Refined Quebecois Food = Less Fuss Than French, Just As Much Butter: Not-So-Seared Scallops in Orange Butter Sauce

Scallops in Orange Butter Sauce

When you’re in Newfoundland and you don’t feel like cooking, you make seafood. It’s so ridiculously easy and takes about 15 minutes from start to finish if your fish is thawed. You can put this orange sauce on anything from mackerel to char (which you can get wild in Newfoundland from Labrador in very small quantities because of quotas) to asparagus. By the end of my trip home I knew exactly where to get good scallops – The Fish Depot. These, however, were grocery store scallops, and thinking back on them, one of my biggest regrets is not going to the Fish Depot and buying from the lovely man who works there. These were fine. Much better than most of what you find in Montreal and they weren’t the huge ones you find in restaurants for a ridiculous amount of money, but they weren’t the tiny bay scallops either. They’re all farmed, which is okay depending on water quality and harvesting method, but most are dredged which makes me sad. That’s why I would have liked to chat with the fishmonger who could have told me about the person who was farming them at least. I have a funny feeling they wouldn’t be dredging because it’d be some small farmer who wouldn’t really want to rape the ocean floor since that probably would kick him into early retirement.  Bigger producers could get up and move on to virgin waters in a few years once the water and seabed had been trashed, but a Newfoundlander stays put. You have a house, a family, a life. Lobster and jellyfish…well, I don’t know if there’s really a Newfoundland jellyfish fishery, but lobsters are huge. Too bad the only reason they’re doing so well is because all their predators are dead…

Anyway, I was talking about refined French food…hah! I’ve probably actually made “refined French food” 4 times in my life. I now own a copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1, though (thank you!), so one of these days I’ll go learn to be refined. For now, I’ll remain slovenly (though my kitchen will, of course, be pristine).

Instead of turning to Julia Child, I went closer to home with Josée di Stasio’s Sauce a L’Orange. Refined Quebecois food = Less fuss, but just as much butter.

Sauce à l’orange

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

2 tsp lemon juice (or Penord – pastis or arack)

freshly ground salt and pepper

1/2 cup cold butter, cut in cubes

Directions:

Combine the orange juice, lemon juice (or Pernod), and orange zest in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let reduce for 1 minute on high heat. DSprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the butter, a couple pieces at a time, stirring after each addition. You don’t have to add all the butter, but if you do you won’t need to use much of the sauce on the scallops since every bite will be so flavourful. So use the full fat and just use less sauce. Your tastebuds and waistline will thank you. Refined French? Maybe…

Honestly, that’s it. If, like me, you don’t generally like orange in food, try different kinds of oranges before you give up. The sweetness levels make a huge difference, and blood oranges are out now (though I haven’t tried them in a sauce). Meyer lemons may also be available, which would change the sauce, hopefully, for the better. RealLemon? Nope, that’s one way to ruin it. Use fresh fruit and preferably an organic orange since you’re using the zest.

For the scallops, just wash them in cold water and dry them with paper towels. Dry them well! My scallops didn’t sear very well because they were still a little wet. Sprinkle with salt and sear them in about a tablespoon of almost-smoking (but not smoking) melted butter or oil (or preferably a mixture so the butter doesn’t burn I think. It is a butter sauce, however, so definitely use at least a little butter) for about 1 minute per side. If they’re the big scallops they may need 1 1/2 minutes, but the worst thing you can do is over-cook them. They should be soft and falling apart, but the middle shouldn’t be obviously raw.

Obviously my picture above is not refined. The orange sauce DOES NOT go well with peas or with the potato masala that was leftover from making dosa. Then there’s the issue of the chili peppers which look cute but have no place in the dish. There’s no taste like no taste. My kitchen is not a restaurant. I eat leftovers and I like weird combinations. Chili peppers go with everything in my house…well they CAN go with everything. Refined? Me? Never.