Courtney's Shellfish with (not) Too Much Sauce

Felt like some shellfish, needed to use up some of the very last veggies from last year's Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) before this year's starts up this Saturday, and also felt like some comfort food. So made some shrimp and sea scallops with what seemed like too much sauce (see eating notes below). The picture shown above is served with the zucchini (see cooking notes)

Recipe
(generously serves 2)

10 16-20 count shrimp, cleaned to taste*
6 large sea scallops
1 10 oz jar clam juice
3 - 5 generous sprigs parsley
water to cover shellfish
2 T ghee
2 fresh garlic shoots, stem and bulb, sliced thin
2 T flour
2 roasted red peppers (jarred), diced
juice of 1 Meyer Lemon
1 T dijon mustard (I use Grey Poupon)
2 T heavy cream (I used the plug of cream off an unopened bottle of unhomogeonized milk)
* I like the texture of shrimp shells so I leave them on. On the other hand, I have textural issues with the legs so I take them off and give the cats a treat. It's purely a matter of choice whether or not to shell the shrimp before you make this dish.


Bring the clam juice to a boil with the parsley in it and, in a separate kettle, bring water to heat. When the clam juice boils, add the shrimp and scallops and just enough water from the kettle to cover. Poach the scallops and shrimp 3 - 5 min or until just barely done (they will continue to cook after removing and later when the hot sauce is added) and remove to a bowl. Reserve the cooking juice.

Heat the ghee.

Mix the lemon juice, mustard, cream, and red peppers in a small bowl.

When the ghee is hot, add the chopped fresh garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the flour, stirring continously.

When the mixture has browned slightly, add 1 cup of the cooking juice, slowly, stirring all the while. When this is strongly bubbling, add the lemon juice, mustard, cream, and red pepper mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue stirring constantly while sauce bubbles and reduces. It should be at a strong bubble but not an urgent boil.

While the sauce is reducing, plate the shellfish.

Once the sauce has reduced to the consistency that pleases you, pour it over the shellfish. Serve hot. If you made too much sauce, be sure to get a spoon.

Cooking Notes: The recipe made about a cup of sauce. When poured over the veggies and shellfish, it seemed like far too much, but we had no problem eating every last bit. So if people are game, why not? Otherwise, save half of the sauce for tomorrow's lunch or dinner.

For the zucchini, it was parboiled and frozen last year, so all that was required was to drop the vacuum bag in boiling water for 6 min or so.

Eating Notes: There was no complaint about having to use a spoon for this sauce. It was good and rich but not overbearing, and the inclusion of the roasted red pepper and fresh garlic made it like its own little component of the meal, rather than "just" a sauce.

Seafood and Veggie Chickpea Flour Pancakes

Saw this recipe in the "Dining and Wine" section of the New York Times and decided to adapt it to my gluten-reduced diet and pantry contents. Made it for breakfast, and it also would be a very nice brunch or luncheon dish. Picture shows Phil's, served with three eggs over medium-hard.

Seafood and Veggie Chickpea Flour Pancakes
(makes 6 approx. 4" pancakes)

1 c chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour (found at organic-focused supermarkets and coops)
1/4 t xanthan gum (ditto)
1/2 t baking powder (check to be sure it is gluten-free if this is a concern for you)
Salt and fresh pepper to taste
1 c water
Enough raw sea scallops and shrimp to make 1/2 c chopped with one extra peeled shrimp and 1/2 scallop per person for garnish
2/3 chopped cooked summer vegetables (I used some leftover zucchini and yellow squash) split into two 1/3 c portions
1 scallion, chopped fine
3T chopped fresh herbs (I used basil), divided equally among the two chopped vegetable portions.
2T mascarpone or softened cream cheese
ghee for frying

Heat some ghee on a skillet. Cut the scallop in half crosswise so that you have two disks. Saute the scallop and shrimp until just barely done (it will continue cooking after you take it off the heat). Remove and reserve.

Take one of the portions of vegetables and basil and saute in the ghee left behind by the seafood until well warmed. Remove and reserve, keeping warm.

In a bowl and using an electric hand mixer, thoroughly blend the dry ingredients. While still beating, add the water and continue beating until well mixed. Using a spoon, stir in the chopped seafood and the unwarmed portion of vegetables and basil just until mixed.

Put a generous amount of ghee on the griddle. When hot, make the pancakes, using the spoon to keep the batter mixed. Cook until nicely browned, approximately 3 minutes on each side.

Plate the pancakes. Mix the mascarpone in with the reserved sauteed vegetables and spread over. Place the scallop disk on top, and the cooked shrimp on top of that. Serve hot.

Eating Notes: The pancakes were an excellent combination of filling but light, which is why I think they would be perfect as luncheon/brunch dishes. It also was a good way to use up some leftover veggies. Tomatoes and mushrooms would have been nice additions, and could have been used instead of the seafood to make a vegetarian dish. Another thing I like about the recipe is that the finished pancakes taste like their own thing, not like something that is a gluten-free pretender to a wheat flour dish.