A very fresh dish, with an iodized and salty flavour, to serve with toasted rye bread. It brings out the succulence of Channel sea urchins, which have a very particular flavour, together with their cousin the scallop. In winter, like scallops, they are fished in the bay of Saint-Brieuc or on banks between Chausey and Saint-Malo, and they are plump and tasty, enlivened here by a spiced oil which gives them an air of mystery.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 kg scallops (without the coral, which is of no culinary interest) (2 lbs, 4 oz). Ask the fishmonger to shell the scallops and remove the hard "foot" on the side. - 200 g Brussels sprouts (8 oz), freshly picked - 5 Channel sea urchins - 15 ml dulse seaweed (1 tbsp) - A few nigella seeds - Fine sea salt -
2 limes - 1 lemon - 5 ml brown sugar (1 tsp) - about 10 strips of lemon zest -
Oil from afar: 1 l grapeseed
oil (4 cups), 30 mL vetiver (2 tbsp), 15 ml cumin (1 tbsp),
30 ml coriander seed (2 tbsp), 30 ml sumach (2 tbsp), 1 pinch
saffron, 2 sprigs lemon thyme, 1 bunch fresh coriander, 5
fresh basil leaves, 5 ml black pepper (1 tsp)
Easy and fairly quick,
but be warned: the oil from afar should be prepared at least
two weeks ahead.
Basic preparation
Two weeks beforehand, the oil from afar: in a dry frying pan, heat the cumin, coriander seed, sumach and pepper. Pour in the oil and heat it very slowly with the vetiver, saffron, lemon thyme, coriander and basil. Heat it to 70 C (170 F) and keep it at that temperature for 4 hours. Pour into a glass jar, then close it and leave it in the light for two weeks. Strain the oil, heat it again and store it in a glass jar.
A little more than an hour beforehand : peel off about 10 lemon zests, blanch them twice in boiling water and refresh them in cold water. Slowly candy them in the brown sugar and a little water for 1 hour. Off the heat, add the lemon and lime juice. To this acidic mix, add 5 pinches of fine sea salt and let this dissolve. With a whisk, beat this mixture like a vinaigrette with 75 ml (5 tbsp) perfumed oil. Check the seasoning and strain through a fine strainer. Pour onto a large plate and cover with plastic wrap.
Open the sea urchins from the top with gloves and an old pair of strong scissors. Shake the insides to remove the water and as many impurities as you can. Pour off the juice. With a teaspoon, remove the corals and set them aside in a ramekin with a little of the filtered juice.
Separate the leaves from the Brussels sprouts,
keeping only 20 nice green leaves (save the hearts for another
dish). Slice the scallops paper-thin.
With a brush, in the spot where you will place the scallop
slices, oil big plates with the "oil from afar." Arrange
the slices, barely overlapping, in the shape of a triangle
or a sail.
Cover each plate with plastic wrap.
30 minutes before serving
Cook the Brussels sprout leaves in boiling salted water. Refresh them in ice water and drain. Rehydrate the dulse seaweed in salt water or, better, sea water. With a spoon, drizzle a little vinaigrette over the scallops and marinate for about 20 minutes.
Last minute
Roll the Brussels sprouts leaves in the vinaigrette, then arrange them on the plates with the hollow facing upwards. Fill the leaves with the sea urchin coral. Sprinkle with nigella and add a little seaweed on the side.
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© Olivier Roellinger - Maisons de Bricourt.
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