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    Wednesday, April 08, 2009

    Dale's Coming Of Age - Oyster Delights



    It's been a busy two weeks. Planning, then getting over, the event of this year so far.
    Dale's entry into the New Elite. "The Old Aged Pensioners Club."

    To celebrate, Katie put together this wonderful little video presentation, accompanied by an excellent soundtrack by Craig.

    One thing we were not short of... was material.
    There are so many very silly photos of Dale.
    Hope you enjoy it.

    But one can't have a food blog without any food.
    Here are two excellent ways to cook with oysters.

    It is the Bluff Oyster Season. Truly a delight.
    Normally we would eat them, just with maybe, a drizzle of balsamic and some freshly ground black pepper.
    Or squeeze of lemon and some freshly ground black pepper....maybe a drop of Tabasco.
    All sitting on some thinly sliced Vogels Bread.
    I had two dozen in the fridge...
    BUT we got so busy, we forgot to eat them, while very fresh.
    They were within the use by date, but I had to cook them.
    Raw slightly older oysters are not really right.
    I did two wonderful applications
    So for the first dozen
    We were lucky enough to have some very fresh, just caught snapper, from our Fisher Friend George.














    I sauteed a finely chopped shallot, in butter till soft
    Added a small glass of wine and about 50 mls of oyster juice
    Reduced it all down
    Added 100 mls cream
    Bring to the boil and reduce again
    Taste and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    Add the oysters and set aside.

    Meanwhile I cooked some mashed potatoes
    Pureed them up beautifully with butter and milk
    Put to one side and keep warm
















    Heat the broiler to 250C
    Put your baking sheet in the oven to heat through
    Bring it out
    Lightly oil it
    Place fish filets on top quickly season them
    Cover with Oysters and their sauce.

    Pop under the broiler about 8 minutes
    Serve on top of the mashed potatoes
















    Top with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

    It's Easter.
    We were supposed to go away on the boat today, but now we are waiting till the morning.
    This delightful little hail storm came through this afternoon.
    Apparently all will be well and we are expecting fab weather over the long weekend.















    So, Application Two for the Oysters

    An Oyster Soup
    Finely chop
    1 med carrot
    1 small onion
    1 stick celery
    1/2 chili
    Gently saute the above in a big knob of butter about 5 minutes
    Cover with some water and the juice from the oysters
    Simmer till the vege are soft and tender about 10 minutes
    Add 100 mls white wine
    Cook another 2-3 minutes













    Add 600 mls (1 pint) milk
    (If you have any cream in the fridge add about 50 mls
    This is optional but is very tasty)
    Bring just to the boil
    Season with 2 teaspoons chicken stock powder
    This gives it quite an edge

    Add
    2 tablespoons grated tasty cheese
    2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
    And the oysters
    Let sit about 5 minutes for the flavours to meld














    Just before serving add a little squeeze lemon juice and a grind of freshly ground black pepper.
    Superb!











    4 comments:

    FH said...

    Congratulations to him! :)

    Sauce looks so delicious. Happy Easter to all of you. Enjoy.

    Lisa Johnson said...

    Oh Gilli! That video was done so beautifully. Thank you for sharing it with us. It's wonderful. Well done Katie and Happy Birthday Dale! : )

    Barbara said...

    Great montage Gilli.

    So So Simple said...

    Thanks ladies it was a great night and good reminders of a fun life.