Last Night at Chez Bart: Scallops Provençal, with Beer-battered Asparagus and Garlic Aioli

Scallops Provençal. I actually have had my eye on this Barefoot Contessa recipe for a while - ever since I started to grow tired of Italian cooking. I am not well versed in French cooking - heck, I have considered investing in Julia Child's Art of French Cooking to expand my repertoire for a while now - so when I saw this simple, yet elegant dish, I knew I had to make it. 


But what to make it with? Most of the commenters at Food Network recommend rice with this, and I agree that would be tasty. For some reason, I felt the need to up the ante and do something more elaborate. In the end, I came across this Guy Fieri recipe for Beer-battered Asparagus with Garlic Aioli, precisely because I love asparagus, and have always wanted to make garlic aioli. 


The two dishes don't seem like a logical pair, and quite frankly I probably would not make them together again. Still, it's a Sunday evening and I am in the mood for a little culinary adventure before the grind of the work weeks begins!


Store Notes: The pound of scallops required can really set one back, especially if you are like me, and opt for the huge sea scallops. The ones I purchased from Holiday Market were roughly $20. Totally worth it. Also, you will need a good dry white cooking wine. I recommend the Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc. It has a nice crisp, dry, fruity profile that at $7.99/bottle, is perfect for cooking. Otherwise, for the scallops, make sure you have plenty of unsalted butter. This is French cooking, after all!


For the asparagus, one item that you probably will not have in your kitchen already is the 2 cups of buttermilk used to soak the asparagus. I ended up just buying the smallest carton available, which was just enough to cover a bunch of asparagus. For the beer in the beer batter, Guy recommends a full bodied beer like an IPA. I used New Holland Brewing Co.'s Mad Hatter, but the more commonly found Sierra Nevada Pale Ale would also work as well. And finally, in order to fry the asparagus, you need oil. Lots of oil. Don't be like me, and buy the smaller bottle thinking this might be the only time you fry something this year. Since this recipe calls for 4 cups of oil, get the bigger bottle. Trust me.


In the kitchen gadget department, there are a couple of things that will be nice when making these dishes. A microplane will allow you to zest a lemon with zero effort, and a food processor will make processing the aioli a breeze! A hand mixer is also necessary in order to beat the egg whites for the beer-batter. Finally, a good thermometer will ensure that the oil is precisely at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If the oil is too cool, the batter will fall away from the asparagus and you will not get a good fry. If the oil is too hot, then you will overcook the asparagus - possibly even burn it it!


Prep Notes: 12-24 hours before cooking, soak the asparagus in the buttermilk. Then 1 hour before cooking, prepare the aioli in the food processor. Essentially just dump all the listed ingredients into the food processor, process, and place in the fridge to chill.


To prep the scallops, follow Ina's directions vis-a-vis sea vs bay scallops. Next, season liberally with salt and pepper. Then, pour some all-purpose flour onto a clean plate, and dredge the scallops until they are nicely coated. Finally, dice up the shallots, and mince the garlic and flat-leaf parsley. Of course for the shallots, I rocked out my VeggieChop. I love this thing!


To prep the asparagus, first remove the asparagus from the buttermilk onto a clean tray - do not rinse! Next, separate two eggs (between the white and yoke) and place in separate large bowls. In the bowl with the yokes, add in the rest of the batter ingredients (cornmeal, all-purpose flower, beer, etc.) and mix thoroughly. In the bowl with the egg whites, use a hand mixer to beat the whites until stiff peaks form. Then, pour the whites into the batter, and fold with a spatula. Finally, pour the 4 cups of peanut oil into a deep frying pan, and pre-heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.


Cook Notes: Given that we are going to be running two pans - a sauté and a deep fry - cooking will be a constant back and forth between the asparagus and the scallops. The key will obviously be not to overcook both. If you find this daunting, cook the scallops first, then tackle the asparagus. The reason being, fried foods always taste better straight from the fryer, while the scallops can easily be placed on a serving tray and covered in foil to keep warm. That being said, I will try to provide a narrative in which one could do both at the same time.

Frying the first batch of asparagus

First, melt half the butter in your sauté pan over medium-high heat. While the pan is heating up, and the butter is slowly starting to melt, dredge the first few spears of asparagus, and place into the oil. The asparagus should take 3 minutes to cook, and you should flip them half way, so keep that in mind while you tend to your scallops.

Scallops just added; 1lb is a lot!

Once the butter is melted, place the scallops in the butter, and drop the heat to medium. Now you should be taking the first batch of asparagus out (place on a paper covered tray and season with sea salt), dredge the next batch of asparagus, and again place in the oil. By this time (approx. 3-4 minutes elapsed), the scallops should be nicely brown on one side, so flip. 


Flip the asparagus in the pan, then add the other half of butter. While that is melting, remove the asparagus from the oil, season with salt, dredge the next batch, and place again in the oil. Next, add the shallots, garlic and parsley to the scallops and sauté for 2 minutes. While that is sautéing, flip the asparagus once, then a minute or so later again remove from the oil. Finally, add the wine and make sure you deglaze the pan.

Scallops are just about done. Notice how the wine has
interacted with the flour dredging and butter to produce
a nice sauce.

If you have more asparagus, continue to add the final spears while you plate the scallops.


Bon appetit!

Tasting Notes: First the scallops: they are really quite extraordinary. You have buttery notes complimenting the naturally sweet taste of the scallops, accentuated by the rich flavors of shallot and garlic. Amazingly, the dry fruit of the wine keeps the richness of the butter and scallops in check, while the parsley provides savory notes. Outstanding!

Turning to the asparagus, you have a dichotomy between the hot fried goodness of the asparagus, and the cool garlic bonanza that is the aioli. The beer and cayenne pepper provide nice body to the breading, while the cornmeal gives it a nice crunch. Because asparagus has such a pronounced flavor, you don't lose it at all; instead the breading and sea salt compliments it nicely. The cool aioli then provides a nice foil to both the beer-batter and the asparagus. The net result is many different flavors, and an incredibly happy palette.

Libation Notes:  For this dish, I would suggest a drier white wine. A Sauvignon Blanc, or Chenin Blanc, would do nicely, as they would not over-power the fish with big fruit. For this, I would stay away from such from the Marlborough appellation of New Zealand (one of my favorites fro Sauvignon Blancs btw), and stick to a French or Californian appellation.

Overall: This meal was fantastic. As you can see from the pictures, I also served it with Garlic Cheddar Biscuits. I will definitely be making these scallops again; they just have the right flavor profile that makes French cuisine so worth the caloric intake. As for the asparagus, I would make it again, though not with the scallops. The would be great as an appetizer, or side for a larger meal. I also think I would find a way to spice up the batter a bit more. While the cayenne pepper did add some heat, I think it could use a bit more.

Plated. Scallops, asparagus with aioli and biscuits!
Yummi!!!

All in all, another great meal!