Beef with Oyster Sauce

Start me! JAMBALAYA-FATS-DOMINO

    We frequently cook with our Widow’s Hole Oysters.  While steak and oysters are a well-known combination, we take it a step further and make a oyster liqueur reduction when we stir-fry steak.  Our ‘secret ingredient’, we’ve found,  makes our meals delectable, and most guests can’t guess what the secret flavor is.  They just say ‘Delicious!’  In this dish, our oysters crown the steak.

  Here’s our steak reduced with the liqueor of the Widow’s Hole Oysters:

  • Shuck 2- 3 oysters per oyster-eating person.  Strain liquid and set aside.
  • Prepare your favorite vegetable beef-stir recipe and to the beef when pinker than you like, add:
  •  the liqeuor from the oysters.
  • Plate the beef and vegetables, make a well in the center and gently dump in the   shucked oysters.

Our beef stir – fry summertime version:  Marinate thinly sliced  beef ( skirt, flank, ribeye, or any steak).  The marinade:  soysauce, a splash of sesame oil and generous pinches of white pepper.  To pan/wok swirl in hot oil then add a nob of ginger, thinly sliced, and a half of a Chinese pickled turnip, diced finely.  Stir, then when very hot, make a well in the center of the wok/pan and into the very hot oil, dump in beef.  Resist stirring the mound of meat, instead,  let it sizzle like a large pancake.  Peak under & when browned and  the meat on top is still rawish,  add garlic,  THEN break up, boldly fragment the meat.  Add oyster liqueor & wine.  Stir through, then remove meat.  Reheat wok/pan, add oil, then stir-fry vegetables. (  A tasty  summertime veggie blend is  tomatoes, hardbeancurd , onions & basil. )   Add previously cooked meat mixture to vegetables.  Make sure there is plenty of gravy.  Heat through, then plate.  Make a well in the meat for the warmed oysters, with care, accent the oysters minutely with lime zest.

Hurriedly bring the plate to the table – most people gasp at the sight! …and moan with delight .

Oysters Rockefeller

Screen shot 2014-04-14 at 2.32.08 PMWhen chefs visit our farm, we welcome them with trays of Widow’s Hole Oysters Rockefeller and flutes of champagne. This recipe finds favor with those sad people who claim not to like oysters.

Recipe :
Steam spinach, if spinach is unavailable use any fresh leafy green.  In a pinch use frozen.

Puree spinach and lettuce

Make white sauce (butter, flour). If crowd appears difficult to please, use some bacon grease.

Add to the pan of white sauce the pureed spinach & lettuce mixture.

Add to the white sauce liquor from your shucked oysters. A fresh oyster should be full of liquid. If not, be wary.

IMPORTANT: Taste. Add a dash of worcestshire and 2 splashes of Pastis, and a few gratings of nutmeg.
Taste again. If not zingy, with caution add a few sprinkles cumin or dribbles of lemon juice.

  • Assemble oysters on a oven baking tray
  • Cover shucked in the half-shell WIDOW’S HOLE OYSTERS  generously with spinach sauce, sealingl in the oyster
  • Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
  • There is a debate amongst oyster farmers if the grated Romano goes above or below the breadcrumbs.

Add lemon zest, if desired.

Broil for 9 minutes or until the gills of of the oysters curl and top is a crispy golden brown.

(Optional – hot sauce, paprika)

Oysters & Grilled Sausage

pair with  Bordeaux Wine
Screen shot 2014-04-14 at 11.07.19 AM In Archachon, France, local oysters are served with a grilled pork sausage accompanied by their regional Bordeaux and a crusty loaf of bread.

Chefs have sat in our farm kitchen for hours eating this classic combination.

Unsurprisingly, this combo is on many menus in NYC, and  chefs always awe us with their versions.

Recipe:

Grill thin sausages ( get a variety  if you like)

Shuck oysters, 3 per person. Have on hand 2 extra per person, shucked.

Baguette, sliced, of which the number of pieces should be the same as the number of partakers plus 1 extra. Break the one extra into 3 pieces.

Arrange  sausages & oysters on platters accompanied with

Lemons, hot pepper vinaigrette or your favorite sauce and
and perhaps an extra bottle of wine.

 

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