Category: Oysters

Oysters with Caviar

Happy 2023 everyone!  Today I am sharing a “recipe” for a starter that is low on fuss and time but high on elegance!  Oysters with caviar will bring the luxe to a formal dinner party or some glam to your backyard barbecue. We had these as a little snack before heading out to dinner on New Year’s Eve.  I am actually using salmon roe instead of caviar for my oysters.  I may like to eat like a posh person but my budget does not spread to a 1/4 cup of real caviar.  If you would like to use the real stuff though go right ahead!  Oh and please invite me to your party!

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Australia’s Favourite Recipes – The Book

A few months ago, we decided to use charity shop books as a theme for our Tasty Reads Cookbook Club.  Most of our club members met for breakfast and then went looking through the local op shops for some culinary treasures.  The book I chose, Australia’s Favourite Recipes is a monster of a book.  I regretted buying it almost the minute I got it home because it is so big it does not fit into any of my bookshelves and so can only be accommodated lying flat.  It is also very heavy which makes it quite cumbersome which probably explains why I have not cooked from it a lot. For context, it is about shoulder height for Holly who is a small beagle.

Holly v Book

One thing I did make from this book was a lovely Apricot Meringue Dacquoise for the Cook Book Club meeting.

Apricot Meringue Dacquoise

Actually, on reflection that Dacquioise was amazing.  Even if I do say so myself!  I’ll throw in the recipe for that too as it would also be perfect for entertaining!

And speaking of recipes, here is the one for the Oysters with Caviar if you can even call something this simple a recipe!  I guess though when you are using some luxe ingredients like Oysters and Caviar, you want to keep things simple!  The last thing you would want to do is to overshadow them!

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I used the Yarra Valley caviar infused with Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin for these.  The dark colour of the gin-infused salmon roe is so pretty and festive!

The Recipe – Oysters with Caviar

Oysters with Caviar Recipe

I really liked the pop of the salmon roe in this.  Which got me thinking…for Christmas, the Fussiest Eater in the World bought me a Finger Lime tree.  These are Australian native limes but instead of the normal lime flesh when you open them up your get these lovely pearls as in the picture below.

They are very slow growing so it will likely be a few years before my little tree bears fruit. But I already have plans to celebrate my first lime by remaking this recipe using a finger lime instead of a lemon for a double pop!  We have the variety called pink ice which is the middle one in the picture above.  Here is our little tree.  And in another comparison, here is the large book next to the small tree.

Finger Lime Tree

Ok, I promise that will be the last time I compare one thing of a size you don’t know to another thing of a size you don’t know.  🤦 Here’s the recipe for the Dacquoise!

Apricot Meringue Dacquoise

 

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To all of you, thank you so much for reading and commenting!  Have a wonderful, safe and happy new year!

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La Mediatrice

The recipe for La Mediatrice comes from the creole section of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery.  Quite simply, it is a fried oyster roll somewhat akin to an oyster po’boy.

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La Mediatrice is French for the peacemaker and the story behind the name is delightful.  Apparently back in the day in New Orleans, drunken husbands stumbling home in the wee small hours would stop by a bakery on their way home and buy a freshly baked loaf filled with deep-fried oysters to take home to their wives to stop them from being angry about the husband’s shenanigans.

Now, I suspect that this may be apocryphal.  Because personally?  The idea of being woken up at 3am by a drunk brandishing an oyster roll is not something that would inspire me to sweetness. It is far more likely to send me into a vitriolic (but highly creative) rant on all the places he could shove said oyster roll!

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La Mediatrice – Version 1

You will see from the pictures above that I made two versions of La Mediatrice.  The first one, which confusingly is the second photo – the one with the pickles is pretty much the recipe from Good Housekeeping.  I did fancy it up a bit by using some garlic and parsley infused butter instead of plain butter for the roll: And I added some smoked paprika to the flour mix for a bit of extra flavour.

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La Mediatrice recipeThe OG version was tasty but it was a little dry, which is why I decided to give it another go.

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La Mediatrice – Version 2

For my second stab at this, I wanted sauce and more crunch.

To bring the crunch with the oysters instead of plain flour, I used rice flour to dredge the oysters.

I also added some cos/romaine lettuce into the rolls

And I made a Sriracha Honey Mayo for drizzling over the top:

 

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La Mediatrice – Sriracha Honey Mayo

This is a spicy-sweet mayonnaise that perfectly accompanies a La Mediatrice

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha chilli sauce
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together.

Notes

Quantities are a guide only. If you like it hotter use more Sriracha, sweeter use more honey, etc

I loved my sriracha mayo and the lettuce made this feel not completely unhealthy! Unfortunately, I totally forgot to put the pickles into this one but they would have been super!!!!  I would strongly recommend keeping them in the dish!

Question for the week.  If your partner came stumbling home dead drunk in the middle of the night, would an oyster roll calm your annoyance?  If not what would be your preferred peacemaker?

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Oysters Kilpatrick

I made Oysters Kilpatrick recently because I thought they might make a nice Irish-themed edition of  Name Plates  for St Patrick’s Day.  I should have probably done some research before cooking them because, despite their Irish-sounding name, Oysters Kikpatrick are not Irish!  And they may actually not even be called Oysters Kilpatrick!

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So, if they are not Irish, where are they from? These yummy bites of seafood heaven were created by the chef of the Palm Court Restaurant in San Francisco’s Place Hotel, Ernest Arbogast.  He named the dish after Colonel John C. Kirkpatrick, who managed the hotel from 1894 to 1914.  Kirkpatrick was also not Irish coming from American and Scottish stock.

Oh, and yes, you read that correctly.  Oysters Kilpatrick is named after John Kirkpatrick.  How and why the change to Kilpatrick came about seems to be lost in history.  Also, there are plenty of places that call the dish Oysters Kirkpatrick.  Initially, I thought there might be variations due to geography but I found two restaurants in the same city serving them but one was Kirk and one was Kil…

Just to further confuse the issue there are several sites on the interwebs that call this an Australian recipe!!!

Seriously, is this the most confounding recipe ever?  First, they’re not Irish, second, it has two names! What is going on?  Choose a lane, Oysters Kilpatrick!

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Oysters Kilpatrick – The Recipe

If the name is confusing then the ingredients also seem to change at will – oysters, bacon and Worchestershire sauce are the mainstays but to these can be added:

I used Matt Preston’s recipe which contains Soy Sauce which is also not a conventional addition to Oysters Kilpatrick.  However,  seeing as everything else is confusing about this recipe…why the shell not?   It was an absolute pearl of a recipe!

Oysters Kilpatrick recipe

 

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Have a great week my friends!  And if you make these Oysters Kilpatrick, make sure you share them around.  You don’t want anyone to think you are shellfish!

And tell me – what’s your preferred name?  Kilpatrick or Kirkpatrick?

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Oysters with Rhubarb Mignonette

Whilst in England earlier this year I was lucky enough to visit the Oyster Festival at Whitstable.  This is a 3 day celebration of all things oyster, dating back to Norman times.  It was a great day, there was a market and music, a fun fair and as much seafood as you could poke a stick at!  The seaside town of Whitstable is also lovely with some great shops and eateries.  Well worth a visit even if the festival isn’t happening. 

Oysters with Rhubarb MignonetteHow to best to celebrate this day and the humble oyster but with another quintessentially English ingredient… rhubarb! 

Whitstable Then and NowWTF??? Yep, rhubarb.  Sounds weird but bear with me…it really works.  Meantime, here’s some pics from the Oyster Festival.

Whitstable Oyster Festival6Whitstable Oyster Festival12While we were in Whitstable, we had our oysters with a traditional mignonette which is chopped shallots, red wine vinegar and cracked black pepper.  I jazzed mine up with some very finely chopped rhubarb.

Rhubarb MignonetteRaw rhubarb has a sharp, clean, crisp, sour taste  – imagine sour green apples mixed with celery which mixes perfectly with the red wine vinegar and shallots in a traditional mignonette, plus it makes it a glorious pink colour!

Rhubarb Mignonette2Of course, if you want a traditional mignonette, you can use this recipe from Bon Appetit.  But why not take a teeny step into the wild side and try this?  It is really lovely!

Rhubarb Mignonette3Any leftover mignonette can be used as a delicious dressing for any salad greens!

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Oysters with Rhubarb Mignonette

A fresh and tangy take on a traditional mignonette.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 12 freshly shucked oysters
  • 1/2 stick rhubarb, finely chopped
  • 2 French shallots, finely chopped
  • 80ml red wine vinegar
  • Pinch of sugar
  • Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients except oyster in a small bowl.
  2. Leave for at least 15 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.
  3. When ready to serve, spoon rhubarb mignonette over oysters.
  4. Enoy!

Leftover rhubarb can be used in:

The Dishiest Dish – Rhubarb, Rose and Passionfruit Sorbet

Dishiest Dish – Apricot and Rhubarb Frangipane Tarts

Future Classics – Australian Table – August 2001

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Have a wonderful weekend!

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Old Bay Oyster Sliders

Maybe it’s because it’s Halloween week but here I am with another thing, actually two things that scare me.  Batter and deep-frying.  Because I made Sliders. And not just any sliders, Oyster Sliders.  And not just any Oyster Sliders but Old Bay Oyster Sliders!

Old Bay Oyster Sliders1Ooooooohhhhhyeeeeeaaaahhhh!!!

Can I just say that these were as good as they look?

Start off with some mini brioche…..hmmm..now where would you find some of them? And toast them up.

Toasted BriocheWhip up some aioli ( I had this saffron and roasted garlic aioli from something else I had made), but any aioli or even mayo would be fine.  But the saffron makes it look so pretty!

Saffron AioliChoose your vegetables.  I used lettuce, carrot, red cabbage and red onion.

Slider fillingsDon’t forget the pickle!  I used a pickled jalapeno but a dill pickle would also be fine.

Next up a tempura style batter loaded with Old Bay!  Heat some oil, drench your oysters in the batter and drop into the hot oil.  These only need a minute or so to cook.  Drain on crumpled paper:

Old Bay Oysters

Old Bay Oysters2And assemble.

Now, you have to promise not to laugh or judge me too harshly…(oh wow does that make a third thing that frightens me, in this post alone?) but I made my first ever gif.

Ok, deep breath, here ’tis…

SliderEeek….if anyone’s left after that, here’s the recipe!

Old Bay Oyster Sliders2

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Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

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