seafood gratin recipe - Coquilles St-Jacques

seafood gratin recipe - Coquilles St-Jaques/ this classic French cuisine dish is a brilliant seafood and cheese gratin starter. Juicy scallops, mussels, prawns and shrimps are finished with a rich seafood bisque sauce made from the shells and seafood juices. Topped with Swiss cheese and gratin to perfection. Your dinner parties will never be the same again.
Enjoy,
Igor
  / cannotstopcookingandbaking  

Seafood gratin – Coquilles St-Jacques
Ingredients
6 scallops in the shell
1kg fresh mussels
12 whole tiger prawns
handfull brown shrimp or clam meat

1 shallot
½ bulb garlic
50ml brandy
125ml water
1/2 tbsp flour
25gr of butter
50ml of cream
1/2 tsp harrissa paste or a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp tomato puree

200gr of grated Swiss Gruyere

Method
- Steam the mussels in a dry pot for 4minutes until they are all open.
- Remove the mussel flesh and keep the cooking liquid
- Discard the shells
- Peel the tiger prawns
- Keep the heads and the shells
- Add some olive oil to a saucepan and fry the heads and the shells until they are fragrant and turn red.
- Add the brandy and burn off the alcohol.
- Add the chopped up shallot and garlic.
- Add the liquid from the mussels and add water until the shells are covered.
- Simmer the shells for 1 hour.
- Strain the liquid and reduce it by half.
- Clean the scallops and clean the top shell under fresh water. Don’t use soap
- Cut the scallops in 4
- Melt 25gr butter in a saucepan and add ½ tbsp flour
- Cook out the flour
- Add the seafood stock liquid and bring to a light boil and the sauce is thickened.
- Add the cream and the tomato concentrate
- Add 100gr of the grated Gruyere and stir until its melted
- Season with salt and cayenne pepper or harissa
- Fill the scallop shells with the raw scallop meat, chopped up tiger prawns and shrimps.
- Divide the sauce over the shells and sprinkle over the rest off the Gruyere cheese.
- Put the shells in a hot oven under the grill until hot, bubbly and coloured.