XCooking: Johnny Goodluck’s Seared Dayboat Scallops, Crispy Miso Pork Belly

Scallops (do very last)

• First remove the abductor muscle from the scallop and pat dry
• In a hot pan, coat lightly with clarified butter or a light oil like vegetable, canola, grape seed, if you don't have clarified butter
• Season the scallops lightly with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
• You don't need much seasoning, the scallops will speak for themselves
• Next, place the scallops down flat, make sure that they can move, and then DON"T TOUCH THEM for about 2 minutes
• Flip the scallops and you should have a golden brown color, leave them on the other side for about a minute and a half, pull off the pan and be ready to plate. Scallops should be served medium.

Truffled Potato Puree
You'll need 2 lbs of peeled Yukon gold potatoes

• Boil the potatoes until they are knife tender, then strain
• In a small sauce pot, heat 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 1/2 lb of butter
• Use a mixer to mix in the cream and butter into the potatoes until they have a fluffier consistency. Always add a healthy amount of kosher salt, black pepper if you would like.
• Lastly, add a half teaspoon of good white truffle oil. To take the potatos to the next level, use a ricer instead of a mixer, or use a bench scraper and press the potatoes through a sieve into a bowl, then add your cream and mix by hand. You don't want the puree to have an overwhelming truffle aroma

Crispy Pork Belly

• For the average home cook, it is much easier to crisp up a piece of thick cut back, or use slab bacon. I like to brush the bacon with a little bit of white miso, and finish it in the oven to allow the miso the create a glaze on the bacon. Proper pork belly can take days to do right.

Vanilla Yuzu Vinaigrette

• In a small food processor, put 1/3 c yuzu juice, scrape the inside of 1 Madagascar vanilla bean, put the pulp of the bean in with the yuzu, along with a pinch or 2 of salt.
• Use the processor to up the temperature of the yuzu and vanilla....this will cause the flavors to infuse into each other. Next, you'll want to take 1 cup of grape seed oil, and slowly pour it into the processor while it runs.  Taste test to make sure the salt, and citrus levels are accurate.

I use this sauce as a plate decoration, and I will also take some micro greens, or very finely picked leafy greens to make a petite salad which we want to put on top of each scallop.  The vinaigrette needs to be eaten along with the scallop, as the harmony of flavors is breathtaking.

Enjoy!

Recipe and Photos Courtesy of Johnny Goodluck