On a small, chilled, ovenproof salad plate, arrange four scallop slices, buttered side down, in a circle; the slices should not overlap. Place a small spoonful of caviar on top of each scallop slice. Place a scallop slice, buttered side up, on top of the caviar, to form little scallop sandwiches Repeat this on three other salad plates. Sprinkle with several grains of coarsely cracked (not ground) white pepper.
Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate.Pre-heat the oven to 350F/ 180C/Gas 4.To make the sauce, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Place the lemon zest in a fine-mesh sieve and submerge it in the boiling water for 10 seconds Drain. Finely chop the zest and set aside.In a small saucepan, combine the shallots and 30g/1oz of the butter over a moderate heat Cook until soft and translucent, two to three minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and boil for two to three minutes to burn off the alcohol Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large saucepan. Add the mussel cooking liquid, cream, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Cook over high heat until reduced by half (about five minutes). Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining butter, whisking constantly until all the butter is incorporated and the sauce is smooth and creamy.Remove the prepared scallops from the fridge and place the plates in the preheated oven for one minute The scallops should just begin to warm, no more Add the caviar to the sauce and stir to blend. Remove scallops from the oven and divide the sauce among the four plates, evenly covering scallops. Sprinkle each plate with chives and salt; serve immediately.CAVIAR WITH CREAMED EGGSServes 44 very fresh eggs2 x 30g/1 oz pots of Iranian Sevruga caviar1 tablespoon finely-chopped onion1 teaspoon chopped chives2 teaspoons fromage blanc1 teaspoon salt, a pinch of pepperSlice the tops off the raw eggs with a fine saw-edged knife, sawing the shell delicately about 1cm/12in above the widest part; empty the shells, keeping both parts. Carefully wash in hot water and put to dry on a cloth.Beat three of the four eggs. Strain them through a wire sieve to remove pieces of shell and the strings in the egg whites.Pour the beaten eggs into a small heavy-based saucepan, and put them over a low heat.
Beat them vigorously with a small whisk, until the eggs start to form a light cream Take the pan off the heat Season with salt and pepper. Still stirring add the fromage blanc and the chopped onion and chives.Put the washed and dried egg shells into the egg cups Fill them three- quarters full with the creamed egg. Finish by filling each one to the top with 15g/12oz of caviar and cover the top with the tops of the egg shells. You can just see the caviar under these little bonnets.oystersOYSTERS are considered a great luxury today, as they were in Imperial Rome, in the First century AD, when the plumpest and best of them were imported from Britain, from West Mersea, Colchester and the River Colne.
In the intervening centuries, however,they’ve been in and out of fashion.A hundred years ago, no well-to-do person would be seen eating an oyster. Charles Dickens had Sam Weller speak of them thus: “Poverty and oysters always seem to go together.The poorer the place the greater call there seems to be for oysters. Blessed if I don’t think that ven a man’s wery poor, he rushes out of his lodgings and eats oysters in reg’lar desperation.”Now, the wery poor do not turn up in strength at Britain’s top-class modern restaurants, where oysters are once more in demand. Sir Terence Conran led the way when, seven years ago, he set up an Oyster Bar outside his flagship restaurant, Bibendum. The three-star restaurateur Marco-Pierre White includes oysters in many of the most successful of his flamboyant culinary creations.
