If you have a special occasion coming up, and love scallops, you must try this Coquilles St. Jacques ! Prep it early afternoon and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve. Pop them in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes and that’s all there is to it ! Well, maybe it’s a little more time consuming than that, but it’s well worth it. Ask Alexa to play some French music while you get busy in the kitchen. If Julia Child is your inspiration for cooking, then ask her to play the soundtrack from Julie and Julia, or perhaps A Good Year if the French countryside inspires you. I Iike wine, don’t you?
While you are deciding on a playlist, grab a few things. Usually, This is cooked in actual scallop shells, but that’s one thing I don’t have in this kitchen, believe it or not. So until I find them, I will use these little tart dishes which, as you will see, are perfect. Wash, stem and dry the mushrooms. These were a little larger than I normally use, but the flavor will be the same. Slice them as shown, then dice up the onion.
Onions:
Over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Once foamy, add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Mushrooms:
To the same pan with the onions, add the butter and olive oil, followed by the mushrooms. Turn up the heat to medium-high. Cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Divide them up equally between the 4 serving dishes. Sprinkle each dish with about 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
Scallops:
If the side muscle is still attached, you can easily pull it off. Once that is done, quarter the scallops. Then in the same skillet, add the wine wine to deglaze the pan along with the scallops (include any juice) and the bay leaf. Bring to a slow boil for 5 minutes. Finally, remove from the heat and drain off the liquid in a 2-cup measuring cup. If the liquid doesn’t fill to the 1-1/2 cup line, add enough wine to compensate or even a little broth. I went with the wine.
Divide the scallops among the 4 baking dishes.
Crumb Mixture:
In a small dish, combine the Panko crumbs, lemon zest, oregano and parsley. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the mixture over the scallops.
Sauce:
Again, in the same pan, melt the butter. Whisk in the Wondra flour for about a minute. Other flour should work too, but I prefer to use it for sauces and gravies; it just blends so much easier. Add the reserved liquid, heavy cream and Old Bay seasoning. bring to a slight boil as you continue to gently whisk. Once it has thickened a bit, pour equal amounts over the crumb mixture, about a 1/4 cup in each.
Cheese? Yes, please ! :
Ahh, Gruyere. Shred about 4 ounces or what would. be about 1 cup. Sprinkle about a 1/4 of a cup of the cheese on top of the cream sauce. If you choose to add more cheese, I won’t tell. I’ll just look the other way and claim innocence if asked about it.
Time to Bake:
If prepping this ahead of time, just cover lightly and refrigerate. When you are ready to do bake it, place the dishes on parchment paper-lined rimmed baking pan. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 20 minutes once the temperature is reached. For a more golden appearance, you may broil for a couple of minutes, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn. We chose to do this in our air fyer as it has a nice window for viewing.
Here you go! We served our Coquilles St. Jacques with a salad on the side and a fresh baguette I bought at the local farmer’s market. YUM!!
Coquilles St. Jacques
Ingredients
Onions
- 2 T butter
- 1/4 c diced yellow onion
Mushrooms
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T butter
- 8 oz Cremini mushrooms, washed, stemmed and sliced
- 1/2 t black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 t sea salt
Scallops
- 1 c white wine
- 1 lb. sea scallops
- 1 bay leaf
Crumb Mixture
- 1/2 c Panko Bread Crumbs
- 3/4 t lemon zest
- 3/4 t dried oregano or 2 1/4 t chopped fresh
- 3/4 t parsley or 2 1/4 t chopped fresh Italian parsley
Cream Sauce
- 2 T butter
- 2 T (Wondra) flour
- 1-1/2 c reserved liquid * Add extra wine to = 1-1/2 cups, if needed.
- 1/4 c heavy cream
- 1/2 t Old Bay Seasoning
Cheese
- 4 oz Gruyere, shreddded ~ about 1 cup
Instructions
Onion
- Melt butter over MEDIUM-LOW heat until foamy. Add diced onions and saute until translucent, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
Mushrooms
- Add the oil and butter to the same pan with the onions.
- Add the mushrooms and increase the heat to MEDIUM-HIGH. Stir frequently and cook until golden in color.
- Divide this mixture between 4 prepped serving dishes.
Scallops
- In the same pan, add the white wine and reduce heat to MEDIUM. Scrape the bottom to loosen up the browned bits.
- Add the quartered scallops with their juice along with a bay leaf.
- Bring to a low boil for about 5 minutes. Divide the scallops among the 4 serving dishes evenly on top of the mushroom/onion mixture.
- Pour off reserved liquid to a 2-cup measuring cup. Toss the bay leaf.
Crumb Mixture
- Combine all of these ingredients
- Sprinkle about 2 T over each serving dish with scallops.
Cream Sauce
- Whisk melted butter with flour for 1 minute.
- Whisk in the reserved liquid, heavy cream and Old Bay seasoning.
- Bring to a slight boil. Continue to whisk until it begins to thicken.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of sauce over the top of the crumb mixture.
Cheese
- Shred 4 oz of Gruyere cheese, about 1 cup.
- Place about 1/4 cup over the cream sauce.
Baking
- Bake at 375°F for about 20 minutes or until slightly bubbly. If you want the top a little brown, broil briefly. WATCH CAREFULLY so it doesn't exceed your browning level.
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