Crème Santé (Sorrel Soup Parmentier)
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a Sauce-pan and add 1 cup of sorrel, cleaned, removed from the stems, and cut in fine julienne. Cover and simmer very gently until the sorrel cooks down to about ½ cup. Combine this with 2 quarts potage Parmentier. Finish with 1 tablespoon butter and. if desired, more cream.
Potage Germiny (Sorrel Soup Germiny)
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a sauce-pan and add 1 cup sorrel, cleaned, removed from the stems, and cut in fine julienne. Cover and simmer very gently until the sorrel cooks down to about ½ cup. Bring 4 cups chicken consommé to a boil. Mix 4 egg yolks with 1 cup cream and combine with the consommé, stirring briskly. Return slowly to a boil but do not boil. Add 1 tablespoon butter and ½ cup cream. Add the sorrel and correct the seasoning with salt Serve with crusts of French bread.
Soupe à l'Oseille (Sorrel Soup)
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a sauce-pan. Add 1 cup sorrel, cleaned, removed from the stems, and cut in line julienne. Cover and simmer very gently until the sorrel has cooked down to about ½ cup. Add 1 tablespoon Hour, mix, and add 1 quart water and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook slowly for 15 minutes. Mix together 2 slightly beaten eggs with 2 cups rich milk or light cream and combine with the soup. Add 1 tablespoon butter, bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. but do not boil. Correct the sea-soning with salt. Serve with toasted crusts of bread floating on top.
At this time of the year, people who like oysters can hardly get enough of them. In the early years of the Ritz Carlton, we attempted to take care of our special guests who felt that way about oysters by having a small oyster bar in our kitchen adjacent to the place where the oysters were opened. Special guests, those who were our most exacting connoisseurs, were allowed to come down to the kitchen and have their oyster course from this bar before going on to dinner. Every night you'd see a score or more of men in evening clothes trooping down the stairs to the oyster bar where they would ear quantities of the mollusks, the man behind the counter adding them on and on to the plates as he removed the empty shells.
I remember one guest who brought his little girl down, a youngster of seven or eight, to see how oysters looked before they were opened and how we opened them. I said to her, “You see, they are all alive.” But she was quite shocked at eating something alive. “How can you do such a thing?” she asked. We explained that after they are opened, they are no longer alive but that they are juicier and better-flavored. Which seemed to satisfy her.
Opening oysters for serving on the half-shell has always been a problem for people who want to serve them at home. Some of you will be delighted, therefore, to learn the trick that Mr. Royal Toner, who is an authority on the subject of oysters, told me recently. He puts the oysters into a moderately hot oven (400° F.) for five or six minutes, depending upon their size, or seven minutes for very large ones. Then they are dropped into ice water. The heat relaxes the muscle, and they can be opened as easily us a clam, yet the shell is so heavy that the heat never affects the oyster at all. He has served oysters this way and oysters freshly opened by an experienced oyster-opener and finds that it if almost impossible to tell the difference between the two.
In cooking oysters, the trick is not to overcook them, and this means very little cooking, indeed. Never boil, for example, merely poach them, and then only for a few minutes. In making stew, oysters are cooked enough when the edges curl. When preparing dishes in which the oysters are cooked in their own shell, remember to reserve the deep shell, not the shallow one, for this. Also, have a supply of rock salt on hand to place in the tray or pan in which they will be cooked. This is a trick to keep them level and prevent their own juice or the sauce that is on them from spilling out. I usually cook them for about 2 minutes in their own juice. add the Sauce, sprinkle with fine bread or cracker crumbs, and finish the cooking just until the crumbs are browned. If the oysters are very large, trim off a little of the edge which sometimes becomes tough in cooking.
Oysters à l'Américaine
Arrange oysters in their deep shells on a tray of coarse salt and bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F.) for 2 minutes. Season with salt and a little freshly ground pepper and sprinkle with fine crumbs. Put a little butter on top and a piece of sliced bacon. Return to the oven or broiler and cook until the bacon is crisp and the crumbs are brown. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
Oysters Bourguignonne
Arrange oysters in their deep shells on a tray of coarse salt and bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F.) for 2 minutes. Spread each with 1 teaspoon of this special butter: Mix 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, and 1 teaspoon finely chopped shallots with 1 cup butter. Add 1 teaspoon each chopped chives, tarragon, and parsley. Season with salt and a little freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with fine crumbs and bake in a hot oven or under the broiler flame until the crumbs are lightly browned. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
Oysters Eleanore
Arrange oysters in their deep shells on a tray of coarse salt and bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F.) for 2 minutes. Spread each with ½ teaspoon chili sauce. Prepare 1 cup Mornay sauce (see April, 1950) and fold in 1 or 2 tablespoons whipped cream. Spread this over the oysters and return to the oven or broiler to brown.
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