Recipe Cured scallop Skipper’s sandwich

Amazing recipes from James Strawbridge celebrating Sustainable Seafood Week which is 16th to the 23rd Sept, in association with the Marine Stewardship Council. 

Recipe Cured scallop Skipper’s sandwich - PT thinks what's not to love!

Ingredients

4 slices of white bread, crusts removed [baked and blitzed into breadcrumbs for the larder]

4 MSC scallops, thinly sliced

50g cream cheese

Handful of pea shoots

Chive flowers to garnish

For the cucumber

½ cucumber, peeled and sliced [try using the peel to cold infuse a bottle of dry gin]

75ml white wine vinegar

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp finely chopped dill

1 bay leaf

Splash of water

Pinch of sea salt

For the cure

50ml Gin

1 tsp sea salt flakes

1/2 tsp caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Heat the vinegar so it approaches boiling point and the sugar dissolves. Then remove from

the hob and allow to cool for a few minutes. Pickle your sliced cucumber by submerging in a

warm solution of sweetened vinegar. Next use a little water to cover them completely and

add a bay leaf, chopped dill and pinch of salt. Allow to pickle for 15-20 mins or until the

solution reaches room temperature again.

2. Make the scallop cure in a small mixing bowl by whisking together the gin, salt, sugar and

lemon. Thinly slice your scallops into discs that are approximately 3-5mm thick. Arrange on a

shallow tray and pour over your wet cure. Set a timer for 5 mins then turn the scallop slices

over and allow to finish curing for a further 5 mins.

3. Spread your bread with cream cheese and then strain your cucumber pickles. Build your

sandwich with slices of cured scallop, crunchy dill pickles and fresh pea shoots. Season with

cracked black pepper and chive flowers.

Top Fish Prep Tip

Your scallops should smell naturally sweet and not fishy – the aroma should be bright and briny, a

little like fresh seaweed but with no ammonia notes. A good fresh scallop should be moist but not

milky and firm in texture. Play around with cures and try serving raw scallops simply dressed with a

sharp vinaigrette. You could also cold smoke slices of scallop for extra depth of flavour.

Name of fish: Shetland Crab

Recipe Shetland crab roll with seaweed spiced mayo and pickled sea greens

Ingredients

For the crab

200g MSC white and brown crab meat

2-4 tbsp mayonnaise

1 shallot, finely diced

1 tsp finely chopped chives

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

For the old-bay style spices:

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp seaweed flakes

½ tsp celery salt

½ tsp of ground white pepper

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pinch of ground ginger

Pinch of Cayenne

For the pickled sea greens

Handful of samphire or foraged sea vegetables

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced

½ bulb of fennel, thinly sliced

100ml cider vinegar

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 cloves of garlic

Pinch of chilli flakes

Pinch of sea salt

To serve

4 brioche rolls

Spring onions and chive flowers to garnish

Lemon salt [make by blitzing 2 tbsp sea salt flakes with the zest from 2 lemons]

Method

1. Start by mixing your picked crab meat with mayo, shallot, chive and lemon. Season with the

spice blend and keep tasting to get the balance of flavour you enjoy. Taste the crab and add

a little more of the spices bit-by-bit, until you have the desired profile you enjoy.

2. Next pickle your vegetables by simply covering in a hot pickling solution of vinegar, sugar,

garlic, chilli and salt. Allow the veg to soften and cool for 30-45 mins then strain and keep in

a sealed container in the fridge.

3. Warm and bar-mark your bread rolls on the grill. Slice the rolls and serve the spiced crab on

top of a generous layer of pickled vegetables. Garnish with chive flowers, spring onions and

a pinch of lemon salt.

Top Fish Prep Tip

If given the choice I almost always choose 50/50 white and brown meat when cooking with crab. The

brown meat has so much depth of flavour whilst the white meat is delicate and sweet, when you use

them together you get the best all-round crab tasting dishes. This spiced crab filling also really lends

itself to being potted in a kilner jar, covered with a layer of clarified butter and stored in the fridge

for a pate style party starter.

Name of fish: Mussels

Recipe Hot smoked mussels with whiskey, orange and heritage tomato salad

Ingredients

2 kg mussels

100g cooked diced pancetta

1.5 kg heritage vine tomatoes

2 red onions, sliced

2 oranges, sliced

1 bulb of garlic

100g flat leaf parsley

100ml Scottish Whisky

2 tbsp olive oil

Handful of Bourbon barrel wood chips

Method

1. Preheat your hot smoker or kettle BBQ with charcoal until it reaches 200˚C.

2. Pick through your mussels to remove any dead ones that don’t close when handled. Toss

your tomatoes and onions in a large bowl with oil and season with sea salt and cracked black

pepper.

3. Add a large handful of smoking wood chips to generate hot smoke. Then immeadiately add

the mussels, tomatoes, onion, sliced orange and pancetta to the grill. Cover the BBQ with a

lid and after 4-5 mins turn using tongs. Drizzle with whiskey to flambé and cook for a further

4-5 mins. Be careful doing this as the whisky will catch fire and is a fire risk. Try adding a little

at a time so that the whisky steams the mussels as they flambé and infuse with peaty

flavour.

4. Add plenty of chopped parsley and use your grill tongs to squeeze the juice from the BBQ

orange slices before serving. You can also add more wood chips halfway through cooking if

you want a more intense smoke-level for this recipe.

5. Dig in and enjoy – remebering it’s all Hands-on Deck! Serve straight from the grill and enjoy

with some caper focaccia on the side.

Top Fish Prep Tip

Pick your mussels an hour in advance, before your light your BBQ and cover with a damp tea towel

and ice whilst you prepare everything else. When cooking with fire there is nothing quite as

important as mise en place to make a feast run smoothly. If you have all your ingredients safely

prepared and ready to go then it makes the cooking process smooth sailing!

Recipe Hasselback potato salad with capers and herbs

Ingredients

2 kg new potatoes, sliced

1 bulb of garlic

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cornichons

2 tbsp capers

1 tbsp chopped dill

1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

1 tbsp chopped thyme

1 tsp sea salt flakes

½ tsp cracked black pepper

Method

1. Use a couple of chopsticks or wooden spoon handles arranged flat on a chopping board,

either side of a potato. This helps when hasselback-cutting the potatoes and not going all

the way down through them by mistake. Slice all your potatoes and then toss in a large

roasting tray with oil, garlic cloves (keep these in their skins and squeeze out the roasted

garlic later), half of your herbs, the capers and cornichons and season well.

2. BBQ roast for 45 mins to 1 hour until the potatoes are beautifully cooked; golden and crispy

on the outside and soft and fluffy inside.

3. Add the remaining herbs and serve with a pinch of sea salt flakes.

Recipe Corn on the cob with seaweed salt

Ingredients

6 fresh corn on the cob

2 tbsp chopped tarragon

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

75g butter

For the seaweed salt

1 tbsp sea salt flakes

1 tsp seaweed flakes

Method

1. Melt your butter and soften the chopped garlic for 2-3 mins. Then allow to cool slightly and

add in all the tarragon. Keep somewhere warm near your BBQ or to one side of the coals

and brush your sweet corn regularly when cooking with the tarragon garlic butter. Turn

every few minutes and keep moist by basting in the herby butter.

2. Mix your seaweed salt in a small bowl and after 15-20 mins season the cooked corn

generously for an umami-packed salty finish.

Recipe Shetland mess with cracked black pepper meringue

Ingredients

For the meringue

4 large egg whites

115g caster sugar

115g icing sugar

Pinch of cracked black pepper

For the strawberries

12 strawberries, finely sliced

1 tbsp elderflower cordial

1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp caster sugar

Pinch of sea salt flakes

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 110˚C and line a baking sheet with non stick silicone sheet or baking

paper. Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and they form stiff peaks.

2. Then whisk in the caster sugar a spoonful at a time. Beat and incorporate a little at a time.

3. Next sift in the icing sugar a third at a time and fold in gently. Season with black pepper at

this point.

4. Place the meringue mix onto the baking tray and cook for 2 hours. The base should look the

colour of a pale cappuccino and sound crisp when tapped underneath. Leave to cool on a

tray or wire rack.

5. Macerate the sliced strawberries in elderflower cordial with a small pinch of salt, caster

sugar and white balsamic vinegar for 15-20 mins at room temperature before serving.

6. Serve the Shetland mess with double cream and blueberries.