Food - Land, Sea, Air

---

October - the start of autumn, leaves are tuning, and the weather gets grey, cold, and drizzly. 

Time to start planing for warm, hearty soups to feed the soul. 

The Oyster Pan Roast - a truly iconic NYC dish from GrandCentral Oyster Bar - is just the soup that I’m thinking of. 

Yes, this is a soup, or stew - not a “Roast” in the traditional Cuisine sense of Oven/Dry heat Roasting.

Rather, Oysters, Heinz Chili Sauce, savoury spices, and cream are  heated in a SteamKettle on the Oyster Bars’ counter - effectively a double boiler - steam cooking the stew in a quick, New York Minute or two. Poured over toast, this hot, steamy stew reminds me of those hallowed halls of GrandCentral. Bring on Winter!

One cool afternoon in October, I had 36 oysters from Wellfleet Mass, and not a drop of Chili Sauce in my pantry. I wanted to make a PanRoast, while BBQing for the family. This is what was produced - Shuckin’Easy.  

Paddy’s OnePot OysterPanRoast - serves 1-4 (depending if you want to eat the whole batch or share…)

• 1 Spanish onion, halved, and sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 36 (or whatever you can afford…) plump, medium to large Oysters - shucked, all oyster liquor reserved/saved for the recipe
• I had Wellfleet, Mass. Oysters for this Picture. 
• Oysters - EastCoast wilds, Pine Island, or BluePoint Oyster Co.- for that classic NYC finish. These cook very well - firm & plump - You MUST taste one on the 1/2 shell first - to understand the salinity - and adjust the soup
• Absolutely you may use medium sixes West Coast Oysters - flavours will be deliciously Pacific.
• (Can use shucked/jarred fresh/frozen Oysters and their liquor - the saltier the better)

“House Chili Sauce” 

• 1/2 cup Tomato Sauce - pick a favourite pasta sauce - (Tomato Basil house made)
• 1tblspoon - dried roasted red pepper & Garlic (ClubHouse spices) or - 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon of Chili flakes 
• 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1/2cup of dry white wine (from the glass that you are drinking from is ok, just a quick blub o wine)
• 1/2 cup of 10%(half & half) cream
• Salt & pepper to taste 
• (Clam nectar IF your oysters/liquor are not as salty as you would wish) or as you will do thins now, save ALL of your Oyster Liquor when you are shucking for future use. -like this)
• 1-2 slices of buttered toast (your choice of bread - sourdough farmers toast is quire nice)

1. In a bowl, mix the Chili sauce ingredients together and set aside 
2. In a medium sized pot melt the butter, and add thinly sliced onions over medium high heat - sweat and cook to Caramelized texture and taste
3. Add the white wine to deglaze the pot, while the onions are still in there.
4. Add all of the Oysters and liquor over the Onions, and bring to temp, do not boil!- a light simmer - reduce heat to low
5. Add the “Chili Sauce”, bring to temp, lightly stirring
6. Add the cream, and bring to temp.
7. Oyster should be “ruffling” at the edges - the gills showing - they are cooked through at this point - and the stew can be served. About 5-10  minutes in total
8. Taste the soup - adjust seasoning as needed - salty, pepper, (hot sauce as you wish- but sometimes nice to leave that to your guests)
9. Serving - 1 slice of buttered toast on the bottom of a warmed soup bowl. Slotted spoon to retrieve an equal portion of Oysters & onions for each bowl - (as you know someone will comment that they did not get as many oysters as their dining partner…)
10. Pour the remaining soup over the Oystery Toast, add the second slice of buttered toast on the side, and serve (one slice to dunk, one to find)
11. IF there are leftovers of the soup - please refrigerated and reheat for breakfast (you probably wont be able to wait til lunch) The Oysters will be perfectly fine, the second time around..)