Photograph by Scott Martin
My favorite sauce that I learned to make in culinary school was a traditional beurre blanc sauce. A rich, slightly tangy butter-white wine sauce that is wonderful addition to fresh seafood. The method for this sauce is quite specific, but once you master this technique, you will begin to experiment with different flavorings and variations on the traditional sauce. This is how I came up with my Seared Scallops with a Grapefruit Beurre Blanc Sauce. Tender scallops seared to perfection in a touch of grapeseed oil and surrounded with a slightly tart, grapefruit-scented beurre blanc sauce. A flavor match made in heaven. This sauce would also be equally delicious over a nice halibut filet, or even a steamed lobster tail.
Reducing the liquids to ‘au sec’
Adding butter in to make the beurre blanc sauce
Photograph by Scott Martin
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Seared Scallops with a Grapefruit Beurre Blanc
Ingredients:
- 12 sea scallops, patted dry and side muscle removed
- Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil
- 1 shallot, minced
- ½ cup fresh grapefruit juice (from approximately 2 grapefruit)
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 3 springs of fresh thyme
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- Zest of 1 large grapefruit
- Fresh chives, for garnish
Directions:
- Season the scallops with a touch of salt and pepper. Heat a non-stick pan with the grapeseed oil, over medium-high heat. Sear the scallops for 1 minute on each side. Remove from the heat.
- To make the beurre blanc sauce, place the shallots, thyme, grapefruit juice and white wine in a medium sauce pan. Season with ¼ teaspoon pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. Over medium heat, reduce the total amount of liquid in the saucepan to about 2 Tablespoons of liquid, stirring often. (This should take about 5 minutes to reduce.) Reduce the heat of the reduced liquid to low, and one tablespoon at a time, add in the butter while constantly whisking. Once each tablespoon of butter has emulsified and become part of the sauce, add the next tablespoon, followed by the next, etc. until the butter is all used up. The sauce should be a nice consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Add the grapefruit zest to the sauce and serve with the seared scallops. Garnish each plate with chopped chives.
Tagged: beurre blanc, chives, French, fresh thyme, grapefruit, scallops, seared scallopes, seared scallops, shallots
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