PAN SEARED SCALLOPS IN A BLUE CURACAO SAUCE WITH RED PEPPERS AND LEMON FOAM

Recently, at one of my local restaurants I ordered a seafood dish that was served in a blue sauce.  A blue sauce?  Yes.  The sauce was made using Blue Curacao liqueur. Blue Curacao is a sweet and slightly bitter, vibrant blue colored liqueur originally made from dried orange peels found on Curacao, an island in the Caribbean. 

I know that Blue Curacao is used primarily for cocktails.  However, given that it was used in a savory dish, this certainly got my attention.  I wanted to try and recreate this mystic sauce, so I did some experimenting for a few days and came up with my own version of a savory blue sauce.

 

Blue Curacao Sauce

1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, crushed and roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3/4 cup Blue Curacao Liquor
4 oz. (1/4 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 1 inch pieces
salt
pepper

Heat canola oil in a small pot.  Add shallots and garlic and cook for about two minutes.  Add bay leaf, lemon juice, lemon zest and Blue Curacao.  Cook over high heat until reduced to about one-half.  Remove from heat.  Strain the sauce.  Return strained sauce to heat.  Let sauce reduce another half to about 1/4 cup.  Whisk in butter, one piece at a time and continue to whisk together until sauce thickens slightly.  Season sauce with salt and pepper.    

Because it was the Fourth of July, what was a better time to make a dish utilizing the blue sauce?

I decided on pan seared scallops with chunks of flounder and blanched red peppers.



Scallops and Flounder

I seared both the scallops and flounder in butter and oil.  I purposely wanted to keep them moist, so I did not opt for a dark brown sear.

 

Pre-Foam Version

And since blue represents the ocean or sea, I wanted to add some foam, so I pulled out my MOLE' CULE R kit and created lemon foam as a garnish.



MOLE' CULE R Kit

Lemon Foam
1 sachet (2 grams) soy lecithin
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup lemon juice

Combine the lemon juice, water and soy lecithin in a bowl.

Using a hand-held blender (or eggbeater), produce a good quantity of foam.
Spoon foam over finished dish as a garnish.

 
Although I was told there was "too much" foam on the dish, all the flavors were there and came together very nicely.