INGREDIENTS:
East Empress Scallops
1.2 kg frozen scallops
3 cups milk
2½ tbs plain flour
small stalk celery finely chopped
½ small onion diced finely
1 carrot grated
3 tbs butter
2 tbs finely diced water chestnuts
1 tbs chopped basil
1 tbs chopped dill
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
grated cheddar cheese
panko breadcrumbs
mild paprika
12 cleaned scallop shells (lower half)
Fairly complex - but not too difficult. Set some time aside.
Defrost scallops in a bowl of room temperature water. Individually remove the roe from the scallops and feed to the cat. Place rinsed scallops in a bowl of clean water and refrigerate.
In a small pan, sweat the onion until translucent and soft. Do not brown at all. Reserve.
In a saucepan, make a roux by melting the butter, then off the heat, add the flour and combine well. Cook on low heat for one minute. Begin to add the milk a little at a time, stirring constantly. Manage the thickness of the roux at this stage with the amount of milk, until it has finished thickening and you have creamy thick consistency.
Add the basil, dill, curry powder, Worcestershire, onion, carrot, celery and water chestnuts and combine well.
Cook for five minutes on a medium to low heat. Test for heat at this stage.
“THIS IS MY VERSION OF A DISH FROM THE EAST EMPRESS RESTAURANT IN GLEN WAVERLEY THAT I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF!”
You can add another teaspoon of curry powder if you want more spice.
Lightly steam the scallops in a bamboo steamer over a saucepan of boiling water until just opaque. Remove and drain. Dependant on the size of the scallops, cut into either two or three pieces each.
Arrange scallop shells on foil wrap that has been crinkled in the base of the griller tray. Make sure they don’t overlap, but touch each other in order to hold themselves upright. Divide scallop pieces evenly into the shells, with each one being about half full (about 4 or 5 pieces).
Spoon on the mornay sauce mixture to nearly fill each shell. Sprinkle the top of the shells with cheddar cheese, then breadcrumbs. Lastly dust with paprika, and grill close to the element until golden brown on top and heated through.
You'll have twelve shells. So can do six people as an entree.
TWO SHELLS PER PERSON IS AN ENTREE - THREE IS HEADING TOWARDS MAINS STATUS.
YOU CAN RE-USE THE SCALLOP SHELLS OVER AND OVER, AND THEY'RE DISHWASHER FRIENDLY!