five ways with oysters

Last week I brought you the Cooker and a Looker Keeping Christmas Merry Menu plan.  In the (terrifyingly few) weeks left until Christmas I’ll be bringing you easy recipes to help you keep your cool on the big day.

Thai Mango and Pomegranate oysters

1 mango cheek, finely chopped

1/4 pomegranate, seeds only

2 tsp fish sauce

4 large basil leaves, finely shredded

zest of 1/3 lime

one dozen oysters

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Allow to macerate in the fridge for about an hour.  Arrange oysters on a bed of crushed ice and top with the mango & pomegranate dressing.

Garlic Crumbed Oysters

day-old Italian-style bread (I used a Pane di Casa that Baker’s Delight were kind enough to send me)

30g butter, melted

2 spring onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

salt and pepper

a dozen oysters

Process/blend/thermochef the bread into crumbs.  You need to make about a cup – this was three slices when I made it.  Place the bread crumbs in a small bowl.  Add melted butter, spring onions, garlic and combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Arrange the oysters on an oven proof tray.  I use scrunched alfoil to keep all the oysters standing to attention.  Top the oysters with the garlic crumb and grill at medium-high for 2-3 minutes or until golden.

Oysters with Japanese dressing

1/4 cup mirin

2 tbsp sake

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsbp chives, finely chopped

a dozen oysters

Combine mirin, sake, rice vinegar and vegetable oil in a small bowl.  Arrange oysters on a platter, spoon dressing onto oysters.  Top with chopped chives and serve.

Oysters with Tomato dressing

9 cherry tomatoes, very finely chopped. I used red, yellow and kumato tomatoes.

tabasco sauce

sea salt

a dozen oysters

Combine tomatoes in a small bowl, season with tabasco and sea salt.  Arrange oysters on a bed of ice, top with the tomato mixture and serve.

Kilpatrick. Cooker style.

100 gms bacon, diced

6 cherry tomatos, finely chopped

3 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

a dozen oysters

lemon wedges, to serve

Arrange the oysters on an ovenproof tray.  (If  necessary, you can use scrunched alfoil to keep those bad boys erect.)
Sprinkle bacon, parsley and tomato over the oysters.  Add worcestershire sauce and grill under a medium heat until the bacon is cooked (6-8  minutes in the oven of certain mediocrity).  If you’re feeling fancy-pants you can serve the oysters on a bed of coarse sea salt, garnished with lemon wedges.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post.  Baker’s Delight sent me the pane di casa I used for the garlic crumbed oysters along with some other Christmassy goodies, including a Christmas cake that I’ll be using to make some rum balls – stay tuned.  All opinions and recipes are my own.

Furthermore, while we’re getting things off our chests….in the real world, I much prefer my martini glasses to be filled with, well, martinis.  I only put oysters in them for this post because I was trying to be a clever clogs.