Recipes: Roasted scallops | Steamed turbot

Roasted scallops. Picture: Alan Richardson/Pix-AR.co.uk

MASTERCHEF: The Professionals winner Jamie Scott of Rocca, St Andrews, takes time out from his packed schedule to share his delicious fish recipes

Since winning MasterChef: The Professionals, life has been a whirlwind. The restaurant has been busy with bookings, we’ve introduced new MasterChef-inspired menus and are now open for lunch as well as dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, so I’ve had very little time to rest up.

There’s a great camaraderie in the kitchen at Rocca in St Andrews – food is our passion, fresh produce is at the heart of all our menus and working with Scottish suppliers is a key factor in our success.

I chose a scallop starter and turbot main dish to showcase Scotland’s fine seafood.

Chef Jamie Scott. Picture: Alan Richardson/Pix-AR.co.uk

I also find scallops and turbot are two ingredients many people feel shy of cooking at home, when in fact they can both be included in a variety of easy to cook recipes.

Jamie will be competing in the Scottish Chef of the Year live final at the ScotHot Exhibition on 5 March at the SECC.

ROASTED SCALLOPS, BLOOD ORANGE, CHICORY AND HAZELNUTS

The scallops used in this recipe were sourced in Oban and I love the fusion of unusual, surprising ingredients.

SERVES TWO

1 To make the dressing, mix the mustard, most of the orange juice, honey and vinegar together, then slowly add the hazelnut oil until emulsified. Remove a mix of chicory leaves from the water, pat dry and add to the dressing, add the hazelnuts and sliced blood orange and gently mix together.

2 Season the scallops with a mixture of the curry powder and sea salt, then cook in a hot pan for 1 minute, add the butter and turn the scallops over. Add the final squeeze of orange juice, coat in the melted butter and remove from the pan.

3 Neatly place the scallops on the plate, arrange the chicory leaves, chard and blood orange slices around the scallops and finish with the dressing, hazelnuts and a drizzle of hazelnut oil.

STEAMED TURBOT, BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER AND CAVIAR

I’m from Arbroath and, living on the coast, have always had a passion for seafood dishes. We source our turbot in Scrabster. As a flat fish, it holds together during cooking and has a subtle taste-of-the-sea flavour.

SERVES TWO

1 Place the thinly chopped half of the cauliflower in a saucepan with the milk, cream and 50g of the butter. Cook until tender, blend then pass through a fine sieve, season and keep warm.

2 Place the cauliflower florets into boiling salted water, then, 1 minute later, add the broccoli, cook for a further 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Strain, transfer into a bowl and season with 50ml rapeseed oil and salt and pepper, put to the side.

3 Place the turbot fillets in a small steamer that is set over a saucepan. Sprinkle them with salt and an additional drizzle of oil and cook for 6-8 minutes. Remove from the steamer and season with lemon juice.

4 Meanwhile in a hot saucepan, melt 100g of butter over a high heat, add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 15 seconds until wilted down. Drain on kitchen paper.

5 Place a spoonful of cauliflower purée in a bowl. Top with spinach and then the fish. Arrange the cauliflower and broccoli around the turbot and place the caviar on top. Drizzle with additional rapeseed oil to finish.

RHUBARB AND CUSTARD SOUFFLÉ WITH A HOMEMADE HOBNOB CRUMB

This is one of my favourite recipes. It reminds me of my grandmother, who was a keen baker.

SERVES TWO

1 Pre-heat the oven to 160C/Gas Mark 3.

2 To make the hobnob component, mix the dark flour, oats, demerara sugar, butter and bicarbonate of soda until incorporated, lay on a lined baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Allow to cool, then break into small pieces and set aside.

3 For the crème patissiere, bring the milk and seeds from the vanilla pod to the boil and remove from the heat. Sieve the plain flour and cornflour onto the egg yolks and 40g of the caster sugar, then pour the milk mixture on top. Put back on the heat and whisk until rich and creamy.

4 Cool completely, mixing occasionally to stop a skin forming.

5 In a saucepan, make a rhubarb purée by cooking the dried rhubarb and 100g of caster sugar until soft. Blend until smooth and allow to cool completely.

6 Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and gradually stir in 75g of caster sugar.

7 Mix 2 tbsp of the crème patissiere and 2 tbsp of the rhubarb purée together, then whisk in a third of the egg white mixture until smooth. Fold in the rest of the egg white mix, spoon into two ramekins (brushed with butter and sugar) then bake in the oven at 180C/Gas Mark 4 for 8-10 minutes until risen.

8 Top with the crumbled hobnob biscuit and serve with vanilla ice cream.