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Warm Timbales of Scallop Mousse with Fresh Herbs and Asparagus

Equipment and preparation: For this recipe, you’ll need 4 ramekin dishes (approximately 8cm x 4cm/3in x1½in).

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Scallop and asparagus work together. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and 4 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep30 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease four small timbale moulds with the soft butter and set them in a deep baking dish.

  2. Trim the asparagus and cook in a pan of boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes until just tender. Drain and refresh in cold water.

  3. Soften the finely chopped shallot in a little of the butter, add the dry white wine and simmer until nearly all the liquid has reduced. Add the 100ml double cream, simmer until thickened, season with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Keep warm.

  4. Blend the 150g scallops, eggs, pinch of salt and pinch of cayenne until smooth. Gradually add the 200ml double cream, season, then fold in the mixed herbs. Chill for 15 minutes.

  5. Divide the mousse among the moulds, cover each with foil, and stand them in the dish. Pour boiling water around the moulds to halfway up their sides. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until set and the centre reaches 160°F (71°C).

  6. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over high heat. Season the 2 large scallops and sear for 1 to 2 minutes per side until opaque and they reach 145°F (63°C).

  7. Warm the asparagus in the remaining butter for about 1 minute and season lightly.

  8. Rest the timbales for 2 minutes, then turn them out onto warm plates. Arrange the asparagus and seared scallops alongside, and spoon the sauce around.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Scallop + asparagustop 20% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  2. Butter + white winetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,039 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together41,494 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Asparagus + shallottop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together137 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Shallot + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together834 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, scallop, egg, cream, pepper, asparagus, white wine):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Spinachabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, scallop, egg, cream, pepper, asparagus, white wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).