Hazelnut-crufted Queensland Sea Scallop & Cauliflower Salad with Watercress Purée

Name: Hazelnut-crufted Queensland Sea Scallop & Cauliflower Salad with Watercress Purée
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: sea salt and freshly ground white pepper; lime juice, to taste; 40 ml hazelnut oil; sea salt and freshly ground white pepper; 100 g soft unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces; 30 ml grapeseed oil; 25 g [⅓ cup] sourdough breadcrumbs; 2 tablespoons finely chopped curly-leaf parsley; ½ clove garlic, any green shoot removed, crushed; a tin pinch salt; 100 g hazelnut kernels; a trace cayenne pepper; freshly ground white pepper; 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil; 20 ml verjuice, or to taste; 2 large bunches watercress, washed, coarse stalks discarded; sea salt; 1 clove garlic, smashed; 2 litres water; 1 handful tiny watercress sprigs, washed and spin-dried; 24 scallops, the tiny hard piece on the side snipped off with a sharp knife or scissors; extra virgin olive oil, for cooking; ½ cauliflower, cut into florets

Preparation info

Serves
6
as an entrée

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Salades

By Damien Pignolet

Published 2010

About

I created this salad as part of a five-course tasting menu served at Adelaide’s Windy Point Restaurant when I was invited to be their guest chef. It is simple and delicious as a second entrée served prior to a game dish such as roast squab [pigeon]. The four key flavours marry so well, a good example of less is more!

Ingredients

½ cauliflower, cut into florets
extra virgin olive oil, for cooking
24 scallops, the tiny hard piece on the side snipped off with a sharp knife

Europe
Oceania
Australia
France
Adelaide
Starter
Main course
Vegetarian

Method

To make the hazelnut crust, Preheat the oven to 160°C. Toast the hazelnuts for 10 minutes or until the skins split. Tip them into a coarse sieve and rub off the skins with a clean tea towel; don’t be too fussy about a few bits remaining. Chop the hazelnuts and r