Description

One pepper in two different variations present in this mexican inspired recipe: the mild, fresh poblano is roasted in a roux/béchamel base sauce and its dried form, the ancho is used in caviar form to add a bit of earthiness and depth to the sweet scallops.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Ancho-honey caviar
Ancho mix:

1 dried ancho chile
1 400g can diced tomatoes
2Tb diced onion
1.5Tb honey

Base Caviar:
150g water
1.6g sodium citrate
3.3 g algin

Caviar solution:
50g ancho mix
100g base mix


Dipping solution:
1 liter water
6 g calcium chloride

Bacon Dust
60g bacon

Poblano Béchamel sauce
2 fresh poblano chilies
1 Tb butter
1Tb flour
1 cup whole milk

fresh coriander
fresh lime juice

Instructions

Bacon Dust:
1.  Fry the bacon over medium heat, about 10 minutes until well cooked.  Drain away fat and cover bacon with paper towels to remove more fat.  Refrigerate 1 hour.
2.  Puree bacon in a small food processor or use a mortar and pestle to reduce to fine state.
3.  Cook the bacon in a 100C oven for 3 hours.  Use a mortar and pestle further to make a finer powder.  Refrigerate until needed. 

Caviar:
1. Heat the ancho chile in an open frying pan over medium-high heat for 1 minute each side.  
2. Boil 2c water and soak the ancho for 10 minutes until softened. Cut open the chile and remove stem and seeds.
3. Saute onion over medium heat for 5-7 mintures
3. Add canned tomatoes, ancho, and onion to a blender and puree at high speed for 5 minutes.
4. Pass through a medium-fine strainer to remove tomato seeds and other large pieces.  Mix in honey.
5. Prepare Base Caviar Mix as described above.  Puree in a sodium citrate with water in a blender.  Then add algin and puree further for 1 minute.
6. Prepare water-calcium chloride mixture.
7. Combine 50g of citrate mixture with 100g of ancho mixture...mix well. (note: large ancho mixture left over--use for marinades and sauces)
8. Using a syringe (without needle), pull in the ancho mixture and deposit in small drops into the water-chloride mixture.
9. When finished, strain all caviar off in to fresh water bowl, then strain again into bowl for final presentation.

Poblano Béchamel:
1. Under a broiler/grill, roast the poblanos until blackened. (note: they are less forgiving than red peppers for removing skin, so cook a bit less)
2. Cover peppers in foil or plastic bag to loosen the skin.  Remove skin and finely chop peppers.
3. Heat the butter over medium heat until bubbling.  Add the flour and stir completely for 1 minute.
4. Add the milk and peppers.  Cook for 4-5 minutes until mixture is thickened.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Final Plating
1. Coat scallops lightly with oil, dredge sides with bacon dust. 
2. Saute over medium-high heat in butter for approximately 2-3 minutes each side.  Remove from heat.
3. Plate dishes with Poblano sauce, scallops, and caviar.  Finish with coriander and drizzle of lime juice.