Oyster Stew
I am surprised and a little ashamed that I started this community before ever having read MFK Fisher. Or at least--I am surprised that I had not read MFK fisher before starting this community. Or something. Fascinated though I was by Alice Waters, I confess now that I was scarcely aware of Fisher's legacy until just a month or two ago. So I have been reading up.
Last night I was reading from An Alphabet for Gourmets, beginning with A is for Dining Alone. She states, "There are few people alive with whom I care to pray, sleep, dance, sing, or share my bread and wine." and so, in the absence of those few people--and with her difficulty garnering invitations to dinner due to her reputation as a cook and a person knowledgable about food--she prefers to dine alone.
But it is not easy to cook for oneself always. So for a while she was resigned to "hit-or-miss dinners" of "tinned soups, boxed biscuits amd an occasional egg."
It was this line I was thinking of when I found myself at Stop-N-Shop on the way home this evening. I generally avoid those kinds of places, as I am increasingly unnerved by the shiny, bloated produce and have little use for anything else they sell. But I was on my way home from a visit with G. in our studio during which we ate cheese (a sharp cheddar) and crackers (carr's water crackers) and drank an Ommegang ale I am fond of. We both became pleasantly hazy from the ale and I wanted to doze off in my chair--it was an extremely pleasant evening.
Later, at the supermarket, the aisles of "tinned" goods intrigued me. I got a few cans of tomatoes, because they are occasionally called for. And then...I saw the oysters.
I bought a can of oysters and a quart of milk and two small boiling onions, although the recipe for oyster stew on the back of the can called for celery, not onion--my squeamishness about the produce section prevented me from it, and somehow the dry papery skins of onions make me feel better about them even if I do not trust their provenance. Then I came home and consulted Consider the Oyster for another recipe, to compare the two. I found no mention of tinned oysters, of course, but proceeded in this way:
cook one small onion, minced, in two tablespoons of butter, until the onion is tender. sprinkle in some celery seed if you have it. tip 1 tin of oysters and their liquor into the pot and cook until oysters just begin to curl. Add two cups of milk. when it is hot, season with sherry, salt and pepper. Serve hot.
It was enjoyable. I was suspicious of the canned oysters themselves--the bellies were hard and a greenish color, sometimes--but the broth was delicious.
I am surprised and a little ashamed that I started this community before ever having read MFK Fisher. Or at least--I am surprised that I had not read MFK fisher before starting this community. Or something. Fascinated though I was by Alice Waters, I confess now that I was scarcely aware of Fisher's legacy until just a month or two ago. So I have been reading up.
Last night I was reading from An Alphabet for Gourmets, beginning with A is for Dining Alone. She states, "There are few people alive with whom I care to pray, sleep, dance, sing, or share my bread and wine." and so, in the absence of those few people--and with her difficulty garnering invitations to dinner due to her reputation as a cook and a person knowledgable about food--she prefers to dine alone.
But it is not easy to cook for oneself always. So for a while she was resigned to "hit-or-miss dinners" of "tinned soups, boxed biscuits amd an occasional egg."
It was this line I was thinking of when I found myself at Stop-N-Shop on the way home this evening. I generally avoid those kinds of places, as I am increasingly unnerved by the shiny, bloated produce and have little use for anything else they sell. But I was on my way home from a visit with G. in our studio during which we ate cheese (a sharp cheddar) and crackers (carr's water crackers) and drank an Ommegang ale I am fond of. We both became pleasantly hazy from the ale and I wanted to doze off in my chair--it was an extremely pleasant evening.
Later, at the supermarket, the aisles of "tinned" goods intrigued me. I got a few cans of tomatoes, because they are occasionally called for. And then...I saw the oysters.
I bought a can of oysters and a quart of milk and two small boiling onions, although the recipe for oyster stew on the back of the can called for celery, not onion--my squeamishness about the produce section prevented me from it, and somehow the dry papery skins of onions make me feel better about them even if I do not trust their provenance. Then I came home and consulted Consider the Oyster for another recipe, to compare the two. I found no mention of tinned oysters, of course, but proceeded in this way:
cook one small onion, minced, in two tablespoons of butter, until the onion is tender. sprinkle in some celery seed if you have it. tip 1 tin of oysters and their liquor into the pot and cook until oysters just begin to curl. Add two cups of milk. when it is hot, season with sherry, salt and pepper. Serve hot.
It was enjoyable. I was suspicious of the canned oysters themselves--the bellies were hard and a greenish color, sometimes--but the broth was delicious.
