An impressive, tasty, sophisticated starter, which is worthy of a rather good restaurant. You’ll be making way more Black Pepper Oil and Sherry Caramel than you’ll need, but they both keep well in the fridge. We keep the caramel in a little glass dressing jar, so we can dip it in a bowl of boiling water before using it. The Cauliflower Puree freezes very well and complements many of dishes, so it is worth making a reasonable amount of this.

8 large scallops

1 tbsp Cauliflower Puree per person

Black Pepper Oil:-

100ml light olive oil or light vegetable oil

30 black peppercorns, crushed

1 sprig of thyme

Sherry Caramel:-

250g caster sugar

100ml dry sherry

• First make the Cauliflower Puree (see link)

Black Pepper Oil:-

• Warm all the ingredients very gently in a pan for 30 minutes. Do not allow to boil

Sherry Caramel:-

• Gently heat the sugar and vinegar together in a thick bottomed pan until the sugar is dissolved. Then turn up the heat, and boil rapidly until they form a light caramel – about 3 or 4 minutes. Carefully stir in the sherry and allow to cool

The scallops:-

• Heat a frying pan till is it very hot, then add some oil, and when that is hot, add the scallops. Fry them on one side for 2 minutes, then turn them over and fry the other side for about 30 seconds.

To serve:-

• Make a puddle of Cauliflower Puree on the centre of each plate, and place 2 scallops on top. Trickle a teaspoon or so of pepper oil around it, then the same amount of caramel over and around the oil. Serve immediately – if you’re having it as a main course, serve a green side salad and some steamed baby new potatoes with it