scallop and clam chowder with Root Celery Cream, Smoked Bacon and Celery

Recipe by Derin Moore CMC, Executive Chef at Reynolds Lake Oconee, Greensboro, Georgia, USA

Yields 4
 
Ingredients
 
Seafood

• 16 U-10 Scallops
• 20 Little Neck Clams
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

 
Root Celery Cream

• 1 Celery Root (approximately 3 cups roughly chopped)
• 4 ounces Slab Bacon (finely diced)
• 2 Tablespoons Shallots (minced)
• 1 teaspoon Garlic (minced)
• 2 cups Clam Stock
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 3 sprigs Fresh Thyme
• 2 Tablespoons Butter (chilled)
• Salt and White Pepper (to taste)

Celery Juice

• 2 cups Micro Celery
• 1/2  cup Olive Oil
• Pinch salt

Garnish

• Pearl Onions (peeled)
• Celery (peeled, bias cut, blanched)
• Bacon Lardoons
• Tri-Colored Marble Potatoes (cooked through)
• Micro Celery

Preparation

Seafood
Remove the adductor mussel from the scallops. Wash the clams.

Root Celery Cream
Render the bacon without color. Remove and reserve the bacon for plate up. Separate the shallots and garlic. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the celery root is very tender. Blend with the cold butter until smooth and strain. Reserve warm. 

Celery Juice
Blend the micro celery with olive oil until very smooth. Allow to strain through triple layers of cheesecloth.

Assembly

Preheat a sauté pan, heat the olive oil, season, and sear the scallops.
Place the celery root cream in a shallow pan and simmer. Add the potatoes and clams and cover until clams are steamed open. Place five clams and three scallops into a shallow plate and garnish with the bacon, onions, celery, potatoes, and micro celery.

Wine Match

2018 Peju Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
~ Paired by Steve Pinheiro, Restaurant Manager at The Creek Club

#16 at Great Waters at Renyolds Lake Oconee. Image by Evan Schiller courtesy Reynolds Lake Oconee.