James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [149]
OYSTER SAUTÉ
Oysters may be dipped in flour and sautéed in butter very quickly. You may season them with chopped herbs or a little white wine, or simply with salt and freshly ground black pepper. They are particularly good with tarragon and a little white wine, or with equal amounts of chives and parsley and a little white wine. They will cook in 3 or 4 minutes — be careful not to overcook them.
VARIATIONS
1. Sauté oysters in butter and serve on fried toast with a sauce made as follows: To the juices in the pan add 4 tablespoons butter, 1 clove garlic finely minced, and 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley. Pour this over the oysters on the toast. Six or 7 oysters fixed in this manner will make a good serving for a first course at dinner or a main course at luncheon.
2. Sauté 24 oysters and arrange them on thin slices of frizzled ham. Garnish with sautéed mushroom caps and chopped parsley.
3. Sauté a chicken in butter with a little parsley and some white wine. Sauté 24 oysters in butter and combine with the chicken. This is an excellent combination of flavors.
4. Combine sautéed oysters with broiled fillets of any white-meated fish, such as sole. Grill the fillets or sauté them in butter and smother them with the oysters. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley.
FRENCH-FRIED OYSTERS
Fat for frying (or oil)
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Bread or cracker crumbs or corn meal
1 quart oysters
Flour
Heat fat to 380°. Beat the eggs with the cream; add the seasonings. Roll the crumbs very fine. Dip the oysters in flour, then in the egg mixture, and then in the crumbs. Fry for about 2 minutes or until delicately browned. Drain on absorbent paper. Salt and pepper.
VARIATION
Add 1 tablespoon curry powder to the egg mixture or to the crumbs.
HANGTOWN FRY
This mixture of eggs and oysters is made in several ways. Here are three popular methods.
1. Beat eggs with cream and seasonings, using 2 eggs for 4 large oysters. Sauté oysters in a skillet and pour the egg mixture over them. Continue cooking until the eggs are set. Turn out on a platter.
2. This is an Italian version, similar to a frittata. Fry the oysters until just delicately browned. Mix 2 eggs and 1 tablespoon cream for each 4 oysters and combine with 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese. Pour over the oysters and place under the broiler until the eggs are set.
3. Fold fried oysters into scrambled eggs just before they are ready to serve.
Scallops
The scallop is a mollusk that is so named because of its beautifully fluted and scalloped shell. There are two types found along most American shores. The tiny bay scallop is tenderer and more delicately flavored, and is so popular that the supply has been greatly depleted. Then there is the larger deep sea scallop, which is more generally available.
In Europe, where they are called by the French term Coquilles St. Jacques, scallops are eaten whole. In this country, only the muscle that controls the shell movement is used — no one seems to know why — and the rest of the meat is used for bait or fertilizer. One pound will supply 3 average or 2 large servings.
SCALLOPS AS AN APPETIZER
Raw scallops are delicious, although few people eat them this way — possibly the idea has never been suggested to them. Serve with a sauce rémoulade (page 35), a sauce gribiche (pages 36–37), or perhaps a sauce Béarnaise (page 26). The bay scallops, tiny and tender, served like oysters with lemon, salt, and pepper, have delightful and unusual flavor.
BROILED SCALLOPS
Place the scallops on a flat tin — a baking sheet or pie tin. Dot them with butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place under the broiler, about 3 inches from the flame. They will take from 5 to 6 minutes to broil and become delicately