Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [126]
Serves 6
48 oysters, scrubbed and opened
6 dinner-plate circles of bread cut from a round loaf
butter
4 level tablespoons finely grated dry Cheddar cheese
GARLIC BUTTER
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 level tablespoons finely chopped shallot
6–8 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
375 g (12 oz) unsalted butter
salt, freshly ground black pepper
Pour off the liquor from the oysters and keep in the freezer for another dish. Cut 8 holes in each circle of bread with a petit fours cutter and finely crumb the bread you remove. Lightly butter enough baking sheets or heatproof plates to take the circles of bread. Mix the breadcrumbs with the Cheddar.
Make the garlic butter, see p. 244. Spread the butter over the oysters and settle 8 oysters on each bread circle. Scatter the tops with the breadcrumb and cheese mixture and put under the grill or in a very hot oven until they are browned and bubbling.
In ordinary household circumstances, use both oven and grill, swopping the trays round so that everything is ready at the same time. The cooking time should be brief, as overdone oysters can be tough – 10 minutes maximum.
NOTE The method is the same for mussels and clams, except that they are opened in a different way, in a saucepan over a good heat (see pp. 239 and 78).
OMELETTE AUX HUÎTRES (OR MOULES)
Allow 6 oysters or 8 large mussels per person. Open the shellfish in the usual way and drain. Stew a tablespoon of chopped shallot per person in some butter until soft and golden, add a little chopped garlic and rather more chopped parsley. Then put in the shellfish to heat through briefly but be very careful not to overcook them.
Make the omelette (s) in the usual way, with eggs, butter and seasoning, and put the filling in the centre before flipping it over. Serve immediately.
Omelette Normande
Use fewer oysters or mussels and add some peeled shrimps or prawns together with about 250 g (8 oz) mushrooms – for 4–6 servings. Make 450 ml (15 fl oz) sauce Normande* and use half this to bind together the shellfish; heat through gently, taking care not to overcook the shellfish.
Make the omelette(s) in the usual way, and put the filling in the centre. Pour the remaining sauce, which should also be hot, round the omelette and, if possible, decorate with slices of black truffle. Serve immediately.
OYSTERS IN STEAK AND KIDNEY PUDDING
This favourite English dish does not, it seems, go back more than around 150 years. Eliza Acton, in Modern Cookery of 1845, calls a steak pudding John Bull’s pudding which suggests a certain national fame which had spread to other countries. Mrs Beeton’s recipe in Household Management of 1859 is the first to add the essential kidney. The recipe was sent to Mrs Beeton by a reader of Mr Beeton’s magazine for women, The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine; the reader came from Sussex, a county which had been famous for its puddings of all kinds for at least a century so it is fitting that such a well-liked national dish should have had its roots there.
Oysters or mushrooms were the extra flavouring ingredient. In those days, oysters were the cheaper of the two as mushroom cultivation in Europe was a spasmodic and ill-understood business, except around Paris, until the end of the century. The great boom in mushroom production in England didn’t occur until after the Second World War by which time, of course, oysters had far outpriced them. Which would have surprised Mrs Beeton because for her and her readers oysters were still commonplace although becoming scarcer with the increase in the population and the pollution of estuaries.
Make the steak and kidney filling in the usual way, leaving it to cool for several hours or overnight. When you wish to make up the pudding, take a critical look at the liquid part of the filling. If it is on the copious and watery side, it is important