Culinary Class with Chef Colin Bedford at Fearrington House Inn – Corn Soup with Seared Scallops
Chef Bedford smoked his scallops prior to searing them for this dish. If you skip the smoking process (which I plan to cover at a later date), just be sure to sear them properly and season them well in the pan before plating them in the dish. A little butter and a few herbs thrown in at the end will give you the layer of flavors that you want to recreate at home.
Chef Bedford finishes his scallops with a little butter and some herbs
There is a lot that goes in to plating beautiful food
Local Corn Soup with Apple & Bacon Remoulade and Smoked Scallop
I highly recommend attending one of the Culinary Retreats and Cooking Classes at Fearrington House Inn. It is a very special two days in a beautiful part of North Carolina. In addition to experiencing some incredible food and wine, you will gain invaluable experience that you can use at home in your own kitchen.
I will have an interview with Chef Bedford next week and will share another one of his recipes with you then.
Have a great weekend!
Note – When searing food at very high temperatures (500 degrees or more), be sure to use pans that are made of stainless steel or enamel coated cookware like Le Creuset. Some non-stick coatings can release can release harmful carcinogens when they are heated to very high temperatures. They have also been linked to potentially causing early menopause in women.
* Disclosure – I attended the culinary retreat as a guest of The Fearrington House Inn. I have not been paid to write any of these posts. The opinions I express regarding the property and the class are my own.
This was truly amazing!
Local Corn Soup with Apple & Bacon Remoulade and Smoked Scallop
Ingredients:
For Corn Soup:
10 ears of corn
5 Yukon potatoes, peeled
1 piece fennel, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1.5 quarts corn stock (made from corn cobs, water, veggie scraps and herbs)
1.5 quarts heavy cream
4 garlic cloves, minced
Several sprigs fresh thyme
Salt, to taste
For Apple & Bacon Remoulade:
2 Granny Smith Apples
2 shallots, small dice
4 Tablespoons chives, chopped
8 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 Tablespoon vinegar (Apple Cider)
1 Tablespoon honey
4 green onions, sliced
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
2 large scallops per serving (preferably Diver Scallops)
Microgreens for garnish
Paprika Oil
Directions:
Method for Corn Soup:
1. Combine and heat corn stock and cream.
2. Remove kernels by using a mandoline and then scrape the ears of corn.
3. Over a medium-high heat, add oil (canola) to the pan and sweat off the onion, fennel and garlic without getting any color. Tie the thyme with a string, in doing this it will make things easier to remove before you blend your soup. Add a pinch of salt at the start.
4. Add the peeled potatoes, corn, cream and stock mixture and simmer fro about 45 minutes.
5. Once cooked, remove thyme from the pan and blend (in a blender or with an immersion blender). * Remove some of the liquid before blending to make sure that the consistency is right as corn does not thicken very well.
Method for Apple & Bacon Remoulade:
1. Thinly slice or grate apples.
2. Combine all the other ingredients. Add olive oil to get proper consistency and to taste.
Method for scallops:
1. If desired, smoke scallops prior to searing.
2. Sear scallops in a little oil (canola) in a very hot pan. Once a good sear is achieved on the first side, carefully turn and cook on the other side. Be sure not to overcook the scallops.
3. Remove them from the pan and put on a plate covered with a paper towel (to remove excess butter). Serve immediately.
For plating:
1. Place desired serving size of soup in a bowl. Place a small amount of the Apple & Bacon Remoulade in the middle of the bowl.
2. Top with seared scallops. Garnish with a few microgreens and drizzle with Paprika Oil.
Executive Chef Colin Bedford
Fearrington House Inn and Restaurant
Pittsboro, North Carolina
Oh love this recipe and the class seems great fun. I used to assist in some culinary boot camps at CIA and it was always fun to meet new people that were so enthusiastic about food! Great times!
You look like a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in that first photo! What an incredible cooking class, and soup! Looks pretty involved, but, as you said, I’m sure it would knock my socks off.
Hi Denise,
I was feeling pretty much like a culinary school graduate after that class. It was an intensive one day class, but we had so much fun and learned so much. The dishes we created were very special. I was quite excited to learn some great techniques from this very talented chef and there will be more to come form this trip!
Gwen
Terrific post! The soup makes me hope to find some fresh corn, I was thinking about substitution of frozen, thinking I could make it again when fresh corn is readily available. The corn stock stopped me. I’m going to see if I can find some fresh corn. Sounds well worth the effort.
Hi Lynn,
Definitely use fresh corn. You will need the cobs to make the stock. We actually freeze the cobs after scraping the kernels from them in case we want them for stock in the winter.
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Gwen
wonderful dish and recipe (of course) and love your presentation on the class… and I agree whole-heartily of the quality of restaurant foods, seems like most dish out quantity over quality… love a corn bisque or in this case soup and cannot wait to try the remoulade…
Hi Drick,
Yes, this was a wonderful dish. I love the combination of flavors and textures. We had so much fun attending this class. Chef Bedford is an excellent instructor and a very talented chef.
I could really get on a roll about what I think of some restaurants and what is served, but I’ll save that for another time. 😉
Gwen
I love taking cooking classes, and this one seems very advanced. That corn soup sounds fabulous! I’ll have to try the technique of searing seafood at really high heat, it’ll save me a trip to a fancy restaurant. 🙂
Woww!! What a great cooking experience! I wish I had been there!
Thanks for the recipes!
So happy I dropped by to check in what have you been up to Gwen. Looks like such a fun experience!! Great recap of your culinary adventure!
Gwen, you have done a great job capturing the fun and the skills that made this a wonderful and unique food experience. That man with the camera is pretty skilled also. Nancy and I Hope to share another cooking class with you both very soon.