Butter-Poached Scallops

I first got the idea of poaching in butter while reading Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook. I immediately made his butter-poached lobster. It was deli-cious, but far too much work even for me. It’s the sort of dish best ordered in a restaurant, and perhaps one day I’ll eat it made by Keller himself. The idea of poaching in butter stayed with me as I was rendering pork fat and cooking duck legs in their own fat. I realized that poaching in butter was similar to making a confit (no, I didn’t consider cooking a cow in butter). Unlike Keller, I had no desire to make large quantities of beurre monté, an unflavored beurre blanc, so I decided to keep it simple and poach my scallops in plain butter. Serve this dish with a dilled cucumber salad or warm cooked spinach.

Arrange the scallops in a saucepan that is just large enough for all the scal-lops to fit snugly in one layer. Add water so that it just covers the scallops. Pour the water into a measuring cup and place the scallops on a paper towel and pat dry. Season the scallops well with salt and pepper and set aside.

The amount of water in the measuring cup is the amount of melted butter you’ll need. Dice the butter, place in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and clip a kitchen thermometer to the side of the pan. Heat the but-ter, stirring occasionally, until the thermometer reads 185°F / 85°C. Add the scallops and bring the temperature back to 185°F / 85°C. Cook the scallops, turning once, until they are cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Test a scallop by cutting it in half; it should be opaque in the center.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the scallops to warmed serving plates. Drizzle the scallops with a little of the cooking butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Buttered Parsnips and Rutabaga

I really dislike rutabaga. I find its taste assertive and bitter, but my husband loves it, so I keep trying to find ways to love it too. This is one answer: mix it with sweet parsnips and butter, which mellows its strong taste and smooths its hard edges. So while, as the saying goes, fine words butter no parsnips, butter certainly softens the rutabaga. If blood oranges are not in season, use a regular orange.

Peel the parsnips and rutabaga. If the parsnips are large, cut them in half, and cut the rutabaga into 1/2-inch / 1-cm pieces. Place the vegetables in a steamer and steam until they are very tender, about 10 minutes.

Purée the parsnips and rutabaga using the fine grill of a food mill into a saucepan. Finely grate the zest of the orange and add to the purée along with 3 tablespoons of the orange juice. Cut the butter into pieces. Place the saucepan over low heat and add the butter and ground cumin and sea-son well with salt and pepper. Stir until heated through and serve.

Serves 4 as an appetizer

12 sea scallops

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

About 11/3 cups / 101/2 ounces / 300 g unsalted butter

A squeeze of lemon juice

Serves 4 to 6

1 pound / 450 g parsnips

8 ounces / 225 g rutabaga

1 blood orange

1/4 cup / 2 ounces / 60 g unsalted butter, diced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

“He shall eat butter and

honey when he knows to

refuse the evil, and choose

the good.”IsaIaH 7:15

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