One day, while snacking in the kitchen, Chef Harrison Porter dipped a slice of peach into some béarnaise sauce. “Damn,” he said to himself. “That’s really good!”
And that’s how one of his favorite combinations, stone fruit and béarnaise sauce was born. And that’s why we are sharing this dish with you today.
Seared Scallops, Béarnaise Sauce, Stone Fruit Salad
Seared Scallops, Béarnaise Sauce, Stone Fruit Salad
Chef Harrison Porter
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients List
For the béarnaise sauce
3 egg yolks
Clarified butter (warm, just over room temperature)
Tarragon Reduction
1 tablespoon minced tarragon
Kosher salt, to taste
Water, just to thin it out, if needed
For the clarified butter:
2 sticks of unsalted butter
For the tarragon reduction:
1/2 shallot, brunoise
1/2 cup Champagne vinegar
2 sprigs fresh tarragon
Freshly ground black pepper (about 10 turns)
For the stone fruit salad
1/2 bulb of fennel, brunoise
1/2 peach, brunoise
1/2 nectarine, brunoise
1/2 plum, brunoise
Tarragon reduction
Good extra virgin olive oil oil
Minced fresh tarragon
Lemon zest
Kosher salt, to taste
For cooking the scallops:
8 to 12 scallops (dayboat or “dry packed”, or if you are ambitious and can find them, live diver scallops in the shell)
1/2 stick of butter
2 sprigs tarragon
1 glove garlic, peeled and crushed
Kosher salt, to taste
Flaky sea salt, for finishing
Chef Harrison Porter
How to make Seared Scallops with Béarnaise Sauce and Stone Fruit Salad
Step 1
Clarify the butter. Butter is a fat and water emulsion. We are heating it up to break that emulsion. To make clarified butter, add 2 sticks of butter to a saucepan. Heat it up over high heat, and once it starts bubbling you can turn the heat down to medium. Shake or stir your pan a few times during the process. Once the butter starts to foam up (refer to the YouTube video for visuals), we are done. This should take about 10 minutes on the stove.
Because fat floats on top of water, the milk solids will be on the bottom with the water, and the fat will be on top. The fat is what we want.
“Pay attention to the color. If the milk solids caramelize, you’ll have ghee. If you take it too far, you’ll have burnt butter. So don’t do that.” says Chef Harrison.
Carefully pour the butter into a Pyrex liquid measuring cup, but leave most of the milk solids in the pan. There will be steam on top, all of the fat below that, and probably some milk solids at the bottom.
Step 2
Make the tarragon reduction. Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan (we used a butter warmer). Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer. We want to reduce it by about one third. It took us about 10 minutes, but if you are using a much wider pot it will take less time due to the surface area. Gently shake or stir the pan a few times during this process.
Remove the tarragon, pour the rest into a small bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Save the shallots, because we will add those to our béarnaise sauce.
Step 3
Make the béarnaise sauce. We will make the béarnaise in a blender. The first step to making a béarnaise sauce is to make hollandaise sauce.
Add the egg yolks, a big pinch of salt, and half of the tarragon reduction to your blender. Blend these together on low for 60 to 90 seconds. This will begin our emulsion. Then slowly add in some of the clarified butter. You will see the emulsion thicken up on the sides and you can hear it thicken. Once it thickens you can increase the speed of the blender to about medium. As the vortex stars to thicken up (again, refer to the YouTube video for visuals), turn the blender off. Taste the hollandaise for seasoning (salt) and acidity. Add another pinch of salt it you want. If you add more acid (liquid), turn on the blender and steam it in. You can also add more butter to balance it out (thicken).
Now, transfer the hollandaise to a bowl. Add some of the leftover shallots from our reduction, 1 tablespoon minced tarragon, a pinch of salt, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Stir to combine.
Step 4
Place the scallops flat side down on a plate. Evenly salt the side that is facing up. We will salt the other side when they are in the pan.
Heat up a cast iron skillet until it is hot. Add enough oil to cover the whole pan, swirl it around. When the oil is hot, add the scallops one at a time, with the side we salted being place down in the skillet to sear. Add any larger scallops first. If you press them down when you add them, that ensures that as much surface area of the scallop is touching the pan as possible. Season the side facing up with kosher salt.
After about 2 minutes check to see if one of the scallops releases easily from the pan. Also look at the color to see how the sear is going. Let them go a little longer on this side if you want more color. Add the butter, tarragon, and garlic. Turn the heat off. Use a spoon or spatula to flip the scallops over. Baste the scallops (refer to the video) for about 30 seconds to finish them.
Step 5
Make the stone fruit salad. Per person, add about a tablespoon each of the brunoised fennel, peach, nectarine, and plum to a small bowl. Add some lemon zest, a little bit of the remaining tarragon reduction, some good extra virgin olive oil, minced tarragon, and salt to the bowl. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust to your palate.
Step 6
Plating the dish. Add the stone fruit salad to a plate or bowl. Top the stone fruit salad with béarnaise sauce. Place 3 to 4 scallops per person on top of the béarnaise sauce. Finish with flaky sea salt.