Recipes
Veal chops with oysters
If you're not one for hearts and flowers but still feel like cooking up a special meal for Valentine's night this recipe from Will Beckett, Huw Gott and Richard Turner's Hawksmoor at Home* would fit the bill perfectly.
After all it does contain oysters which as you know are an aphrodisiac . . .
Huw writes: After a weekend in Vienna (during a depressingly England-less Euro 2008), we returned home with a newfound respect for schnitzel. Back at Hawksmoor, where the world revolves around a real charcoal grill, we decided to grill the veal and use the schnitzel’s breadcrumbs to coat oysters instead. It appealed to our inner food geek – the Victorians loved to pair oysters with beef, why not with veal? And it seemed like a good excuse to pile on the deep fried oysters – we love their crunch and soft milky, saline interior (part sea, part sex, part chicken nugget).
Veal needn’t be a cruel meat. Although crating has been banned in the EU a number of other unsavoury practices are still common. Your best bet is to buy British rose veal from a reputable supplier like Percy and Ben Weatherall’s Blackface Meat Company who produce great quality ethical veal from their Ayrshire dairy herd in south-west Scotland.
serves 2
2 British rose veal chops (3–4cm thick)
Maldon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
12 oysters
75g seasoned self-raising flour
2 lightly beaten eggs
100g fresh breadcrumbs
vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 lemon wedges to serve
For the mayonnaise:
50g line-caught tinned tuna
100g mayonnaise (Hellmann’s is fine)
10g capers, rinsed
50ml double cream
To make the mayonnaise, whizz the tuna, mayonnaise and capers in a blender and sieve into a small bowl. Stir in the double cream and set aside.
Open the oysters, remove the meat and pat them dry.
Dip them in the seasoned flour, then the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas 3. Heat a ridged grill until almost smoking. Season the veal chops well and sear both sides until well coloured, then place in the oven for 5 minutes to finish cooking. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside to rest.
Heat an electric fryer or a deep pan of oil to 180°C/350°F. Dip the oysters in the breadcrumbs a final time and deep-fry for a couple of minutes until golden brown.
Serve the chops with a pile of fried oysters on top and a large spoonful of the mayonnaise.
NOTE: You can also use a barbecue to cook the chops.
What to drink: You could drink a lightish red like a red burgundy with this but I'd be inclined to go for a Chablis because of its association with oysters - maybe a vieilles vignes or a premier cru - or even grand cru - given the fact that the veal is grilled.
*which is owned by my son Will, in the interests of full disclosure! But the profits go to Action Against Hunger.
Simon Hopkinson's Oysters Rockefeller
I've always been intrigued by Oysters Rockefeller, described by the great Simon Hopkinson as "the best hot oyster dish I know". Here's his recipe.
"Why oysters Rockefeller is quite so good lies in the perfectly chosen ingredients which marry so well with the unique taste of an oyster" Hopkinson writes. "The transformation from the natural, raw oyster (delicious in itself, of course) to the warmed oyster (never too hot) is critical. Buttery creamed spinach, tarragon, parsley, the essential pastis (Pernod, here) and softened shallot and celery. The aniseed flavours have always been key; pastis added to creamed spinach, for instance, absolutely makes that particular dish sing out loud."
SERVES 2
12 rock oysters, shucked
FOR THE ROCKEFELLER PURÉE:
250g young spinach leaves
10g parsley leaves
100g unsalted butter, softened
1 large stick of celery, peeled and chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
20ml Pernod
the leaves from 3–4 sprigs of tarragon
several shakes of Tabasco sauce
¼ tsp salt
a handful of fresh breadcrumbs
Fill a pan with water and bring to the boil. Plunge in the spinach and parsley, bring back to the boil then drain in a colander. Immediately refresh in iced water until cold. Squeeze as dry as possible between two hands until no more liquid seeps out. Set aside.
Melt 25g of the butter in a small frying pan, gently fry the celery and shallot until softened then add the Pernod, allowing it to bubble a little. Cool briefly, then scrape into the bowl of a small food processor. Add the cooked spinach and parsley, tarragon, Tabasco, salt and the remaining 75g of butter. Purée until very smooth and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7.
Tip off any excess juice from the opened oysters and, using a small palette knife, completely cover each oyster with a generous coating of the spinach purée. Strew a baking dish (or deep metal pan) with coarse salt, to allow the oysters to sit neatly. Distribute a fine showering of breadcrumbs over the oysters and bake in the oven on the top shelf. Cook for 8–10 minutes or until the breadcrumbs have become slightly toasted. Serve without delay.
What to drink: Not the easiest dish to match with wine. I asked Simon for his view and his suggested a white Rhone ("Fonsalette would be very special, if one can afford it." My own choice, I think, would be a brut nature style of champagne - i.e. one with no or a very low dosage or a premier cru Chablis though I'm sure a Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé or other minerally style of Sauvignon Blanc would be fine."
This recipe comes from Simon Hopkinson Cooks which is published by Ebury Press at £25. Photograph © Jason Lowe.
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