Winter Oysters - three recipes!

Over the holidays I tried something new and a little different out on my family and they loved it! I have frequently seen recipes for soups that combine both wild rice and mushrooms or mushrooms and oysters, but I never heard of one that made a natural merger of all three. If you can imagine a taste even more alluring than any one of the component parts, then you may have a faint idea of how decadently sublime this creation really is. Give this a try before the cold of winter leaves us. You will love it and the family will ask for seconds!

Wild Rice, Mushroom, and Oyster Bisque

Eddy Browning

Makes 6 servings

¾ cup dried porcini mushrooms; 2 cps boiling water; 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter; 1 large onion, minced; ½ cup minced celery; 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme; pinch of grated nutmeg; ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour; 4 cups fish stock or bottled clam juice, plus any accumulated juices from the shucked oysters;1/2 cup cream sherry; 6 ounces fresh oyster mushrooms, sliced ¼ inch thick; 8 ounces domestic white mushrooms, sliced ¼ inch thick; ¾ cup heavy or whipping cream; salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;1 ½ cups cooked wild rice; 1 pound fresh shucked oysters, cut in half if they are particularly large; chopped fresh parsley or small sprigs thyme for garnish.

1. Place the porcini in a small bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let stand 30 minutes. Remove the porcini from the liquid, reserving the liquid. If the mushrooms are sandy, pour the liquid through a strainer lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth and massage any dirt out of the mushrooms with your hands. Chop the mushrooms fine.

2. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, porcini, thyme, and nutmeg. Saute, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.

3. Gradually stir in the reserved mushroom liquid, the fish stock and oyster juices, and sherry. Simmer uncovered 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. While the soup is simmering, saute the oyster mushrooms. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoon butter in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add the oyster and domestic white mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are cooked through but not browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

5. Puree the soup in a blender along with the cream until very smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the soup into a clean pot and return to the stove over medium heat.

6. Add the sauteed mushrooms, wild rice, and oysters to the soup. Cook 10 minutes to heat through and blend the flavors. Serve at once garnished with a little parsley or thyme.

Entire books have been devoted to cooking oysters, yet, when it comes right down to it, real oyster aficionados swear they enjoy the bivalves most raw, aquiver on the half-shell. The Frenchman Alexandre Dumas wrote back in the nineteenth century in his Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine that “Oysters are usually eaten in the simplest way in the world. One opens them, extracts them, sprinkles a few drops of lemon juice on them and swallows them. The most refined gourmands prepare a kind of sauce with vinegar, pepper, and shallot and dip the oysters in this before swallowing them.” I have always been fond of the sauce Dumas describes, which is more commonly known today as mignonette. I share with you two historic Inner Banks variations on the classic French mignonette which I feel are particularly ideal for cold weather entertaining.

Apple Cider Mignonette

Makes 1 ½ cups sauce

2 shallots, trimmed and finely minced; ½ Granny Smith apple, peeled,cored, and finely diced; ½ cup apple cider; ½ cup cider vinegar; 2 teaspoons coarsely cracked black pepper.

Mix together all the ingredients and let sit for 1 hour to mellow. Spoon over freshly chilled raw oysters on the half-shell.

Cranberry Balsamic Mignonette

Makes 1 ½ cups sauce

½ cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped; 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and finely minced; ½ cup dry red wine; ½ balsamic vinegar; 2 teaspoons coarsely cracked black pepper.

Mix together all the ingredients and let sit for 1 hour to mellow. Spoon over freshly opened chilled raw oysters on the half-shell.

NOTE: For a party a large platter of oysters alternating the apple cider and cranberry mignonette sauces is stunning.

That's it for today. I hope that you will “warm” your family with these tried and true classic Inner Banks recipes.

Until next week. . . . .eat well!!!