For cooks who have at least the basics of kitchen craft under their apron strings, London chef and Michelin star owner Jean-Christophe Novelli offers a guide to the next level. In Your Place or Mine, Chef Novelli takes the adventuresome cook to the core of his exciting, eye-catching work, where some pretty simple techniques for enhancing flavor team up with whimsy.
First, make the sauce: heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, add the minced vegetables and garlic, and sweat very gently, until the vegetables are translucent.
Heat a little more oil in another pan and saute any scallop corals with the lemongrass for 2-3 minutes. Add to the vegetables.
Pour in the wine and reduce by about on-third, then add the stock and reduce again by two-thirds. Add the cream, season, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Strain into a clean pan.
Meanwhile, blanch the fennel about 1 minute in boiling salted water. Drain, refresh under cold running water, and reserve.
Blanch the tomatoes briefly in boiling water, drop them into a bowl of cold water, then remove the skin. Quarter the tomatoes, scrape out the seeds, and dice the flesh into 1/4-inch cubes. Reserve.
lay out one sheet of phyllo pastry on a clean work surface and brush with the eaten egg. Place the second sheet of phyllo on top and brush with egg.
Leave the phyllo to dry for 3 minutes, then cut out 8 circles, about 3 inches in diameter.
Place these circles, egg-glazed side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper to prevent the pastry from rising, then bake for 3-4 minutes, until golden.
Heat a frying pan until very hot, then add a little olive oil, and heat until this is also very hot. Season the scallops and saute them with the lemongrass for 1 minute on each side, until golden brown. As you turn them, put in the blanched fennel to heat through.
In a separate pan, heat a little olive oil, add the chopped tomato and chives, and heat these through. Warm the sauce through.
In a separate pan, heat a little olive oil, add the chopped tomato and chives, and heat these through. Warm the sauce through.
Place a scallop in the center of each plate. Top with a piece of fennel and a round of phyllo. Follow this with 2 scallops, a strip of lemongrass, another piece of fennel, and the second round of phyllo. Pour the sauce around. Garnish with the tomato and chive mixture and chervil sprigs.
