Rosie Makes Oyster Stew.

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It’s springtime on the Outer Banks.  That means the weather could be sunny with temps in the high 70s or 80s  OR it can be windy and rainy with temps hovering in the 40s.  You just never know down here.  As it turned out, Plan B - the cold scenario - was in effect last week.  And I had a hankering for soup.

 

  We’re working on our last bushel of oysters for this season, so I started out with oyster stew.  But you know how Rosie rolls.  Oyster stew can easily turn into a seafood mélange.  Which it did.

First, I needed a base for the stew so I’m making shrimp stock.

Here’s how:

I always have bags of shrimp in the freezer, so I pulled one out, thawed out the shrimp, and saved the shells.  Coarsely chop up an onion (Don’t bother to peel; skin goes into the pot too.).  And chop some celery stalks and a couple carrots.

Now you’ve got the makings for your stock.

Heat a little oil in your pot over medium heat and add in the shells, stirring and cooking for a few minutes, until the shells turn pink and you’ve got that lovely, shrimpy fragrance wafting about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add in a handful of peppercorns.

 

Add in the onion, carrots, celery.

Stir it around and cook a few minutes.

And pour in about 5 cups water to cover.

Add a little salt.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bare simmer for about 45 minutes.

Discard the shells and the vegetables and you have a lovely, aromatic, flavorful shrimp stock.

 

 

 

 

Now let’s get the fixin’s for the oyster stew.

Gather ye ingredients:

1 pint oysters and their liquor

2 TB butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 large mushrooms, sliced

juice 1 lemon

2 TB flour

1 1/2 cups shrimp stock

1/3 - 1/2 cup cream sherry  (to taste)

3 oz. Brie cheese, cubed (rind removed)

1/4 cup skim milk

3/4 cup cream

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

parsley and celery leaves and/or chives or scallions for garnish

Melt butter over medium heat in medium-sized soup pot.

Stir in onion, celery, and mushrooms and cook about 2 minutes, stirring.

Sprinkle in flour and cook and stir another minute.

Slowly pour in lemon juice, shrimp stock, and sherry.  Stir and let thicken. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and bare-simmer about 15 minutes.

Add in diced Brie; stir to melt.

Stir in oyster liquor, milk, and cream.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat to hot but not boiling. 

Remove from heat.

Drop in oysters.  Give it a stir and let oysters sit for about 1 minute, then serve.

Garnish with chopped parsley, celery leaves, chives, and/or scallions.

Now, for the step-by-steps:

 

Have your vegetables sliced and chopped, ready to go.

Diced Brie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melt butter over medium heat in soup pot.

Add in onions.

Celery.

Mushrooms.

Stir around.

Add flour

and cook a minute,

stirring.

Stir in lemon juice.

Slowly,

stir in shrimp stock.
 

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Add sherry.

Let thicken.

Cook over low

for about 15 minutes.

Add Brie.

Stir until melted.

Pour in oyster liquor.

Milk and cream in.

Let it get hot.

Add in oysters.

Ready to serve.

Alternative serving suggestions:

I like a little greenery to go with my stew, so I chopped up some parsley from the garden along with some celery leaves.  Chopped chives and/or scallions would work here too.

If you like, take the shrimp you peeled and used the shells for in the stock, either sear them or boil them, and use them for another surprise seafood in the stew.

Serve with Saltines, oyster crackers, or croutons for a nice crunch.
 

 

Now, I also had some scallops, so I decided to add a few of them into the my cup o' soup.

To prepare the scallops, pull off that little tough side muscle and pat them dry.  Heat your skillet over medium-high and add butter.  When the butter gets hot and foamy, place the scallops in.  These were large scallops, so maybe 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on the first side and  30-60 seconds on the second side.  Depends on how hot your pan is and how many scallops you have in the pan.

You want the pan plenty hot, so you can sear your scallops, but not so hot that the butter burns.  And whenever you're searing or frying anything, don't crowd the pan.  Crowding drops the temperature and you won't get that nice brown sear you're looking for.  After the scallops are seared, simply drop them into your soup bowls.

Enjoy!

Rosie Makes Oyster Soup..

You know how the Hawthornes love their oysters.

We're just starting on our first bushel,

so be ready for lots of oyster preparations coming your way.

A cold front is moving through,

the wind is gusting,
it's starting to rain,

and we're under a tornado alert.

It's the perfect time to make oyster stew.

I'm writing down the recipe

as I make it up.

Rosie's mind can be a scary place at times.

Be forewarned.

I wrote down lettuce when I meant celery.

In my defense, I do know the difference,

but both words have a "c" in them,

so you can easily see how I could make that mistake.

Let me straighten this up a bit for you.

Oyster Soup

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 potato, diced

1 shallot, minced
 1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms

1 TB unsalted butter

1 TB oil

1 TB unsalted butter

2 TB flour

1 cup seafood stock

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup skim

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 cups freshly shucked oysters with likker

1 TB sherry

Pour boiling water over the shiitake mushrooms,

cover, and let sit for 15-20 minutes.

Heat the butter and oil over medium heat.

When the butter is foamy,

reduce heat a bit and add in 

prepared carrot, celery, potato, and shallot.

Sauté about 5 minutes,

then add in a TB of butter and 2 TB flour.

Cook the flour about a minute or two.

Add in the stock, slowly,

stirring to scrape up the goody bits from the bottom of the pan.

Keep stirring until thickened.

Add in cream and milk.

Heat through.

Taste test and season with salt and pepper.

Drain and chop the mushrooms and add to the pot.

I happened to have a cup of steamed oysters

and 1/2 cup freshly shucked oysters and likker.
I threw in the fresh oysters in first for a minute or so,
then I threw in the steamed oysters.
Taste test.
It needed the soupçon of sherry.
Serve with oyster crackers.

Velvety smooth, oystery goodness.
Oyster in every spoonful
and, if you're lucky,
you'll get the occasional little crab.
These are called crab slough oysters.
They contain tiny crabs which are not babies,
but fully-grown adult "oyster crabs."
These soft shell crabs use the oysters' shells for protection
and they feed by stealing the oysters' food.

Now, for the step-by-steps.

Potato, celery, carrot, shallot.

Dice and mince.

I had dried shiitake mushrooms

and dried black button mushrooms.

I poured boiling water over the mushrooms,

covered, and let it sit while I started on the soup.

I sautéed the potato, carrot, celery, and shallot

in butter and oil.

Add in the flour and cook stirring.

Slowly stir in seafood stock,

scraping up bottom bits,

until thickened.

Milk and cream in.

Keep just under a simmer

until potatoes are fork tender.

Squeeze moisture out of re-hydrated mushrooms and finely chop.

Add to soup.

I had some steamed oysters

from yesterday's afternoon snack.

But you could use all freshly shucked.

Look at all the little crabbies!

Mr. Hawthorne shucked a few extras.

Always save the erster likker.

Look at this little crab.

He's waving at me!

Ersters in.  Heat through.

Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Then swirl in that sherry.

I'm fond of what I call, "pockets of flavor."

I like a little extra ground pepper on mine.

You know what?
You could put some shredded iceberg lettuce on this
and it would really kick it up a notch.

I told you.
Rosie's mind is a scary place.

Toss in some oyster crackers.

Perfect for this weather.

We didn't eat all of this the first day.
Mr. H. just had this the second day.
"I don't know how, but this is even better the next day."