To Stew Oysters

Modern cookery for private families · Acton, Eliza · 1845
Source
Modern cookery for private families
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (19)
Main ingredients
Sauce
Garnish
Optional additions (Obs. section)
Instructions (19)
  1. Open the oysters carefully, without mangling them.
  2. Wash the oysters in their own strained liquor to remove grit.
  3. Place the oysters in a clean stewpan or well-tinned saucepan.
  4. Strain the liquor a second time and pour it over the oysters.
  5. Heat the oysters slowly in the liquor.
  6. When they are just beginning to simmer, lift them out with a slice or bored spoon.
  7. Take off the beards.
  8. Add cream, pounded mace, cayenne, and a little salt to the liquor.
  9. Bring the liquor mixture to a boil.
  10. In a separate bowl, smoothly mix butter with flour.
  11. Stir the butter and flour mixture into the boiling liquor until blended.
  12. Return the oysters to the sauce.
  13. Let the oysters remain by the side of the fire until very hot, but do not boil.
  14. Stew for four to five minutes, or until ready for table.
  15. Serve garnished with pale fried sippets.
Optional additions (Obs. section)
  1. Stir a little lemon-juice into the stew just as it is taken from the fire.
  2. Alternatively, add the strained oyster liquor to an equal quantity of rich bechamel, then heat the prepared oysters in it.
  3. Another alternative: stew the oyster beards for half an hour in pale gravy or good broth, strain, mix with oyster liquor, and thicken with French thickening or flour and butter, then season as above.
  4. Add essence of anchovies, cavice, chili vinegar, or yolks of eggs to taste.
Original Text
TO STEW OYSTERS. A pint of small plump oysters will be sufficient for a quite moderate-sized dish, but twice as many will be required for a large one. Let them be very carefully opened, and not mangled in the slightest degree; wash them free from grit in their own strained liquor, lay 87them into a very clean stewpan or well-tinned saucepan, strain the liquor a second time, pour it on them, and heat them slowly in it. When they are just beginning to simmer, lift them out with a slice or a bored wooden spoon, and take off the beards; add to the liquor a quarter of a pint of good cream, a seasoning of pounded mace, and cayenne, and a little salt, and when it boils, stir in from one to two ounces of good butter, smoothly mixed with a large teaspoonful of flour; continue to stir the sauce until these are perfectly blended with it, then put in the oysters, and let them remain by the side of the fire until they are very hot: they require so little cooking that, if kept for four or five minutes nearly simmering, they will be ready for table, and they are quickly hardened by being allowed to boil, or by too much stewing. Serve them garnished with pale fried sippets. Small plump oysters, 1 pint: their own liquor: brought slowly to the point of simmering. Cream, 1/4 pint; seasoning of pounded mace and cayenne; salt as needed; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; flour, 1 large teaspoonful. Obs.—A little lemon-juice should be stirred quickly into the stew just as it is taken from the fire. Another mode of preparing this dish, is to add the strained liquor of the oysters to about an equal quantity of rich bechamel, with a little additional thickening; then to heat them in it, after having prepared and plumped them properly. Or, the beards of the fish may be stewed for half an hour in a little pale gravy, or good broth, and this, when strained and mixed with the oyster-liquor, may be brought to the consistency of cream with the French thickening of Chapter V., or, with flour and butter, then seasoned with spice as above: the process should be quite the same in all of these receipts, though the composition of the sauce is varied. Essence of anchovies, cavice, chili vinegar, or yolks of eggs can be added to the taste. For Curried Oysters see Chapter XVI.
Notes
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