One of the dishes that we served at our restaurant in San Francisco was a southwestern fried oyster concoction that is quite possibly one of my favorite creations of all time.
More succinctly, one of my favorite creations that I came up with, there are a great many that I love dearly that other folks have created as well! That list is enormous. I should compile it one day.
Southwestern Oysters with Chipotle Cream was a thing of beauty. Sometimes when we make a dish and eat it, my wife and I will say to each other, "why don't we make that more often?". This is one of those. I think that I make this one about twice a year at this point. When we had the restaurant, it was more like 10-15 times a day.
I am a believer that with oysters, size matters. For me they need to be small to medium in size. I have called large oysters "loogies" for a long time. I firmly believe that an oyster needs to be one bite.
One time for our anniversary we stayed at the Fairmont in San Francisco and dined at the restaurant in the hotel where I worked and the kitchen sent out an order of oysters that they had "hand picked" for us. Ugh! It was the only time I have used a knife and fork on a raw oyster! These boys must have been 4-5 inches long.
Also, they need to be as fresh as possible. I would rather shuck a beautiful oyster and make this dish than get a jar or other container of usually enormous oysters and try to make due.
I am also of the mind that nearly any oyster that comes pre-shucked is something to be avoided.
So let's get started.
The SW oysters were served in a small square cast iron pan that was heated in the oven prior to the ingredients being loaded into it. One of my ovens in the restaurant was dubbed the "volcano" as there was no temperature control. It just blasted heat! Must have been at 500F+ all the time.
Here is a list of your mis-en-place:
Cast iron pan (or a small shallow bowl)
Three small oysters
Double Cream (recipe below)
Blanched spinach
Pearl onions
Chanterelles
Chipotle powder
Kosher salt
All purpose flour (since my family is gluten free, we use rice flour)
To make the double cream, pour some cream into a sauce pan and reduce on the stove by about half. It does not make much sense to start with less than a pint as you will need about three ounces for each order. We usually started with a gallon.
Bring the cream just to the point of boiling and reduce to a simmer. Use a pot that is much larger than your volume of cream as it will overflow if it is given the slightest chance. Today my pan boiled over twice! Reduce the total volume to about one half and set aside.
The double cream can be done well in advance. It will last many days in refrigeration. If you make it in advance, let it come to room temp when you are ready to make this as it is very thick when cold.
Peel your pearl onions and blanch them. You'll need about four per plate.
Blanch your spinach in salted water, let cool and squeeze as much moisture out of it as you can.
Prepare the dredge for your oysters. About a cup of flour, 2 table spoons of chipotle powder and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. I went a little overboard with the chipotle powder today. Your dredge mix will undoubtedly look a little lighter in color than this.
Shuck the oysters, 3 per plate.
To make the dish you'll need a sauce pan with oil in it for frying. I use a 3 qt pan with about two cups of oil. Turn on the heat and start to bring it to temp. 375F is pretty much standard for frying.
While the oil is heating, put spinach, pearl onions and some double cream into a sauté pan - heat on medium. Use about 3 oz of the cream for each order. Season with chipotle powder and kosher salt, about a pinch of each. When it begins to almost boil, the oil should be just about right.
If you don't have a thermometer for the oil a wooden spoon will do the trick. When you insert the handle of the spoon into the oil, if the temperature is right, it will bubble like fine champagne. Tiny bubbles that is...
Once the proper oil temperature has been reached, dredge the oysters in the flour and place them in the oil to fry.
They will take about 1.5 minutes to cook completely. Remember to make sure that you roll them over so that they cook evenly.
While the oysters are frying, pull your little cast iron pan from the oven and place it on a plate with a folded cotton napkin beneath the pan.
Pour the cream mixture into the pan and arrange it so that it is attractive and then place the oysters in the cast iron pan. If you don't have little pans for this, a small shallow bowl will work for the presentation. I have found that plates don't work as well for me as they often will not hold enough of the cream for my taste.
I also serve this dish with fork and spoon as I find that most of my guests will eat the sauce like soup after the oysters and other goodies are gone.
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