James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [147]
OYSTERS EN BROCHETTE II
Alternate small cubes of beef tenderloin and oysters on a skewer. Brush well with butter and broil until the beef is delicately browned and the oysters cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste and brush with plenty of butter before serving.
OYSTERS EN BROCHETTE III
Alternate oysters, small tomatoes or chunks of tomato, mushrooms, and small cubes of cooked ham. Brush with butter and broil. Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with lemon juice.
CREAMED OYSTERS
1 pint sauce velouté (page 21)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons sherry or Madei$$$
1 pint oysters
Patty shells or croustades
Make a sauce velouté, using some of the oyster liquor, and season well. Add the wine. Add the drained oysters and cook them just long enough to curl the edges. Serve on croustades or in patty shells that have been heated through.
VARIATION
If your baker makes a good puff paste, order a vol au vent, or make it yourself. Fill it with oysters in the sauce velouté and serve it with a salad of beets, hard-cooked eggs, and tender greens. Pass some crisp French bread and a cheese tray. This is an outstanding late evening supper. You can dramatize it by preparing the sauce in the chafing dish and filling the vol au vent at the table.
OYSTER PUREE
1/2 cup rice
1 quart bottled clam juice
4 tablespoons butter
18 oysters
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
11/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup cognac
Cook the rice in the clam juice until very soft. Add the butter. Force through a sieve, or puree in a blender. Finely chop 12 of the oysters, and swirl in a blender with their liquid. Add to the rice mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper; add the Tabasco. Stir in the heavy cream. Heat just to the boiling point. Add the 6 whole oysters and heat just until they curl at the edges. Add the cognac and cook two minutes. Ladle into heated cups, putting a whole oyster in each cup. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with crisp melba toast.
OYSTER OMELET
Prepare omelets in your usual fashion. Fold in oysters in velouté sauce or fried oysters. Serve with shoestring potatoes and a delicate white wine.
OYSTER CHOWDER
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped onion
3/4 cup finely cut celery
3 carrots, finely diced
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Sprig of thyme
1 cup fish broth or white wine
2 cups diced potatoes
1 quart milk
1 pint oysters
1/3 cup chopped parsley
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onion, celery, and carrots. Brown very quickly and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let them cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the oyster liquor, the thyme, and the fish broth or white wine and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes; cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add the milk and let it come just to the boiling point. Add the oysters and let them cook until the edges curl. Pour into bowls or a tureen and sprinkle liberally with chopped parsley.
OYSTER CLUB SANDWICH
This is a combination of fried oysters, bacon, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise on toasted white or rye bread. It’s a very good dish late at night or for luncheon. This is a fine old recipe, almost traditional enough to be considered a classic.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS
This is a favorite old New England dish that has always had a place of honor at all functions — especially at holiday feasts — in that part of the country. It has never been popular with me but I can understand why many people like it.
Butter
1 cup freshly rolled saltine cracker crumbs
1 pint oysters
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Nutmeg
1/4 cup oyster liquor
4 tablespoons cream
1/2 cup buttered bread crumbs
Butter a baking dish and place a layer of cracker crumbs on the bottom. Place a layer of oysters over that and sprinkle with the salt,