it
Pour a little sesame (or peanut) oil into a large, shallow frying pan and heat on a high heat, ensuring it's evenly distributed. Once hot, pour in about half of the marinade from your scallop dish, the ginger matchsticks and the cashews
Wait until they are bubbling fiercely, even beginning to blacken—you want to be sure the pan is very hot before you add the scallops—then push these "accessories" to the cooler edges of the pan
Add the scallops and any remaining "juice" to the pan. Sear them for no more than 1 minute on each side
Plate, add a dollop of the turmeric ice-cream, a dab of seaweed chutney and serve immediately
Alternatives
This is one of those occasions on which I'm gonna say there are no alternatives. It's a pescatarian dish of scallops: deal with it.
Pairings
This dish really deserves Karel's attention. But I paired it with a heroic little Mosel Riesling (especially considering the price) that we found in Oban despite a seriously disrupted journey to the island.
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