James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [148]
OYSTER STEW I
4 tablespoons or more butter
1/2 pint milk
1 pint cream
11/2 pints oysters and liquor
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper
First of all heat the bowls. When they are hot, put a large piece of butter in each one and keep the bowls hot. Heat the milk, cream, and oyster liquor to the boiling point. Salt and pepper to taste and add a dash of cayenne. Add the oysters and let it come to the boiling point again. Ladle into the hot bowls. You may add a dash of paprika, if you like. I prefer my stew with hot crunchy French bread, although crackers are the traditional accompaniment.
This recipe makes four generous or six medium-sized servings.
OYSTER STEW II
4 tablespoons butter
11/2 pints oysters
1 quart milk or half cream and half milk
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Paprika
Melt the butter, add the drained oysters and cook until the edges curl — about 3 minutes. Add the liquids, season to taste, and bring just to the boiling point. Serve with a dash of paprika. This will serve six people.
ZELMA SETON’S OYSTER STEW
1 cup milk
3 cups cream
3 cups oysters, with their liquor
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Tabasco
4 to 6 tablespoons butter
Heat the milk and cream with the oyster liquor; add salt and pepper to taste and a dash or two of Tabasco. In a separate skillet melt the butter (be sure to have plenty). Take your oysters and toss them into the butter while it is bubbling. Shake the pan vigorously until the oysters just barely curl at the edges and have plumped. Don’t overcook them, please. They should just heat through. When the milk and cream come to the boil, combine the delicately sautéed oysters with the liquid. Taste for seasoning, and serve in warm bowls with crisp buttered toast or a selection of crackers. Tossing the oysters in the butter first makes all the difference. The stew is much more flavorful.
FRIED OYSTERS
Among the most vivid gastronomical memories of my childhood are the visits we made to the home of friends who were in the oyster business. They had huge sacks of oysters sent to their beach home every week and when these arrived we knew we were in for many treats. The greatest treat of all would come after an early morning venture of clamming and crabbing followed by a dip in the surf. Then we would climb the sand dunes to the house with ravenous appetites, to be met by a wonderful aroma — a mixture of melting butter and coffee gently simmering. In the kitchen there would be a magnificent sight — dozens of freshly opened oysters dipped in beaten egg and rolled in crushed cracker crumbs. On the stove would be two huge iron skillets with a half inch of bubbling butter in each one, waiting to brown the delicate morsels as soon as we were seated at the table.
It was the man of the house who always cooked these oysters. He would never trust the women or the cook to do the job properly. Such perfection of cookery I have seldom encountered since, and the smell of those early morning oyster fries has stayed in my memory and enchanted me for years.
Here, so far as I can remember, is Mr. Hamblet’s oyster recipe:
Butter
3 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 quart oysters (not too big)
Freshly rolled cracker crumbs, preferably saltines
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Melt plenty of butter in your skillet — it should be about 1/2 inch deep. (I usually use part oil so the butter will not burn.) Beat the eggs lightly and combine with the cream. Dip the oysters in the egg mixture, then in the crumbs, and arrange on wax paper (far enough apart so they do not touch) and let them stand for a few minutes before