Seafood Newburg

• Recipe by Linda Greenlaw and Martha Greenlaw

Newburg, with its sherry-spiked cream sauce, seems like a throwback to the Eisenhower administration, but this ultrarich dish is the one that everyone begs for at the Inn at Isle au Haut.

Ingredients

1. 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
2. 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3. 2 cups light cream
4. 1/2 cup dry sherry, such as fino or amontillado
5. 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
6. Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
7. 1/2 pound sea scallops, halved horizontally
8. 1/2 pound haddock or hake fillet, skinned and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
9. 1/2 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
10. 1/2 pound cooked lobster meat, cut into bite-size pieces
11. Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook over low heat for 1 minute. Whisk in the cream and sherry and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat. Whisk in the paprika and nutmeg over low heat. Cook, whisking often, until no floury taste remains, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the scallops and haddock and cook over moderate heat, stirring gently, until the haddock starts to turn white, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and lobster and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the cream sauce and simmer over low heat until the seafood is cooked, about 3 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper and serve.