Seafood Made Simple: Golden baked oysters with creamy chard

Baked oysters with creamed chard by Aishling Moore: Picture Chani Anderson

Molluscs, like oysters and mussels, are always my answer for those asking how they can make the most ethical choices when eating seafood. 

The production of these shellfish regenerates the ocean, by filtering water and sequestering carbon from the environment.

A single adult oyster can filter up 200 litres of water a day, with an average mussel filtering up to 65 litres of water per day!

Serving oysters cooked rather than their most often state of raw is an excellent way to encourage the reluctant to eat these marvellous molluscs.

At Goldie, our Rossmore oyster pâté has been such a success, converting the shellfish weary to oyster aficionados.

We use XXL Rossmore oysters that have spent an extended period in the ocean. These are approximately three times the size of an average oyster and are best served cooked.

We steam them to free them from their shells, before blending and emulsifying them with lots of caramelised onion, confit garlic, white wine, shallot and butter.

The chilled pâté is sprinkled with a little seaweed salt and served with an angel stout and apple treacle loaf and a shaved fennel and pickled dulse salad to cut the richness.

Although we change our menu every day, this dish hasn’t come off the small plate section since it arrived earlier this year.

This weekend’s baked oysters with creamy chard and crunchy breadcrumbs is a winner.

I’ve used some rainbow chard for the creamed sauce but you could use spinach or kale. Any soft herbs you have on hand are also fabulous in this base: parsley, chive and dill would all make brilliant additions.

At Christmas, I love to swap the chard for thinly sliced Brussels sprouts, softened in the same white wine and a cream-based sauce. You could even introduce some bacon lardons here if you like.

Golden baked oysters with creamy chard

recipe by:Aishling Moore

I’ve used some rainbow chard for the creamed sauce but you could use spinach or kale. Any soft herbs you have on hand are also fabulous in this base: parsley, chive and dill would all make brilliant additions.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 8 mins

Total Time

 28 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the creamed chard:

• 1 shallot finely diced

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 2tb golden rapeseed oil

• 60ml white wine

• 500g chard (washed and chopped)

• 125ml cream

• Freshly cracked black pepper

• For the oysters:

• A dozen shucked oysters

• 65g panko breadcrumbs

• 2tb rapeseed oil

Method

1. To make the creamed chard, heat the rapeseed oil in a medium sized heavy based pot and sweat the shallot and garlic until softened. Add the white wine and reduce by half. Add the cream and reduce by half. Add the chard and cook for 1 minute to soften. Season with black pepper and set aside whilst opening the oysters.

2. To shuck the oysters, prepare a roasting tray with a bed of salt.

3. Fold a clean tea towel in half twice lengthways. Place the oyster in the centre of the folded towel cup side down with the hinge of the oyster facing in the direction of your more dominant hand.

4. Place the tip of the oyster knife at the hinge of the shell applying pressure. Twist and wiggle the knife to pop the hinge. The hinge is the at the pointed end of the oyster.

5. Angle the knife towards the cup side of the shell and run your knife towards the top side of the shell. Turn the knife at a 90-degree angle to separate the flat side of the shell from the cup.

6. Run the knife under the adductor muscle of the oyster to detach the oyster from the shell. Remove any shell fragments that might be present.

7. To finish, add the rapeseed oil to a frying pan on a medium low heat. Then add the panko breadcrumbs and toast until golden brown, stirring all the time to ensure even caramelisation. Once golden-brown set aside.

8. Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7.

9. Place a teaspoon of the creamed chard in each oyster and bake for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and add a heaped tsp of the toasted breadcrumbs. Return to the oven for a further 2 minutes.

10. Serve with wedges of lemon.

Fish tales

• Always shuck oysters on a flat surface.
• The tea towel will help protect your less dominant hand as well as keeping the oyster in a stable position when the oyster is opened.
• The bed of salt will act as a stable base for the oysters to sit on while shucking and baking in the oven.
• Avoid excess force, this will shatter and chip the outside of the shell as well as potentially damage the meat inside and yourself!
• Discard any oysters that are open or have cracked compromised shells. They should smell fresh and of the seaside.
• The oyster shells will be very hot when removed from the oven so allow the oysters to sit for a couple of minutes before serving.