Steam
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 cups dry white wine
3 carrots, peeled and cut in fine julienne strips
2 white turnips, peeled and cut in fine julienne strips
3 celery ribs, cut in fine julienne strips
4 scallions cut in fine julienne strips
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 sprigs fresh tarragon
½ lb sea scallops
½ lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
12 hard shell clams, well scrubbed
12 mussels, well scrubbed
3 egg yolks
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into three pieces
Preparation:
Pour wine into the bottom of a steamer. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Place vegetables on steamer rack. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and place tarragon sprigs on top of vegetables. Cover and steam for four to five minutes.
Arrange seafood over vegetables; cover and steam for about five minutes or until scallops and shrimp are opaque and clams and mussels are open. Remove from steamer and keep vegetables and seafood warm. Cook steaming liquid over high heat until reduced to about 1/3 cup.
Transfer liquid to the top of a double boiler. Whisking rapidly, add egg yolks and lemon juice. Place over simmering water and cook, whisking constantly until thickened. Add butter one piece at a time, whisking constantly.
Arrange seafood on individual serving plates. Nap with sauce and garnish with steamed vegetables.
Gilbertie, Sal. Kitchen Herbs: The Art and Enjoyment of Growing Herbs and Cooking with Them: New York, Bantam Books, 1988.