Friday, May 9, 2014

Rosie Makes Smoked Oysters On Saltines With Crème Frâiche.

 

The Hawthornes are eating their last oysters of the season.
Sniff.  Sniff.

I recently ran across a recipe for
and I knew I had to try it.

Let's start on the crème frâiche.
First, what is it?
Crème frâiche is a version of sour cream.
It is cream that is naturally soured.
It has a slightly tart flavor
and it can be used both cold and hot.
Because of its high fat content,
there's less chance for curdling when cooked.

Crème Frâiche
1 cup heavy cream
1 TB buttermilk
1 TB lime juice
Stir lime juice and buttermilk into cream,
cover loosely with a paper towel or plastic,
and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours
or until thickened.
Once the crème frâiche has thickened sufficiently,
cover and refrigerate it.

Just mixed crème frâiche.

Crème frâiche the next day.
Nicely thickened.

Now I'm ready to smoke my oysters
and make a topping.
 
Ingredients
12 saltine crackers
1 TB unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
 1/2 cup crème frâiche
2 tsp toasted whole coriander seeds
1/4 tsp lemon zest
2 TB applewood chips
1 dozen oysters
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 TB finely chopped celery heart with leaves
2 tsp minced shallot
1 tsp finely chopped chives
hot sauce

Heat oven to 400°.
Place saltines on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush liberally with melted butter
and bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle
with Old Bay.

In a small bowl, combine the crème frâiche,
coriander, and lemon zest.

In a medium bowl,
combine chives, shallots, lemon juice,
olive oil, and celery heart.

Using a stovetop smoker, place wood chips in base.
Transfer oysters to rack.
Smoke about 10 minutes

Serve oysters in the shell,
with crème frâiche, shallot mixture, and saltine.


Liberally brush the saltines with melted, unsalted butter.

Bake until lightly browned and immediately spinkle with Old Bay.



Chives, shallots, celery heart, and lemon.


Combine chives, shallots, celery heart, lemon juice, and olive oil.


Then ...
I noticed the bowl of apples on the counter.

So I diced a big tablespoon of apple and ...
... added it to the shallot mixture.


Combine crème frâiche, toasted coriander seeds, zested lemon.


Toppings are ready.
Then...
 I decided to add some cilantro leaves to the crème frâiche mixture.




 Smoke the oysters.
The recipe called for alderwood chips.
I had applewood so I substituted that.


Serve the oysters with the crème frâiche,
shallot mixture, saltines, and hot sauce.
Oysters?
I'm going to miss you!

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