I have previously posted about ways to serve oysters, but given how good these salty little ocean treasures are, I am revisiting this topic with two new ways of serving oysters that I learned from Jo Seagar's great book, You Shouldn't Have Gone to So Much Trouble Darling. (Jo is a New Zealand food personality whose work I recently discovered.)
The first way to serve oysters suggested by Jo is serving oysters hot with lemon pepper crumbs:
To do this for my 4 oysters, I "blitzed" 2 slices of stale bread in the food processor to create breadcrumbs. I then mixed those breadcrumbs with a dessertspoon of melted butter, a teaspoon of lemon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, and baked the mixture on a foil lined tray at 180 degrees for 15 minutes. Take 4 oysters, squeeze a twist of lemon on each, sprinkle each liberally with the baked bread crumb mixture, then bake in the oven for about 5 minutes. Serve!
The second way with oysters suggested by Jo is to serve them cold with an oriental dressing. To make the dressing for 4 oysters, combine one quarter of a cup of rice wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and a minced clove of garlic (or in Jo's case, some chopped spring onion) in a bowl, then spoon over the oysters, and presto:
In the top photograph, the bottom row of oysters is once again au naturel with a twist of lemon, which is still my favourite way of serving oysters. However, I enjoyed both of Jo's suggestions, even though I found that the lemon pepper breadcrumbs tended to overshadow the taste of the oysters themselves. This is a matter of personal preference only, and all methods tasted delightful. I hope that this provides you with some inspiration for the next time that you take some oysters home from the market.
Before I go, I want to send a big thank you to Joy of Joy of Desserts, who has nominated me for an Excellence Award. Thanks Joy! Check out Joy's recent post about banana jam waffles - it will set your mouth watering.
13 comments:
They look lovely! I have not yet been brave enough to serve this....okay, I have never tried them, but I would try one of yours. They look great!
My husband and I are oyster fanatics! We love them anyway, anytime! Thanks for showing me two new ways to enjoy them.
Have you ever tried them with a splash of vodka, topped with sour cream and caviar? Heaven!
I can never get enough of oysters! I can't wait for our next trip to whistable.
Oysters are so good, nice to learn more ways to make them.
Hi Saralynn, once you get over the initial look and mouthfeel of oysters, they are great - I have never looked back.
Susan, that sounds delicious! Next time I buy oysters, I will have to try this.
Hi Pixie, hope you get some oysters soon.
Hi Ivy, glad ypu found this useful.
The hot lemon pepper crumbs look fantastic on these oysters! These crumbs would probably be great as a topping for salad too!
Oh my, don't those oysters look good!!
Rosie x
I love oysters. Unfortunately my wife hates them which leaves me with little room to enjoy! :(
Lemon pepper crumbs? Hmm. That sounds like it might work better for scallops.
Thanks for showing some ways to prepare oysters. I don't think I've ever made them. Maybe once, a few years ago.
These look beautiful. I love eating from sea shells.
Oysters are so good, and all of those treatments sound tasty. Let me show my ignorance and ask if oysters grow in Australia and, if so, are they farmed or native? Congrats on the Excellence award - it's well-earned.
Hi Dian & Todd, the crumbs were really good - spicy but not too hot. The salad idea is a good one.
Thanks Rosie - some coming your way ;) (PS Happy to do the meme.)
Hi Scott, that's a shame! Maybe one day you can convince her by preparing them a different way to the usual.
Hi Adele, the lemon pepper would also be great on scallops. Yum!
Thanks Emiline. Scallops are just gorgeous to present as well for their lovely shells.
Hi Laurie, Oysters are produced in Australia, and occur naturally as well as being commercially farmed. The most famous varieties are Sydney rock oysters and Tasmanian rock oysters (mine were Tasmanian rock oysters). Thanks ;)
Your oysters look fabulous! I'm with you, though... au naturale is hard to improve on. :-)
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