It's cold. It's oyster season. It's time for oyster stew. Lots of ways to make it. Here's what I did:
2-3 leeks
2 small potatoes or a big one, cut in pieces and microwaved for 3 minutes. Or you might have some leftover baked or boiled potatoes. Good deal for you.
1 pint oysters
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
3 T flour
Milk, about 1 cup
salt, pepper
paprika (GOOD paprika, not old dead stuff that has no flavor. Taste it. Really.)
cayenne pepper
up to 1 cup of chicken stock (or water, or you could use more milk)
whole wheat bread for toasting, or oyster crackers or .... your call
cutting board and knife
1 big saucepan
a fork
a spoon
a stick blender if you have one, but it is optional
First, let me say that I often make this with onions and celery, but I happened to have leeks, which I love anyway. And no celery today. The leeks kind of do double duty.
Second, let me say that oyster stew is really good if you make it with whole milk or even some or all cream. I don't keep either on hand and rarely buy either. I figure skim milk + butter + olive oil = whole milk, at least. And then for thick, creamy texture, I have the potatoes. We'll get to that.
Clean and chop the leeks. (See earlier recipes; ok, short version: cut off the roots and the green leaves and just cut the white parts in half and spread the layers open so you can rinse really well under the faucet.)
Put the oil and butter in the big saucepan over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the leeks. Salt and pepper. Cook them slowly until tender -- the fat should barely be making a sound, so you might have to turn down the heat. This should take at least 5 minutes, maybe more.
When the leeks are soft but not browning, add the flour and stir well with the fork or spoon and keep cooking for a couple of minutes. Yes, this is a roux. If you have turned the heat down, you might need to turn it back up, but really only to medium.
Start adding the milk very slowly -- 1/8 cup at a time -- while stirring. You should see it thickening (because of the roux) before you add the next round. Keep stirring. When all the milk is added, cook until the mixture is thickish and bubbly.
If you don't have a stick blender and don't want to haul out your blender, just mash and bash the potatoes with a fork. Otherwise, you can hit 'em with the stick now, or later.
Add the potatoes to the soup. If you haven't hit 'em with the stick, do it now, but be careful, as you are working with hot soup! Ditto if you want to pour into a blender. Don't pulverize everything, but the mushed potatoes will make the soup thicker and "creamier" tasting.
If you didn't have oysters, you could stop now, season, maybe add some broth, and have a pretty darned good potato-leek soup.
Add the liquid from the oysters, but don't add the oysters yet.
If you think you need more liquid, and you probably will, add up to a cup of chicken broth or stock. Or water. Or more milk. I like my oyster stew pretty thick, but I used nearly a cup of broth.
Add paprika and cayenne pepper and adjust salt and pepper to taste. I use at least a teaspoon of paprika and two shakes of cayenne pepper, but this is your soup.
If you are making toast, this is the time to turn on the toaster if you haven't already. We're just a couple of minutes away from serving.
Make sure the soup is just barely simmering and add the oysters. They only need a couple of minutes to cook, and it depends on how big they are. They are done when the edges are "ruffled." I fished a couple out so I hope you can see in the picture. (OK, and so I could eat them.) You don't need to cook them long, and shouldn't, because they will get tough.
Serve.
Confession: I fished out all the oysters for my serving and have a serving of potato-leek soup, sans oysters, for tomorrow. Didn't want to take a chance that the oysters would get tough and bitter. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
2 small potatoes or a big one, cut in pieces and microwaved for 3 minutes. Or you might have some leftover baked or boiled potatoes. Good deal for you.
1 pint oysters
2 T butter
1 T olive oil
3 T flour
Milk, about 1 cup
salt, pepper
paprika (GOOD paprika, not old dead stuff that has no flavor. Taste it. Really.)
cayenne pepper
up to 1 cup of chicken stock (or water, or you could use more milk)
whole wheat bread for toasting, or oyster crackers or .... your call
cutting board and knife
1 big saucepan
a fork
a spoon
a stick blender if you have one, but it is optional
First, let me say that I often make this with onions and celery, but I happened to have leeks, which I love anyway. And no celery today. The leeks kind of do double duty.
Second, let me say that oyster stew is really good if you make it with whole milk or even some or all cream. I don't keep either on hand and rarely buy either. I figure skim milk + butter + olive oil = whole milk, at least. And then for thick, creamy texture, I have the potatoes. We'll get to that.
Clean and chop the leeks. (See earlier recipes; ok, short version: cut off the roots and the green leaves and just cut the white parts in half and spread the layers open so you can rinse really well under the faucet.)
Put the oil and butter in the big saucepan over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the leeks. Salt and pepper. Cook them slowly until tender -- the fat should barely be making a sound, so you might have to turn down the heat. This should take at least 5 minutes, maybe more.
When the leeks are soft but not browning, add the flour and stir well with the fork or spoon and keep cooking for a couple of minutes. Yes, this is a roux. If you have turned the heat down, you might need to turn it back up, but really only to medium.
Start adding the milk very slowly -- 1/8 cup at a time -- while stirring. You should see it thickening (because of the roux) before you add the next round. Keep stirring. When all the milk is added, cook until the mixture is thickish and bubbly.
If you don't have a stick blender and don't want to haul out your blender, just mash and bash the potatoes with a fork. Otherwise, you can hit 'em with the stick now, or later.
Add the potatoes to the soup. If you haven't hit 'em with the stick, do it now, but be careful, as you are working with hot soup! Ditto if you want to pour into a blender. Don't pulverize everything, but the mushed potatoes will make the soup thicker and "creamier" tasting.
If you didn't have oysters, you could stop now, season, maybe add some broth, and have a pretty darned good potato-leek soup.
Add the liquid from the oysters, but don't add the oysters yet.
If you think you need more liquid, and you probably will, add up to a cup of chicken broth or stock. Or water. Or more milk. I like my oyster stew pretty thick, but I used nearly a cup of broth.
Add paprika and cayenne pepper and adjust salt and pepper to taste. I use at least a teaspoon of paprika and two shakes of cayenne pepper, but this is your soup.
If you are making toast, this is the time to turn on the toaster if you haven't already. We're just a couple of minutes away from serving.
Make sure the soup is just barely simmering and add the oysters. They only need a couple of minutes to cook, and it depends on how big they are. They are done when the edges are "ruffled." I fished a couple out so I hope you can see in the picture. (OK, and so I could eat them.) You don't need to cook them long, and shouldn't, because they will get tough.
Serve.
Confession: I fished out all the oysters for my serving and have a serving of potato-leek soup, sans oysters, for tomorrow. Didn't want to take a chance that the oysters would get tough and bitter. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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