Scallops and beets

This recipe for scallops by chef Thomas Parnaud, of Le Georges - Le Grand Monarque restaurant in Chartres, is from Gault&Millau magazine n°11. Discover the ingredients and step-by-step instructions for preparing it.

• Serves 4
• Preparation time: 1 hour
• Cooking time: 2 h 45
• Resting time: 12 hours
• Fermentation: 3 months

Ingredients for Thomas Parnaud's scallops and beets

This recipe features fermented beets, smoked beet purée, crispy tuiles and scallops. Here are the ingredients.

For the fermented beets

• 1 kg beet (crapaudine de Beauce)
• The seeds of 2 Martinique vanilla beans
• Mineral water
• Coarse salt

For the smoked beet purée

• 500 g beets (Beauce toad)
• 100 g butter
• 8 g smoked salt
• Coarse salt

For the crispy opaline beet tiles

• 500 g beet (crapaudine de Beauce)
• 20 g potato starch
• Salt

For the scallops and sauce

• 12 large scallops in shell
• 100 g butter
• 1 onion
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 star anise
• White wine (preferably young Chenin)
• 150 g raw cream

Steps for Thomas Parnaud's scallops and beet

The chef's scallops and beet recipe requires just a few simple steps. However, you'll need to prepare them well in advance: beet fermentation takes several months to achieve the ideal result.

1. Fermented beets (3 months in advance). peel the beets, cut into neat strips with a Japanese mandolin and place in jars, together with the vanilla beans.cover with salted mineral water (15 g per liter), seal and leave to ferment for at least 3 months, away from light and at room temperature (around 22°C).
2. Smoked beet purée. Wash the beets. Cook them on a bed of coarse salt in an oven at 170°C, for 1h to 1h30, depending on size. They should be soft and melting. peel and blend with butter and smoked salt.
3. Crispy opaline beet tiles. peel the beet raw and place in a centrifuge. Heat the liquid and bind it with the potato starch and a touch of salt. spread a thin layer on a Silpat baking mat, and dry in the oven at 80°C for 12 hours.
4. Scallops. Open the shells and remove the nuts. Rinse the beards thoroughly and keep them.
5. The sauce. In a sauté pan, sweat the chopped onion with 50 g butter, thyme and star anise. Add the barbs and cook for 5 minutes, before deglazing with white wine. Add the raw cream and cook for 10 minutes. Strain through a chinois étamine, and whisk with the remaining butter.
6. Finishing and garnishing. Recover the fermentation juice from the beet, and bring to a gentle boil in a Russian pot. Poach the scallops in this fermentation juice for 2 to 3 minutes, depending on their size. Garnish with three dots of smoked beet purée. Arrange the scallops on the plate. Add a few drapes of fermented beet, then top with a piece of beet tuile. Add a little fleur de sel (reasonably so, as the fermentation juice is already salty, which is why we don't salt the nuts). Gently pour the beard sauce over the center of the plate.

Has this recipe inspired you to discover Thomas Parnaud's cuisine? Read the Gault&Millau review of Le Georges - Le Grand Monarque (16.5/20).

• 22, place des Épars, 28000 Chartres
• Tel. : 07 65 26 73 37
• Reservations and information: www.grand-monarque.com