Oyster And Blue Cheese Pie Recipes

BLUE CHEESE OYSTERS

Steps:

• Loosen the oysters from the half shell for easier eating but leave them in their half shells.
• Heat the oven to 350°. Arrange the oysters on a baking sheet; set aside.
• Mix the garlic, blue cheese, bread crumbs, butter and tarragon in a small bowl; top oysters with the mixture, dividing evenly.
• Bake oysters until topping is bubbly and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes.

OYSTER AND BLUE CHEESE PIE

Steps:

• Make the pastry dough: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using fingers, pastry cutter or food processor, add 6 tablespoons butter in bits and combine until the mixture's crumbs are the size of peas. Beat egg yolk with 3 tablespoons cold water, add to flour mixture and toss with a fork or pulse by machine until the mixture starts to come together to form a dough. You may need to add another tablespoon or so of water.
• Gather dough on a floured surface, form in a disk and roll in a 12-inch circle. Fit into an 8-inch pie pan. Crimp edge. Line with foil, add pastry weights and bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake until golden, another 10 minutes or so. Remove from oven.
• Make the filling: While pie shell bakes, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 10- to 12-inch skillet, add leeks, fennel and apple, and sauté on low until tender and translucent. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and remove from heat.
• Place oysters in a 3-quart saucepan with just enough water to cover. Heat pan on medium high until water reaches 141 degrees, measuring with a candy thermometer. Shut off heat and let sit on burner for 5 minutes. Remove oysters from water and allow to cool briefly. Holding oysters flat side up, use an oyster or clam knife to open shells (they will have gaped enough to make this easy) and remove oysters, doing so over a bowl to catch the juices.
• In a separate bowl, mash cheese, adding 3 tablespoons reserved oyster juice. Beat egg white until softly peaked and fold into cheese.
• Spread leek mixture in pie shell. Spread cheese mixture on top. Place in oven and bake 20 minutes.
• Melt remaining tablespoon of butter and allow to turn nut-brown. Mix with oysters. Remove pie from oven and arrange buttered oysters on top. Bake 2 minutes more. Strew with fennel fronds. Let pie set about 10 minutes, then cut in portions and serve.

OYSTER PIE WITH LEEKS, BACON AND MASHED POTATOES

Steps:

• Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until completely tender. Drain potatoes, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. Return potatoes to pot, add 2 tablespoons butter and season generously with salt and pepper. Mash well, adding cooking liquid as necessary to thin. Cover and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, render the bacon: Put a medium skillet over medium-high heat and add lardons. After a minute or so, when they begin to sizzle, turn heat to medium and stir them in pan to distribute evenly. Cook for a minute or two, letting bacon soften without browning. When it is just beginning to crisp, tip everything into a fine mesh sieve over a bowl to drain. (Reserve the fat for another purpose.) Set bacon aside.
• Put a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons butter. Add leeks, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until wilted but still bright green, about 1 minute. Add reserved bacon, thyme, crème fraîche, heavy cream, mustard and cayenne; bring to a simmer. Add oysters and oyster juices, cook 1 minute, then remove from heat. The mixture will be rather soupy.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Transfer oyster mixture to a low-sided casserole dish approximately 9 inches across. Carefully cover the surface with spoonfuls of mashed potatoes in an even layer. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan and dot with butter. Set pan on a baking sheet in case there's overflow while cooking. Bake for about 40 minutes, until you can see the stew simmering at the edges and the top is beautifully browned. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with parsley.

OYSTER PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large saute pan or cast iron skillet add bacon and cook over low heat until rendered and crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan onto a paper towel line plate and keep the bacon fat over low heat. There should be about 1/4 cup of bacon fat left in the pan, canola oil can be added if you need more. Add the onions and the celery and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the green onions, garlic, Essence, salt, and cayenne. Add the flour and cook, stirring, to make a light roux, about 3 minutes. Add the oyster liquor, cream and lemon juice, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Next add the oysters and cook just until the oysters start to curl, about 2 minutes. Remove the oyster mixture from the heat and add the bacon and parsley, let cool slightly.
• Roll the dough out on a floured work surface and split into 2 equal pieces. Transfer half of the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and form into a crust and set aside.
• Pour the oyster mixture into the pie shell and cover with the other half of the rolled out dough. Crimp around the edges to seal and make slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly prior to serving.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, diced butter and salt. Pulse the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle in the ice water and pulse until the mixture comes together. Turn the dough out of the food processor, form into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• 1 pie shell
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch
• Published by William Morrow, 1993.