What theme would you choose for creating a meal? I always liked the idea of using coffee, chocolate, or cherries (or other items which might not start with “c”) in every course for a fun dinner party.
Returning on the Saturday morning ferry from Vancouver, I had been “off-island”, as they say here, for about 11 days. I had not expected to see the Fishery Afloat. This seafood boat docks right near the ferry terminal on Saturdays from late May through September. The Fishery Afloat is based on the much bigger, Salt Spring Island, and it features – almost exclusively – local seafood from the Pacific. After a long and difficult trip, I was happy to see the boat for the first time, buy some halibut, and discover they had the large Qualicum Beach sea scallops (many of which are larger than a golf ball). They are quite a treat.
So our proximity to Qualicum Beach, across the Strait along Vancouver Island, made me think of creating a sort of 100-mile-diet dish. Having made scallops in butter with hazelnut, I thought it would be good to add the twist of brown butter. The title I gave the dish is is also a bit of a play-on-words or jeux de mots, in French, “Coquilles St. Jacques au beurre noisette et aux noisettes.” Just to clear up confusion wrought by a Canadian celebrity chef, who once stated incorrectly that brown butter originally was related to hazelnuts as an ingredient in making the butter. It decidedly is not. The colour is nut-brown and the flavour may be nutty, but beurre noisette has nothing to do with hazelnuts per se. Just in case you were wondering….
For the dish and the recipe… Continue reading
IslandEAT 