Oysters Rockefeller White House Recipes

OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER

Steps:

• For the oysters: Melt butter in a skillet. Saute the garlic for 2 minutes to infuse the butter. Place the bread crumbs in a mixing bowl and add half the garlic butter, set aside. To the remaining garlic butter in the skillet, add shallots and spinach, cook for 3 minutes until the spinach wilts. Deglaze the pan with Pernod. Season with salt and pepper, add a dash of red pepper sauce. Allow the mixture to cook down for a few minutes. Finish off the bread crumbs by mixing in olive oil, Parmesan and chervil, season with salt and pepper. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of the spinach mixture on each oyster followed by a spoonful of the bread crumb mixture. Sprinkle a baking pan amply with rock salt. Arrange the oysters in the salt to steady them. Bake in a preheated 450 degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden. Serve with lemon wedges and red pepper sauce.
• For the sauce: In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients. Cover and chill 1 hour before serving with oysters. Yield: 3/4 cup

OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Moisten the breadcrumbs with a little bit of olive oil.
• Shuck the oysters: There is a top flat "lid" and a bottom cupped shell for each oyster. Insert the tip of an oyster knife into the hinge where the two shells come together in a point. Twist until the lid pops open. Pull the knife out and wipe it clean so you don't get mud in the oyster. Insert the knife back into the oyster from the opposite side of the hinge, lightly scraping against the top shell to disconnect the muscle. Then go under the oyster to cut the muscle on the bottom. Flip the oyster over onto the prettier side.
• Top each oyster with a teaspoon of the creamed spinach, a piece of bacon and a bit of the breadcrumbs. On a baking sheet, create a small mound of coarse salt for each oyster to prevent them from tipping over. Nestle the oysters in the salt mounds, and bake until the bacon is cooked and the breadcrumbs browned.
• Transfer the baked oysters to a serving platter and garnish with a sprinkle of fennel pollen. If desired, garnish with grated horseradish and a drizzle of smoked olive oil. Serve with lemon wedges.
• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the spinach. As soon as it's wilted and tender, drain and run under cold water. When the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out any excess water. If you have used whole spinach with long stems, roughly chop it; you should have 1 1/2 cups of chopped spinach.
• Finely mince the fennel and onion. Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat and glaze it with the olive oil. Add the fennel, onion, garlic and a few pinches of salt, and cook until the onion is translucent; you don't want it to brown. Add the flour and stir. When the flour has gathered up all the onion mixture, add the Herbsaint and bring to a boil. Let it reduce by half before stirring in the milk to make a bechamel. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook at a low simmer until the sauce thickens to the point where it coats the back of a spoon, and where drawing your finger down the spoon leaves a clear line.
• Pour half of the bechamel into a blender along with 1/2 cup of the spinach. Blend until completely smooth. Add the remaining spinach to the pan with the remaining bechamel, then add the spinach puree. Heat, stirring, and season with salt and pepper. Finish by stirring in the butter, nutmeg and Parmesan.

MELISSA CLARK'S OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the bread crumbs and sauté until they are just a tiny bit golden, about 1 minute or so. Stir in the watercress, parsley, celery and celery leaves, scallions, and garlic. Cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in the Pernod and let it cook off for another minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the capers and a pinch of salt (not too much, those oysters are salty too).
• Preheat the broiler. Fill a baking pan (or two) with a 1/2-inch layer of coarse or rock salt. Lay the oysters on top of the salt. Spoon a little of the sauce mixture on top of the oysters. Broil until just golden, about 2 minutes. Serve hot.

OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER: WHITE HOUSE

Steps:

• Melt butter in saucepan. Add all the rest of the ingredients except the oysters. Cook, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes or until soft. Press through sieve or food mill. Cool. Place rock salt in pie tins. Set oysters on half shell on top and put a spoonful of sauce on each oyster. Broil under medium heat until sauce begins to brown. Serve immediately in the pie tins.