Home Shores by Emily Scott
(Quadrille, £30)
Photography © Matt Russell
Try These Fabulous Seafood Recipes this Summer
Enjoy a taste of the seaside in your own kitchen this summer
Fish and shellfish are the perfect healthy and fast supper, yet many of us still shy away from cooking fish in our own kitchens. Home Shores is a fabulous collection of 100 delicious and simple recipes to help demystify cooking with seafood at home, and here we share three of what are bound to become your favourites for summer.
Crumbed Sardines with a Tomato and Shallot Dressing
Sardines and tomatoes are great housemates and I always find myself pairing them together. Ask your fishmonger to butterfly the sardines for you.
Serves
4 (as a starter)
Preparation:
20–25 minutes
Cooking:
10–15 minutes (in batches)
Ingredients
- 200g panko breadcrumbs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 50g plain flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 16 sardines, deboned, trimmed and butterfly filleted
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- green salad and bread, to serve
- For the tomato dressing
- 350g tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 2 banana shallots, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Method
Make the tomato dressing. Place the tomatoes, shallots, parsley, olive oil, vinegar and garlic in a bowl. Stir together, taste and consider. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Place the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and parsley in a shallow tray, season with salt and pepper and combine well. Place the flour in a tray alongside and the beaten eggs in a separate tray. Pat the sardines dry, then coat them in the flour, then the egg and finally press into the breadcrumbs.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Cook the sardines in batches for five to six minutes until golden brown on each side. Spoon over the tomato dressing and eat straight away. Delicious with a simple green salad and bread to mop up the tomatoey juices.
Scallops Roasted in the Shell with Shallot and Hazelnut Butter
I’m nuts about this beautiful recipe. The combination of sweet shallots, chives, lemon zest and butter is extraordinary. It’s such a joyful way of cooking scallops by popping them back into their shells, smothering them in butter and roasting in the oven or over coals. The leftover butter can be rolled into a cylinder of greaseproof paper. It freezes perfectly. Fishmongers will usually give you the scallop shells if you ask nicely. The recipe can be easily halved to serve two.
Serves
4
Preparation:
20 minutes
Cooking time:
7 minutes
Ingredients
- 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large banana shallots, finely diced
- garlic clove, crushed
- 1 handful of chives
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 200g hazelnuts, blanched and crushed
- 4 scallops in the shell, prepared and cleaned
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C fan/220C/gas 7. Melt 50g of the butter in a small saucepan that has a lid over a low heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, covered, for five minutes until soft and sweet. Leave to cool.
Bring a separate small saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the chives for one minute, then drain and refresh in iced water. Chop finely and squeeze out any water through a clean dish towel.
Put the remaining butter into a food processor and add the cooled shallot mixture, most of the chives and the lemon zest and juice. Season with salt and pepper, then blitz. Scrape into a bowl and fold through the crushed hazelnuts, keeping some hazelnuts back for garnish.
Pat the scallops dry, lightly coat with sunflower oil and season with salt. Place each scallop back in its shell and bake in the oven for three minutes. Remove from the oven and add a teaspoon of the shallot and hazelnut butter to the top of each scallop. Return to the oven for a further three minutes.
Serve garnished with the reserved hazelnuts and chopped chives.
Shell-on Prawn Skewers with Miso and Ginger Butter
Cooking prawns (shrimp) over coals is a simple and delicious way to enjoy them. Let your fishmonger prepare the prawns for you, so all you have to do is thread them onto rosemary skewers, grill and then drown in miso butter. You can also swap out the prawns for scallops (use three per skewer).
Serves 4
(as a starter)
Preparation:
15–20 minutes
Cooking:
5–6 minutes
Ingredients
- 80g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tbsp white miso paste
- 1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
- zest and juice of 1 lime
- 16 raw shell-on prawns, deveined
- 16 sprigs of rosemary to use as skewers (or use bamboo skewers soaked in water)
- 1 tbsp good olive oil
- sea salt
Method
Preheat a grill (broiler) or barbecue to a high heat.
In a small pan, combine the butter, miso paste, ginger, lime zest and juice and place over a low heat until the butter is melted. Set aside.
Thread the prawns onto the rosemary skewers, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Cook over coals or under the grill for one to two minutes until charred and pink, turning as needed.
Place the prawns on a serving platter or individual starter plates and spoon over the miso and ginger butter. Messy to eat, but well worth it.
