Meyer Lemon-Brown Butter Scallops, Baby Lima Beans Puree

This past weekend, I travelled to London to visit some of my friends. For dinner, we went to a delicious Peruvian restaurant called Ceviche, near Old Street. Ceviche is one of these places that really have it all. Great food, delectable drinks, careful service, and a hip atmosphere.

Since they mostly serve small plates, we ordered many types of ceviche ranging from sea bass to tuna to scallops. All of them were dressed with “Tiger’s Milk”, a traditional onions and lime-based marinade, and paired with ingredients like sweet potato, avocado, or even watermelon. While they were all delicious, I really loved the combination of scallops and citrus. The mix was delicate and its taste was incredibly subtle.

 

From the grill, we had the “chanchito”, a.k.a some outstanding crispy pulled pork belly with onions, apple puree and rocoto peppers. This classic was so good we had to order it twice! We also had the “pollo alla brassa” twice, an incredibly tender traditional rotisserie chicken. Finally, we opted for yuca fries on the side. It was my first time trying these crispy roots, which were mildly sweet and ridiculously addictive!

For drinks, we couldn’t resist their “pisco sours.” This is Ceviche‘s specialty drink, and an absolute must to order! This cocktail is sweet, sour, and bitter at the same time. It’s also nicely foamy due to the egg white, which adds some texture to a great mix. All in all, everything was SO good! Not surprisingly, we were all too full to order dessert…

Now, on to the recipe below… Although it arguably has nothing to do with ceviche (or Peruvian cooking), it was inspired by the citrus-scallop combo that I liked so much from this dinner. Plus, I chose to puree “lima beans” – so hey! that’s Peru on a plate! In any case, this is one of my best recipes to date. There’s the lemon’s “peppery” acidity, the scallops’ sweetness, the richness of the beans and the nutty brown butter. It’s refined and subtle, and a winning recipe for hosting a dinner. Serve it with pisco sours and you’re in for a real treat. Bon appétit!

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Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• .25 lbs fresh scallops
• 1/2 cup baby lima beans
• 1/4 Meyer lemon, juice and zest
• 1/4-1/2 tbsp butter
• olive oil
• freshly chopped parsley
• a dash of Cayenne pepper
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a small pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook the fava beans for 5-7 minutes. Drain – while reserving some cooking water – and blend them in a food processor with a drizzle of olive oil, some salt & pepper, a dash of Cayenne pepper, and cooking water as needed to smoothen. Keep warm.
2. Rinse the scallops and pat them dry before seasoning them generously with salt and pepper. Bring a pan to medium-high heat, add some olive oil and the scallops in a single layer. Let them sear for 1 1/2 minutes on both sides. You want to get a golden crust but a buttery center. Set aside.
3. Finally, make the lemon-butter sauce. Melt the butter in the same pan, add the squeezed Meyer lemon juice with 1/2 the zest and a pinch of fresh parsley. Season with salt & pepper, stir everything well, and let it color for a minute.
4. To serve, top the lima beans puree with the seared scallops, and drizzle with the sauce. Garnish with the remaining fresh parsley and zest. Enjoy!

“Coquilles St Jacques Sauce Beurre Brun-Citron Meyer, Fèves en Purée”

Temps total: 30 minutes

Ingrédients: 

• 115 g de coquilles St Jacques
• 1/2 tasse de fèves
• 1/4 citron Meyer, jus et zeste
• 1/4-1/2 c.s de beurre
• huile d’olive
• persil plat fraichement ciselé
• une pincée de piment de Cayenne
• sel de mer et poivre noir fraichement moulu

Étapes:

1. Dans une petite casserole, faites bouillir les fèves pour 3-5 minutes dans de l’eau salée. Égouttez-les en gardant un peu d’eau de cuisson et transférez-les dans le bol d’un mixer. Mixez les avec un filet d’huile d’olive, sel et poivre, piment de Cayenne, et un peu d’eau de cuisson au besoin. Gardez au chaud.
2. Rincez les coquilles St Jacques et essuyez-les avec du papier absorbant. Assaisonnez généreusement chaque côté avec du sel et du poivre. Faites chauffer de l’huile d’olive dans une poêle à feu moyen-fort, et ajoutez les coquilles sans qu’elles ne se touchent. Laissez chaque côté dorer pour 1 1/2 minutes, de façon à avoir une croute dorée à l’extérieur mais un cœur fondant. Réservez-les.
3. Enfin, préparez la sauce beurre-citron. Faites fondre le beurre à feu doux dans la même poêle. Ajoutez la moitié du zeste et tout le jus de citron fraichement pressé, une pincée de persil frais, et du sel & poivre. Mélangez bien, et laissez colorer une minute.
4. Pour servir, placez les coquilles St Jacques dorées sur une base de purée de fèves. Garnissez avec la sauce beurre-citron, ainsi que le reste de zeste et de persil. Bon appétit!

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