Coquilles Saint-Jacques

Time: 50 minutes

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the shallots until translucent for 5-8 minutes.

2. Stir in mushrooms, salt, and pepper into shallots. Turn heat to medium-high and cook stirring often until mushrooms are golden brown (about 10 minutes).

3. Pour white wine over mushroom mixture, dissolving any browned bits of food on bottom of skillet into wine. Bring to simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Strain and transfer mushrooms to a separate bowl.

4. Gently place scallops into wine left in skillet and poach about two minutes per side. Transfer scallops to a separate bowl. bowl, strain mushroom mixture into another bowl.

5. To the liquid in the skillet pour in any accumulated juices from scallops, and stir in cream. Bring to boil and cook until sauce is reduced by about a half, bout 10 minutes. Stir often. Turn off heat and let mixture cool for a minute.

6. Quickly whisk a clean yolk (no egg whites attached to yolk) into cream sauce until combined. Transfer skillet to a work surface and stir  in A PINCH of cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoons tarragon, and the lemon zest into sauce.

7. Divide mushroom mixture into scallop shells, spreading mushroom out to cover bottome of the shells. Add about three scallops into each portion. Spoon cream sauce over scallops to coat; let sauce drizzle down into mushrooms. Sprinkle lightly with the Gruyere cheese and smoky paprika

8. Turn oven’s broiler to high. Place shells into a crinkled aluminum foil sheet so they will sit level

    

9. Broil about 10 inches from the heat source until sauce is bubbling and cheese is slightly brown (5-6 minutes). Transfer to serving plates line with napkins to keep shells from tipping and garnish each with two crossed tarragon leaves.