BLANQUETTE OF SCALLOPS

Blanquette of Scallops image

Spring for me means discarding dark sauces and turning toward ingredients that are light and green. Here I'm inspired by the French blanquette, a stew, usually veal, in a creamy white sauce. I replaced the veal with plump sea scallops and brightened the whole thing with verdant, seasonal asparagus. Traditionally a blanquette is thickened with egg yolks and has pearl onions and often button mushrooms in the mix. The onion is in my version, but minced. I also omitted the mushrooms and used new potatoes that, unlike the mushrooms, help thicken a sauce made without the egg yolks. The result is a dish that's fancy enough for guests yet easy enough for a weeknight.

Provided by Florence Fabricant

Categories dinner, weekday, seafood, soups and stews, main course

Time 45m

Yield 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound sea scallops, rubbery tendon removed, scallops patted dry
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock, or more if needed
4 medium-size new potatoes, about 12 ounces total, peeled and cut in eighths
Salt and ground white pepper
8 ounces thin asparagus, ends snapped off, slant-cut in inch-long pieces
3 tablespoons crème fraîche
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

Steps:

Melt butter over medium heat in a 12-inch sauté pan or skillet that has a cover. Increase heat to medium-high, add scallops and sauté no more than a minute until very lightly browned, then turn them once with tongs to color the other side. They will be undercooked. Remove to a bowl and cover loosely with foil.
Reduce heat to low, add onions and sauté a couple of minutes, until soft but not brown. Stir in wine, scraping bottom of pan, and add 3/4 cup of the stock. Add potatoes, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook on medium-low 10 to 12 minutes, until just tender when pierced with a paring knife.
Stir ingredients in the pan. Add asparagus and remaining stock. Cook uncovered about 3 minutes, until asparagus are just tender. If liquid in the pan is reducing too much - there should be a saucelike amount - add a little more stock. Stir in crème fraîche, cook briefly until sauce thickens to a creamy consistency.
Return scallops and any juices they release to the pan, cook another 2 minutes, basting scallops and potatoes with sauce. Add lemon juice. Taste sauce for seasoning. Transfer blanquette to a serving dish, shower with dill and serve.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 235, UnsaturatedFat 2 grams, Carbohydrate 21 grams, Fat 6 grams, Fiber 3 grams, Protein 18 grams, SaturatedFat 3 grams, Sodium 867 milligrams, Sugar 4 grams, TransFat 0 grams