Scallops in Cream Saffron and Pernod
with Caviar and Puff Pastry
By Chef Jens Hansen, Jens' Restaurant
- 12 large Alaska sea scallops
- 1 tbsp clarified butter (I prefer Plugra unsalted)
- 1/2 oz Pernod
- 1/2 cup fish stock or clam juice
- 1/8 tsp saffron
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 oz Beluga or other caviar
Pan fry scallops for 20 seconds on each side in one tablespoon of clarified butter, remove scallops, keep warm. Add Pernod, fish stock (or clam juice) and saffron to pan, stir well and reduce to three tablespoons. Stir in whipping cream and reduce to 1/4 cup. Whip in 1 tbsp butter. Divide sauce on 2 plates, place scallops on sauce. Decorate with beluga caviar and serve with puff pastry. Bon Apetite!
Yield: 2 servings
About the Chef
Jens Hansen, owner of Jens' Restaurant, beagn cooking at a young age. At his boarding school friends would pay him to cook for them, breaking all of the rules. Jens began more conventional training by serving an apprenticeship at Hotel Terminus, now called the Plaza Hotel, in Copenhagen. He continued school and work in Paris before moving to Anchorage. When asked what his favorite Alaska food product is he says, "It's too difficult to single one out-- all and everything fresh."
