Some dishes remain etched in our minds… often linked to fond memories of the people who we ate them with or the places where we sat to savour and indulge in them. We may not cook them all the time… in fact years may trickle by before we find them on the table once again. In some ways comparable to beautiful, strong friendships that are created over the years. The ones that not only survive, despite the distance and life keeping us busy, but grow stronger… with no need of daily text messages or phone calls every week. The absolute joy of seeing these friends, after months or even years is like waking up on Christmas morning!
Seafood Filo Bonbons were something my mother used to make on occasions for grown-up Dinner Parties with their friends. They were usually served as an entrée/starter before the main meal came out. In the days where the table was beautifully laden with tablecloths, fine china and crystal glasses. Cutlery set out like soldiers either side of the plates… “always work from the outside in!”, my mother taught us well. I was but a child then… but would peep through the dining room door to look in wonder at the beautifully dressed ladies and the feast that they were all partaking in. There was such an element of excitement on Dinner Party nights… the sights and sounds and smells all tucked away, to this day (somewhat hazily, yet sweet) in my mind.
Over the years, we’ve had dinners of our own with friends… not quite the fancy, elegant dinner parties of the 70’s, but the more relaxed and casual versions of the 90’s and 00’s. Seafood Bonbons have made the occasional appearance with some of our dear friends too… and always to much delight and appreciation! On my table this week they featured as a main dish, with two bonbons per person instead of one. I hope you’ll enjoy them as well.
Seafood Filo Bonbons with Lemon Cream Sauce | Gather and Graze
Ingredients
For the Seafood Filo Bonbons:
- 500ml/4 Cups Water
- 300g Raw Prawn/Shrimp Meat (chopped in halves)
- 300g Raw Scallops (chopped in halves)
- 16 (Long) Chives
- 1 Heaped Tablespoon Cream
- 1 Clove of Garlic (Crushed)
- Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 16 Sheets of Filo Pastry (I use Antoniou brand, which are 28cm x 40cm)
- 75g/5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (Melted)
For the Lemon Cream Sauce:
- 2 Free-Range Egg Yolks
- 80ml/⅓ Cup Cream
- 80ml/⅓ Cup Reserved Stock (from poaching the seafood)
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 30g Unsalted Butter (Softened and Diced)
- 1 Tablespoon Chives (Chopped)
- Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Very slightly adapted from a recipe in the Australian Women’s Weekly ‘Dinner Party Cookbook No. 2’
Place the water into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the prawns and scallops, cook for 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon to a mixing bowl to cool down a little. If there is any excess water that has transferred to the bowl with the seafood, be sure to drain it out. Now add the chives to the saucepan and cook for 3 seconds, remove and also set aside for the moment. Reserve 80mls (⅓ Cup) of the cooking water/stock and set aside for making the sauce later on.
When the prawns and scallops have cooled a little, add the 1 tablespoon of cream, the crushed garlic, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC and line 2 large baking trays with parchment/baking paper.
Lay out one sheet of filo pastry on a clean board or bench top (with a short end closest to you) and using a pastry brush, brush on a light layer of melted butter. Place another sheet of filo on top and once again brush the top lightly with butter. Across the end closest to you, scoop an eighth of the seafood mixture to form a log shape, leaving a section on either side bare. If confused, please see my attempt at a diagram below…
Now lift the edge of the filo pastry closest to you and fold it over the mixture. Continue then to roll the pastry right up to the other end. Pinch in the sides to make a bonbon shape and tie the softened chives around either end (as per the photo below). Continue making the other 7 bonbons in the same manner and place on the prepared baking trays. Brush the tops with a little more melted butter.
Slide the trays into the pre-heated oven and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
While the bonbons are baking in the oven, prepare the Lemon Cream Sauce so that it’s ready to serve as soon as the bonbons come out of the oven… In a small saucepan, combine the egg yolks, cream, reserved stock and lemon juice. Place over a gentle heat. Warm the mixture, though do not allow it to boil. Gradually add in the butter, piece by piece and stir until the sauce has thickened to a nice consistency. Add in the chopped chives and season well with salt and pepper.
Serve without delay! Place two filo bonbons per person onto a plate with some sauce carefully spooned around them. A fresh green salad (in summer) or some lightly steamed greens (in winter) would be the perfect sides to accompany this dish.
Gather & Graze 
Hi there…..timing is always my problem when doing dinner parties! If I make these a little early, can I place a damp teatowel over them and then cook just prior to serving time please? Enjoy your recipes so much, thank you
Hi Dellys, thanks for your lovely comment and query. If preparing these a little early, I’d recommend covering them and placing into the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake, instead of leaving them out. Hope very much that you enjoy them when you get a chance to make them! Cheers, Margot
Did a variation on these for Christmas lunch entree. I filled with a mixture of smoked salmon, smooth ricotta, chopped capers, horseradish cream & dill. Lemon sauce was still lovely. I used a weak vegetable stock instead of seafood poaching water & it worked well
Sounds like a delicious combination of flavours! Pleased it worked well for you.
We are having our annual degustation this weekend – the theme ‘a 1972 dinner party’. I remember making these from one of the AWW cookbooks. My only recollection was baking them with string then remove and retie with fresh chives? Thanks so much for sharing
How lovely! Hope that your dinner party goes beautifully Elizabeth… I’m sure that these bon bons will go down a treat if they’ve made it onto the menu! Interesting about the string… I think the original recipe in the AWW Dinner Party Cookbook II just recommended softening the chives in the water used for cooking the seafood and then tying with those. Perhaps there was an edited version in the years to follow…??? Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! 🙂
I came across this recipe in a Women’s Weekly magazine whilst waiting for a Dental appointment back in the 70s.
Rather than tear it out, I was able to get the Receptionist to copy it for me.
I have made it several times since and never fail to impress my Family and Guests.
In fact I plan to cook some for our next dinner party.
Another classic from Women’s Weekly
Lovely to read your comment John and excited to know that this dish has brought much pleasure to your family and friends over the years. It’s both delicious and elegant and you’re spot on in saying that it never fails to impress. It’s about time I made it again too! Cheers, Margot
This look a delight. Can I ask if you ever added poached salmon to the filling? Any thoughts on doing so?
Maria
My apologies Maria… I’ve just noticed your comment here, which I thought I’d responded to, but obviously not. 😦 You could most definitely add some salmon into the filling – I’m sure it would work beautifully! Great thinking! 🙂
omg I googled Seafood Bon Bons and this came up! Im in heaven!
Starter, Christmas at Noosa 2017
tks so much Marilyn
What a lovely comment… thanks Marilyn! These are a favourite of ours for special occasions, so hopefully you’ll enjoy them too. Cheers, Margot
This is one incredible dish, Margot, and says much of your talent in the kitchen. Your bonbons would make such a great primo piatto that I’d forego my usual pasta dish to make room for them. Now that’s something! 🙂
Oh that is such a tremendous compliment, coming from you John – thank you!
I actually came across to visit your blog last night to bookmark your ‘Mom’s Pasta Dough’ recipe and instructions, so that I can give it a go this weekend! Feeling nervous, yet excited to be trying out your family recipe! 🙂 I know that these things take practice, so I’ll try not to be too demoralised if it’s not successful the first time around… I’ll let you know how it goes.
I can’t wait to read of your success, Margot. I still have problems with my dough sometimes. It’s bound to happen — but they occur less and less with experience and you’ll forget all about them after your first dish of your own freshly made pasta. Guaranteed!
Guess what John? It worked beautifully! So happy and relieved to finally feel that I can do it – the family sat down to a beautiful big bowl of silken fresh pasta noodles last night! Yippee!!! I’m tempted to write a little post about it in the next couple of days, as it really is a wonderful feeling when it works for the first time. The pasta was truly delicious – if I can just keep it that way each time, I’ll be a happy girl… with a happy family! Thanks so much for providing the recipe and all the tips. Cheers, Margot 🙂
damn delicious and creative dish!!!
we used to know bonbon as a candy here in Indonesia…
Thanks so much Dedy! I’ve heard of the term bonbon for candy before as well. In Australia we also call ‘Christmas Crackers’ by the name of ‘Bonbons’ as well, which is most likely how these filo parcels came to find their name, due to the shape that they’re made into… 🙂
Beautiful presentation, makes my mouth water.
You’re very kind Iain… thank you! Enjoy the weekend!
First of all, thank you, Margot, for the sharing such great recipe! I saved it already, it is wonderful dish for parties or weekend lunch! Those ‘candies’ look so elegant and delicious!
Oh, I’m so pleased that you like the Bonbons! They certainly are delicious and well worth the effort of making. Hope you give them a go sometime soon! Have a great weekend! 🙂
I cannot imagine how good these “bonbons” must be eaten with the lemon sauce… you made me dream (and mouth-watering, of course!). Beautiful as usual! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so very much Margherita! The beautiful food and recipes you post on ‘La Petite Casserole’ make my mouth water too! 🙂 I feel really privileged to be part of this wonderful blogging network with so many talented cooks, photographers and writers!
Wow, these really are like little gifts! Delicious gifts! Love your distinct touch and beautiful style Margot!
Edible gifts are always rather popular around here Azita! 🙂 Thanks for your very sweet comment my friend.
What a lovely dish and oh what wonderful memories!
Thank you Tanya! I can imagine you’ve created a great many wonderful food memories yourself! 🙂
I think most of my best memories have food involved somewhere 😉
Absolutely delicious and so elegant, Margot 🙂
Thank you dear Linda – very kind of you!
Do love the idea of that sauce. And I’ve recently started to eat meat. Okay, very occasionally. This would be delightful. And thoroughly enjoyed reading your narrative. As I was washing (very carefully) little coupe dessert bowls from the 50’s that I bought earlier – for the alarming price of 50p for 4 – I couldn’t help but wonder how they might’ve been used, then. And how elegant cocktail frocks were. Have we really lost that ‘art’ of dining. Or is it just celebs these days that bother?!
I think it’s all linked to the fact that we’re losing the ‘art’ of cooking Johnny… well, not ALL of us, but most of us… and I imagine many of those celebs that still host a dinner party just pay out a bundle of $$$ to have them catered for and then only have to think about what to wear on the night! We could be optimistic and hope it all comes full circle one day… or even better, pull out those frocks and dinner jackets and start hosting them ourselves… perhaps a new blog to feature said dinner parties in the making? 😉
Hope to see your little coupe bowls in a photo sometime soon. What a great deal!
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Margot, These are absolutely gorgeous… filo-bonbons, with seafood in it and lemon cream sauce to dip in. Brilliant! And, I could see how it can be a part of fondest memories.
Very kind of you, thanks Fae! I love it when food is attached to wonderful memories from years gone by… makes it twice as delicious! 🙂
Oh. My. Goodness. I am making this (hopefully) this weekend!
Hey, that’s fabulous! I’d love to hear back from you with your thoughts if you do get a chance to make them sometime soon. Cheers, Margot
These look so delicious and I love your little diagram! The lemon cream sounds good enough to drink on its own 😉
Thanks Trix, so pleased that you like them! The bonbons and the sauce complement each other so well… they wouldn’t be nearly so good without that sauce! 🙂
Oh dear Margot….I recall the evening you cooked them for us with such fondness. It was in n your home in Canberra, when your eldest was just a baby…many moons ago…and yes that evening Sticks in my mind….such a delicious meal and treasured memories….and now I get to try it myself! Many thanks for sharing your exquisite recipes my friend! Xx
Claire, my dear friend, you particularly come to mind when talking of those friendships that seem to get stronger year by year, despite the distance! We love you guys so very much! So pleased that you remember Seafood Bonbons from many moons ago… we must get together sometime before too long to spend an afternoon/evening cooking together! Or there’s always a week-long cooking class we could head off and do in Provence or Tuscany?! 😉 M.xx
Ooooooooh yes please! Xxx
how elegant! simple and delicious
Thank you so very much!
Oh Margot, this recipe always makes me think of you! I have such lovely memories of making it together many years ago. xx
It’s well and truly time we got together again to make up some Seafood Bonbons Steph! 🙂 Looking forward to our cuppa and catch up later on this week. M.xx
Ha. I remember those dinner parties and us kids being barred from the “adult food”. That truly makes you want it more, eh. I like that I am now old enough to eat that sort of stuff whenever I damn well please 🙂
Those things look hot… and I can imagine they would be damn tasty!
Nice work 🙂
Haha… exactly! Or on the odd occasion you might even be lucky enough to be given a broken brandy snap that didn’t quite make the cut for presentation! 😉 My children don’t realise what sort of luxury they live in! 🙂
Thanks for your kind comment!
🙂
The dish looks so elegant and sounds so very delicious!:)
Thank you! It’s always been one of those special occasion dishes in the past, but hopefully now it’s written up on the blog I’ll make it a little more frequently! It really is a fabulous way of serving seafood…
Margot, I absolutely love these, they are beautiful, elegant, delicious. I love the cream sauce this is just such a wonderful recipe.
So kind of you Suzanne, thank you! It’s a dish that I really should make more often… like most dishes that involve filo pastry, it takes a little while to layer, roll or wrap… but it’s SO worth the extra effort in the end! 🙂