Scallops with Swiss Chard

With Frank McClelland

Frank McClelland, chef and owner of L'Espalier, takes a few ingredients from his Apple Tree Farm in Essex, grown with organic methods, to prepare local scallops over a bed of Swiss chard that make for a first-class gourmet meal.

Some of what you will learn: Separate stalks of chard from leaves and chop them finely since the stalk takes longer to cook; cook shallots to a golden brown to make them very sweet; dry marinate the scallops with zest of lemon and lime instead of juice, so when they cook they will brown instead of steam cook; as a coating, corn starch can be better than flour because it leaves less residual flavor; unsalted butter is better quality butter because the taste of poorer quality butter is often hidden with salt.

Chef and Proprietor, L’Espalier, Sel de la Terre, Au Soleil, and Apple Street Farm

“…food is best when it’s in its purest form. My job is to enhance that natural flavor to allow the essence of the food to sing.” – Chef Frank McClelland

Chef Frank McClelland’s L'Espalier has been a perennial “best” of America’s restaurants for three decades, earning top accolades from Zagat, Forbes, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Frommer’s, Wine Spectator and Condé Nast Traveler as well as nods in international media. L’Espalier is New England’s most decorated independent restaurant with twelve consecutive AAA Five Diamond Awards and twelve consecutive Forbes (Mobil) Four-Star awards.

At the heart of Chef McClelland’s menus of New England flavors with French interpretation is Apple Street Farm, his organic farm in Essex, Massachusetts that is the primary source of heirloom produce and proteins for his restaurants. The James Beard chef and cookbook author, Wine Mondays, views his life as a farmer-restaurateur as being on-trend. By living this life from his youth, he was early to the farm-to-table or “locavore” dining philosophy.

Chef McClelland's love of “field to fork” cooking began while growing up on his grandparents' farm in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. By the age of 25, he had been a chef in two of the most respected Boston kitchens: The Harvest in Cambridge and L'Espalier. In 1984, he became Executive Chef at The Country Inn at Princeton in Western Massachusetts where he established himself as a culinary talent who made time to know local farmers.  It was here that Food & Wine named him one of the country's top 25 new chefs which began the national spotlight on his career.

Frank purchased the restaurant L’Espalier outright and never looked back.

In April 2000, Chef McClelland diversified his organization with Sel de la Terre, a casual bistro with boulangeries steeped in the culinary traditions of Provence, France, with business partner Chef Geoff Gardner. Sel de la Terre opened to rave reviews and was instantly named one of the top 20 new restaurants in America by Esquire. In 2007,Au Soleil Bakery & Catering followed as a full regional catering service.

The time he spent on his family’s farm grounded Chef McClelland in the time-honored traditions of farm-to-table cooking. Today he honors his upbringing at Apple Street Farm by growing fresh herbs, heirloom fruits and vegetables and raising honeybees, egg laying chickens and livestock, which are fed farm fresh produce and whole grains breads from Au Soleil’s overages. He views sustainable agriculture as compatible with providing this region’s most memorable and environmentally friendly dining experiences.

Many of Boston’s best-known restaurants are populated with alumni were mentored under his tutelage.