Good Fish_ Sustainable Seafood Recipes From the Pacific Coast - Becky Selengut [22]
PAIRING: A white Burgundy, such as Manuel Olivier Chardonnay 2008, or a white Bordeaux.
hangtown fry
8 strips thick-cut bacon
½ pint preshucked fresh
oysters, preferably “small,” or
1 dozen medium-size oysters
in the shell, shucked8
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 eggs
1½ cups roughly chopped
arugula
½ teaspoon Tabasco
¼ cup half-and-half
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ cup panko or bread crumbs
1 tablespoon high-heat
vegetable oil
4 slices good crusty bread,
toasted
4 lemon wedges, for garnish
Hangtown fry was invented during the 1850s Gold Rush in Placerville, California, then known as Hangtown. Legend has it that a rich gold prospector coined the name when he demanded the most expensive dish at a local hotel. In those days, the costliest ingredients were bacon (from the East Coast), eggs (likely cormorant eggs delicately brought in from off the coast of San Francisco) and oysters (brought on ice or in saltwater barrels from the city). I’ve nicknamed this historically famous dish “Hangover Fry” because, well, it does the job—let’s just leave it at that.
SERVES 4
Lay the bacon on an aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet. Place in the cold oven, then turn the oven on to 400ºF and set the timer for 20 minutes. Soak the oysters in the buttermilk for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
In the meantime, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Whisk the eggs with the arugula, Tabasco, and half-and-half. Season with salt and pepper and then pour the mixture into the pan. Grab a wooden spoon and start stirring. You will be tempted to turn the heat up, but don’t. If you keep stirring the eggs at a medium-low temperature they will produce the creamiest, most delicious eggs you’ve ever had. It should take 8 to 10 minutes to set into small curds, but they will still have lots of moisture. Look for creamy, barely set eggs. When the eggs are done, place them at the back of the stove to keep warm.
When the bacon has finished cooking, remove it from the oven and set aside to drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Drain the oysters and discard the buttermilk. Place the panko on a plate and dredge the oysters, coating them well on both sides.
In a fresh sauté pan over high heat, add the vegetable oil. Pan-fry the oysters until they brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Then flip them and cook just 30 seconds more on the other side.
Serve each person a piece of toast and top with eggs, 2 slices of bacon, and a fried oyster or two. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
PAIRING: A white Burgundy, such as Chateau Laboure Roi 2007, or an Oregon chardonnay. A mimosa or Bloody Mary would be quite tasty with this too—hair of the dog and all that.
jet’s oyster succotash
3 strips bacon, cut into small
dice (about ⅓cup)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup minced shallots
1 small carrot, cut into small
dice (about ½ cup)
1 teaspoon minced fresh lemon
thyme, or 1 teaspoon regular
thyme plus ¼ teaspoon lemon
zest
1 cup shelled edamame9
1 cup corn, thawed if using
frozen
½ pint preshucked fresh oysters
or 6 large oysters in the shell,
shucked,10 coarsely chopped
and ¼ cup liquid reserved
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Tabasco
2 tablespoons minced fresh
Italian parsley
After a day spent scouring the beaches of southern Puget Sound for clams and oysters, my friends gathered together in my kitchen and a cooking frenzy ensued. My buddy Jet grabbed some corn and some herbs, and before long a version of this recipe was on the table: buttery, sweet, herbal, and smoky-salty. Oyster succotash goes from side dish to meal when you serve it with greens and some bruschetta. In the winter (since frozen edamame and corn are always available), it would be great alongside roasted chicken. In the summer, serve it with grilled flank steak