Lunch feature 08.10.10

Pan Seared Ling Cod & Qualicum Scallop
Scallop & Clam Risotto
Stewed Tomatoes

More fish to end the season off with. Ling cod again, this time with the addition of scallops and clams. A real smorg of seafood to please the dessert dwellers.

This whole plate is really simple and easy to do. A few little refinements take this simple dish to a slightly elevated level.

Firstly, scallops have a little adductor muscle on on it that everyone says is unusable and too tough to eat. I personally, like to use every little bit I can. The seafood that we get has made such a journey to get here, it would be a shame to throw any of it away. What I like to do with these muscles is dehydrate them and then grind them into a powder. Once in powder form they can be used to flavor soups, sauces or in this case a risotto. We didn't have a dehydrator at work so I used the microwave. Using the defrost setting for about an hour the adductor muscles were dehydrated but also roasted a little bit. I wasn't expecting the roasted result, which turned out to be a great thing after all.
So, I made the risotto as one does, then added in the scallop powder and the liquid from cooking the clams. At service the clam meat was added just before going to the plate. I couldn't eat this risotto thanks to allergies however, I got very positive feedback on it.

The second little refinement that I did was with the stewed tomatoes. Nothing over the top, just removing the skin and seeds from the tomatoes. As I said, nothing over the top. You just end up with a much nicer stewed tomato if the skin and seeds are removed. All that I did was sautee onions and garlic then added the tomato flesh. I put the seeds in a fine mesh strainer and pushed all the remaining juice into the stew as well.

Great dish, wish I was serving it a little closer to salty water, but hey, that's what the people want.

Sean Peltier

Pea's & Carrots

So for lunch today, Ruby trout was the protein of choice. An easy choice really as it is really quite delicious. Thanks to John at Codfather's in Kelowna for supplying us with the most beautiful fish. It's hard to get anything for quality fish in the South Okanagan, so it's great to have John and his team go the extra mile, literally, to get us the best quality.

Finally some of the heartier produce is coming in the back door at the restaurant. The heat (38c) has really brought a lot of things to maturity. Some of the first things to come in were some beautiful shelling peas and some oh so sweet carrots. Pea's and carrots, doesn't get much better than that.

For the peas I made a soup out of them. First making a pea stock with the shells. Then pureeing blanched peas into the stock. This intensifies the pea flavor and gives it a vibrant green color. I used that liquid along with some fresh peas and chevre it make a risotto.

For the carrot, which I got a lot of questions about from guests wondering what I did to make them taste so great, nothing. All I did was put them in a pot with vegetable stock, about 1/3 the amount of carrots, a knob of butter and a little salt. Bring them to a boil while covered and cook until tender, then puree. This is, in my opinion, the only way to do a vegetable puree. Then reason people loved it so much is because it tasted like a carrot and only a carrot.

Garnished the plate with a little jullienne of radish and some micro greens.

It doesn't get much more July 10th than that in Osoyoos. Food in the door and on to your plate. Gotta love it. Sean Peltier