Oysters and Pearls

Not as pretty as when they serve it at the French Laundry, but I was going for taste and maximal oysters per ramekin.

Happy New Year faithful followers!  Tonight's post has been under construction for two weeks now, but it's so complex I never felt like finishing what I started, until now.  For Christmas dinner this year I wanted to attempt the best tasting oyster dish I have ever eaten.  It is a recipe from Thomas Keller's restaurant, The French Laundry.  This dish is one of the favorites at the restaurant and is usually the first item served to patrons.  I found the recipe online a few months ago and immediately knew I would be making it for a special occasion.  I was surprised to receive The French Laundry cookbook for Christmas this year, so I followed the recipe from there, but the online version is the same basic idea.

I won't go through all the details of the recipe, since you can follow along online, but I'll share my pictures and experiences.

First let the tapioca soak in the milk for an hour.  Unfortunately, we were unable to find small pearl tapioca at any of our grocers, so we settled for instant.  I fear this may have altered the flavors/textures in some way, so again, next time we'll get the real deal.  But this is what it looked like after an hour of soaking; pretty much all the liquid was absorbed.

While the tapioca is soaking, take care of the oysters.  We opted to buy jars of fresh Eastern oysters, but next time I plan to splurge, bust out the shucking knife, and get fresh oysters still in the shell (our local grocer did not carry oysters and would have required a special order a few days in advance, hence the jars).  To get beautiful oysters, the recipe calls for trimming away the edges.  I used small kitchen scissors, saved the trimmings in a small saucepan, saved the juice, and the shapely oysters in separate bowls.  Typically the FL serves two oysters per dish.  I went for six.

Whip the cream.  Store it in the fridge.  We went for hand whipping.  It took about ten minutes.

Cook the oyster trimmings with milk and cream.  Simmer so the flavor of the oysters infuse into the milk.

Take the tapioca that was soaking, strain it and run water over it to get all the milk off.  Then cook it in the milk/cream that was steeping with the oysters.  It'll thicken.

Prepare the sabayon.  This is one part you'll need to constantly monitor.  It takes about 3 to 5 minutes.  Whisk the egg yolks and oyster juice in a double boiler (a bowl placed over a pot of simmering or boiling water).  Constantly whisking, it will eventually thicken and you'll know when it's a different consistency, like the whipped cream.

Here comes the mixing/folding.  Tapioca, sabayon, creme fraiche, pepper, whipped cream.  When properly combined, pour into the ramekins or whatever dishes you'll be using, cover, and place in the fridge until ready for use.  

Finally, prepare the sauce.  Vermouth, oyster juice, shallots, vinegar.  When the liquid is absorbed (as seen above), you can start whisking in the butter.  The FL cookbook has a page long description about this butter mixture.  It's really interesting, but I wont bore you with the details.  Basically they have this part butter liquid that if kept at the right temperature can keep food hot without continuing to cook it.  And it won't leave the meat/fish/whatever tasting like butter, but it will keep the juices in because of the fats in the butter.  It's a way they keep foods warm at the FL if they're not quite ready to be served, but they're done cooking.

Once the butter is added, you can cook the tapioca in the oven for five minutes.  Once out, add the oysters and chives to the butter to just slightly heat through (don't overcook.  i found that round two of the oysters yielded slightly shriveled and drier oysters).

No need to cook these ramekins in a water bath.  Once out of the oven, place oysters on top.  Spoon the buttery sauce over, and add a dallop of caviar.  Serve immediately.

So they were good, but nowhere near as phenomenal as at the restaurant.  Next time (yes, even after an afternoon of cooking, and a kitchen full of dirty pots, there will be a next time) I will use fresher oysters, small pearl tapioca, and use smaller ramekins/dish less tapioca into them.  The sauce was delicious, and I found that when I added more it really made the difference.  Having nice quality caviar was also a huge flavor bonus.  I highly recommend it.