Coquilles St. Jacques à la Provençale Recipe

Well it's the 14th week of the JC100 - the countdown to Julia Child's 100th birthday (August 15, 2012).  This week the featured recipe is Coquilles St. Jacques à la Provençale, a simple but delicious dish from the deep!  The key to this dish, like most, is to use the freshest vegetables that you can find and be sure to buy the scallops the day that you plan to make this French seafood classic.

Here is Julia's Recipe....
This good recipe may be prepared in advance and gratinéed just before serving.  The following proportions are sufficient for a first course.  Serve a chilled rosé, or a dry white wine such as Côtes de Provence.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup minced yellow onions
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp minced shallot or green onions
1 clove minced garlic

1 1/2 pounds washed fresh scallops
salt and pepper
1 cup sifted flour in a dish

2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

2/3 cup dry wine, or 1/2 cup dry white vermouth and 3 tbsp water
1/2 bay leaf
1/8 tspn thyme

1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
2 tbsp butter cut into 6 pieces

Preparation:

1. Cook the onions slowly in butter in a small saucepan for 5 minutes or so, until tender and translucent but not browned.  Stir in the shallots or onions, and garlic, and cook slowly for 1 minute more.  Set aside
2. Dry the scallops and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick.  Just before cooking, sprinkle with salt and pepper, roll in flour, and shake off excess flour.
3. Sauté the scallops quickly in very hot butter and oil for 2 minutes to brown them lightly.
4. Pour the wine, or the vermouth and water, into the skillet with the scallops.  Add the herbs and the cooked onion mixture.  Cover the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes.  Then uncover, and if necessary boil down the sauce rapidly for a minute until it is lightly thickened.  Correct seasoning, and discard bay leaf.
5. Sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter.

Recipe courtesy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

Copyright 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf.  Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. 

France  [ print this recipe for Coquilles St. Jacques à la Provençale ]