Smoked oysters

[manxman]

Someone mentioned smoked oysters on the forum recently.This from the Bradley UK Newsletter, plan on giving it a go! Credit due to Sandra Tate at Bradley UK.

Note temps etc are in "funny money" for those across the pond and will need converting! ;)

Smoked Oyster Carpet Bagger Steak with Rosti & Gremolata Butter

for the simple court bouillon:

100ml white wine
small bunch of parsley & thyme
slice of lemon

6 oysters

a 400g ribeye or sirloin steak (it should be a good 3cm thick)
   
for the gremolata butter:

50g butter
1tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
1tbsp Finely chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed to pulp

for the rosti:
1 medium/large potato


Method

Smoking the oysters: Carefully remove the oysters from their shells and rinse away any trace of sand, or shell, set aside. Place the court bouillon ingredients in a very small pan and add 100ml water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Slide the oysters into the liquor and poach gently for no more than a minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool. Sit them on a piece of foil and brush with light olive oil to prevent drying. Now cold smoke them, with oak bisquettes loaded in the Bradley Smoker stack, for 15 minutes (or up to 30 minutes if you want a more intense flavour). Remove, wrap, and refrigerate until needed.

1 Make the gremolata butter by chopping the lemon zest, garlic pulp and parsley together, then press this and the lemon juiced into the butter with the flat side of a kitchen knife. Roll into a cylinder and set aside.

2 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Scrub the potato and boil for 12 minutes. Drain and allow to cool just enough to handle it, then push the skin off with thumbs and coarsely grate into a bowl. Add salt to taste and 25g of the gremolata butter you have made. Stir to incorporate then arrange the potato mix into 2 rosti shapes on a greased oven tray. Bake for 20-30 minutes to golden brown.

3 While the rosti cook, cut a slit in the side of the steak to make a pocket large enough to take smoked oysters (push these in gently). Brush the surface of the steak with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set a heavy skillet or griddle on the stove and heat it to smoking hot then sear the steak for 3-4 minutes each side (to have it rare to medium rare). Rest the steak for 5-6 minutes before cutting the carpet bagger into two thick halves, each containing smoked oysters.

3 Working quickly now, serve a carpet bagger steak astride rosti on warmed plates. Top each with the remaining smokes oysters and a disc of gremolata butter. Serve immediately with green vegetables and rocket leaves.

[OldHickory]

Too confusing for me, ;D ;D ,but let us know how it turns out.  I like my oysters from New Orleans, raw on the shell with a little tobasco.

[Habanero Smoker]

I received my UK Newsletter but haven't read it yet. Looks interesting. I'm going to put that off to the side and make this when I can find some decent oysters.

[Wildcat]

I get the UK letter all the time. Interesting recipes in many of them.

[rajzer]

Here on Vancouver Island, I can collect all the oysters I can eat and have come up with several ways of preparing them.  I use a very simple process for smoking my oysters.  I have to mention that the oysters I collect for smoking are the really big ones because they really shrink in the smoking process.  I usually take about 50 shucked oysters, wash and rinse them thoroughly, and dump them into a pot containing a bottle of white wine (I make my own), a sprig or two of rosemary from the garden and a clove of garlic.  I then simmer the oysters in this liquid for about two minutes until they change colour and are nice plump and firm.  I then drain them, let them cool and place them on a fine mesh grilling rack.  Next step is to mist them with vegetable oil.  This is supposed to help in drawing in the smoke but I don't know whether this is science or legend.  I then smoke them for aprrox. 2 hours (never the same time).  I like mine on the well done end of the cooking spectrum.  After they leave the smokehouse they cool quickly to room temp and then they are doused in a nice olive oil.  I usually eat a dozen before anyone else gets a taste.  We serve them to our friends on a cracker with cream cheese and garnished with a slice of pickled pepper.  After Oysters Rockefeller that is my favorite way to eat the oysters.

[Salmonsmoker]

Nice rajzer, and welcome to the forum.

[dcrows]

I have tried smoked oysters in a fancy restaurant before, never thought of giving it a try cooking it myself I am interested in this recipe, hopefully i can get some good fresh oysters so that i can try this recipe for dinner. It might cost me a lot less if i do it at home rather than ordering it in a restaurant

[Smoker John]

rajzer, thanks for sharing the recipe, I'm gonna have to try those some time.

[tsquared]

Manx, I want to come to your place for dinner! Sounds great! I haven't done oysters for a while but I usually brush them with a bit of garlic and evoo or something oriental like plum sauce with bit of sesame oil and then hot smoke for 45 minutes or so. I just put the boat in the chuck for the season and set 4 prawn traps and a crab trap. I think I'll smoke some prawns next!
T2

[manxman]

Morning T2,

I did the Steak and Oyster recipe for the first time recently, it was nice but not a meal I would do regularly as it was quite a lot of work for something that was nice but not outstanding. Only really posted it in the first place to give some ideas about oysters for anyone who was interested, I rarely get beyond having them raw washed down with a Guinness as I have mentioned before.  :)

This months Bradley UK recipe is taramousalata which is something I am definately going to try!

My boat is going back on the mooring soon, it is at the boat yard getting the engines serviced at the moment and the guy is checking some rewiring I did over the winter including a new fishfinder ...... big expectations for this year! Got a licence for 5 lobster / crab pots plus have three prawn pots to put out but not met with much success on the prawns yet, looks like you are much more successful than me on that score!  :( ;)

[rajzer]

rajzer, thanks for sharing the recipe, I'm gonna have to try those some time.

But, John we are talking here about bivalve mollusks, not your Alberta prairie oysters!