Scallops with Celeriac Mousse
Pan-seared scallops with a palm butter sauce, served with celery root mousse and truffle sauce as a composed cold appetizer.
Ingredients
Scallops
to taste
Butter (for making hazelnut butter)
to taste
Lemon juice (for emulsifying)
to taste
Chives (chopped)
1 pinch
White pepper (mignonnette)
to taste
Floral salt (garnish)
to taste
Celeriac
150 g diced + 60 g small dice
Milk (for cooking celeriac)
to taste
Water (for cooking celeriac)
to taste
Salt (coarse)
to taste
Cornstarch (Maizena, mixed with water)
2 tbsp
Heavy cream (added to celeriac puree)
to taste
Egg yolk
1
Whole egg
1/2
Celery salt (sel au celeri)
to taste
Pepper
to taste
Nutmeg
to taste
Shallot (chopped)
to taste
Truffle (chopped)
to taste
Egg white (whipped)
to taste
White wine vinegar (for cleaning copper pot)
to taste
Instructions
1
Prepare Celeriac
Dice 150 g celeriac into large cubes and reserve 60 g; boil in a mixture of milk, water, and coarse salt for about 20 minutes until tender, then drain and pass through a sieve to make a puree.
2
Make Celeriac Mousse Base
Mix cornstarch with 2 tbsp water, add to the celeriac puree and bring to a boil while stirring. Transfer to a bowl, add heavy cream, egg yolk, and half a whole egg. Season with salt, celery salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cover with plastic wrap.
3
Make Shallot-Truffle Compote
Finely chop shallots and place in a pan with 25 g butter and 1 pinch of salt. Sweat over low heat for 4-5 minutes without browning. Add chopped truffle, cover to release the aroma, then remove from heat.
4
Make Cream Sauce
Place shallots, celeriac julienne, celeriac dice, 25 g butter, and 1 pinch of salt in a pan. Cover and sweat over low heat for 5 minutes. Add heavy cream, season with celery salt and pepper, and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
5
Finish Celeriac Mousse Base
Fold the shallot-truffle compote and cooked celeriac dice into the puree from step 2.
6
Whip Egg Whites
Rub a clean copper bowl with coarse salt and white wine vinegar to remove oxidation, wash, then add egg whites and 3 grains of coarse salt and whip to stiff peaks.
7
Fold Mousse
Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the mousse mixture.
8
Steam the Mousse
Divide the mousse into small containers, cover with plastic wrap, and steam-bake at 85C for 15 minutes.
9
Make Hazelnut Butter
Cook butter in a pan until hazelnut-colored, add remaining lemon juice and stir to emulsify. Strain and season with salt and pepper.
10
Sear Scallops
Sear the scallops in butter for about 1 minute per side.
11
Plate
Place the celeriac mousse on the plate, arrange the seared scallops around it, drizzle with hazelnut butter, and garnish with chives, white pepper, and floral salt.
