{"id":771,"date":"2009-09-28T10:27:10","date_gmt":"2009-09-28T14:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/?p=771"},"modified":"2009-09-28T13:29:02","modified_gmt":"2009-09-28T17:29:02","slug":"oyster-stew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/recipes\/oyster-stew\/","title":{"rendered":"Oyster Stew"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Oysters<\/a><\/p>\n

Fall passed its first week and with the cooler temperatures, it signals in the entrance of hearty warm edible delights including soups and stews. Besides making their way into prominence on menus, oysters are also coming into their peak as well. The old saying was that oysters should only be eaten in months that have the letter “R”, so September has one and we are safely reminded. This old tale goes back to the days before mass refrigeration was available and the storage of seafood stayed fresher longer when the temperatures were cooler, thus the months with “R” coincided with fall and winter seasons here in North America, or the months between September to April. Now that modern refrigeration has solved many of the storage and transportation issues of the bygone era, seafood and oysters in particular are enjoyed year round. Tradition seems to hold fast even with the advent of modern technology becoming more of the fabric, that oysters are enjoyed more in the fall, winter and spring than in the warm summer months.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite seafood soups is this oyster stew, which originally appeared on the CCR blog back in February 2009 for the Foodbuzz 24 event featuring the railroad themed article. I decided to pull this recipe out to make its own appearance, thus highlighting it from the other recipes that became hidden in the original posting. While this recipe is known as “Oyster Stew” to me it really has the feel and taste of a thick cream soup. The original recipe title was “Oysters in Cream Stew”, taken from the early Southern Railway dining car menu item, I’ve renamed it here for simplicity and because “Oyster Soup” just does not have the same ring to it at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Yield: 8 portions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ingredients<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd<\/td>\nLb.<\/td>\nBacon, medium diced<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bc<\/td>\nLb.<\/td>\nButter, unsalted (1 stick)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nCup<\/td>\nOnions, fine diced<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nCup<\/td>\nCelery, fine diced<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nTbsp.<\/td>\nGarlic, minced<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nCup<\/td>\nGreen onions, chopped (divided)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nTsp<\/td>\nThyme, fresh, chopped<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nTsp<\/td>\nOregano, fresh chopped<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nCup<\/td>\nFlour, all-purpose<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd<\/td>\nCup<\/td>\nWhite wine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nCups<\/td>\nMilk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd<\/td>\nLb.<\/td>\nYukon Gold potatoes, peeled and small diced, blanched to al dente, drained and chilled<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nCups<\/td>\nHeavy Cream<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nQuart<\/td>\nOysters, drained and liquor liquid reserved<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nCups<\/td>\nHeavy Cream<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bc<\/td>\nCup<\/td>\nParsley, fresh chopped<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
To taste<\/td>\nSalt and white pepper<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\nProcedure Steps<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1.<\/td>\nHeat a large stock pot over a medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crisp, then remove and drain on a plate lined with paper towels, reserve for later. Remove all put 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the pan.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.<\/td>\nTurn the heat to medium and then add the stick of butter and allow it to melt. Add the onions and celery and sweat until soft and translucent. Then add the garlic, \u00bd cup of the green onions, the thyme and oregano and stir well to incorporate. Add the flour and stir well to incorporate while absorbing the butter, bacon fat and vegetable juices until it forms a blond or light roux.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3.<\/td>\nSlowly add the white wine and stir well to incorporate until smooth. Then add the reserved oyster liquor and stir well to blend into the roux-white wine mixture, a wire whisk helps at this stage. Then add the milk and whisk well again. Add the potatoes and the heavy cream then bring the liquid to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer for 10 minutes. If the consistency seems a bit too thick add more milk and stir well.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4.<\/td>\nAdd the oysters and allow them to simmer until they just start to curl on the edges.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5.<\/td>\nAdd the parsley and reserved bacon and simmer for another minute or so. Garnish each cup or bowl with a pinch of chopped green onion and parsley.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The old saying was that oysters should only be eaten in months that have the letter “R”, so September has one and we are safely reminded. This old tale goes back to the days before mass refrigeration was available and the storage of seafood stayed fresher longer when the temperatures were cooler, thus the months with “R” coincided with fall and winter seasons here in North America, or the months between September to March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,17,97],"tags":[2051,2088,68,80,2049,2055,248],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":776,"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions\/776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cajunchefryan.rymocs.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}