Scallops, peaches, corn, dandelions

 Harmonious!  Occasionally I'll post photos of dinner and a brief description of what went into the preparation of a dish.  Any questions will be answered in comments.

I bought peaches, radishes, corn, and scallops at the farmer's market today.  I was particularly excited to get the scallops because they are extremely fresh, brought in by some fine folks here in town.  They are dry packed, so no excess moisture or breakdown of the tissue.  On to the dish.

Scallops are pan seared on one side (this is done to prevent overcooking).  They are seasoned with a vanilla salt and chopped bay leaf with a dusting of cayenne pepper.  Only the presentation side was seasoned.  To go with the scallops, I took some white corn off the cob and gently cooked it in Insigny Ste Mere butter.  After that I pureed it in the blender with fresh butter, about 2 grams of salt, about a tablespoon of heavy cream, and kefir to give it an acid note.   I thought it was a little too runny, so I added cornstarch (about a teaspoon) and returned it to heat in a small saucepan to thicken and get out the lumps.  This was paired with slices of fresh peaches, which were peeled with a paring knife.  The salad consists of dandelion greens and radishes (I later added some chopped walnuts, not pictured).  I also added a vinaigrette (3 parts fat: 1 part acid) and capers.  The dressing was made of the juice of one lime, grapeseed oil, small diced shallot, a pinch of salt and ground white pepper.

Everything on this plate worked together. On top of that, it was delicious.  The scallops were cooked just right.  To me that means fall apart in your mouth when you press a piece against the roof of your mouth and they have a sort of tender-melty quality as you chew. The sweetness of the bay and cayenne kick were marvelous with the scallops as well.  The peaches and corn is simply decadent, owing in part to the cream-butter enrichment, but also because these are two flavors that work extremely well together.  Balancing all this richness were the bitter greens and radishes, which were tender.  The vinaigrette added a nice mouth coating citrus note.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this dish.  I think it could be served as-is, but I want to play with the flavors and presentation more in the future.