Oyster Stew Recipe

One of my favorite things to make in the kitchen is Oyster Stew! This is a recipe I have been using for years and it is Dee-Licious! One of the great perks about this recipe besides the end result is just how easy it is! From start to finish it should take about 40 minutes but that includes everything and almost all of that is cooking time. Very little prep, only SEVEN total ingredients, and it is quite tasty.

As with anything in the kitchen you get what you pay for so my recommendation would be to go organic all the way with the ingredients. As far as the oysters I would search out the most down to earth fish place in your local area. Some local fish market or seafood stand that gets their stuff in fresh is the way to go! I would under no circumstance just stroll into the supermarket down the street for oysters because they very likely won’t be anything resembling fresh and the taste will suffer for it.

The ingredients you will need are: Salt, pepper, stick butter, whole milk, heavy cream, one yellow onion, and a jar (pint size) of fresh oysters.

The kitchen equipment you will need: a small colander, 2 medium size bowls, knife, cutting board, wooden spoon, large pot, liquid measuring cup, oven mitts and a ladle

To get started you will need to separate the oysters from the juice, some people call this the “oyster liquor”, but we will go with juice. I have found the easiest way to do this is to place a medium bowl under the colander and pour the oysters into the colander and let the juice start pouring out into the bowl. This will be a slow process and you will need to stir up the oysters a few times to get the majority of the juice separated. So definitely go ahead and get this going FIRST.

The only other prep you need to do is to cut the onion. So go ahead and cut the top end and root end off the onion and then cut the onion in 1/2 down the middle where you cut the top or root off. Then peel the rest of the skin off the onion. Then lay the 2 pieces of the onion down flat and cut them both across vertically 3 equal times and then horizontally 3 equal times. Go ahead and put the knife away, and try to separate as many onion pieces as you can. If a few are stuck together no worries.

Now it’s time to start cooking! Take your pot and put it on the stove at a medium/medium high heat. Then go ahead and put your butter in the pot. Once the butter has melted and starts crackling go ahead and add the onions. Once you add the onions set a timer for 9 minutes. When you first add the onions take the wooden spoon and break up the onions real well and stir them into the butter real nice. After that is done this is a good time to stir your oysters and make sure they are still separating from the juice.

Stir the onions a few times over the next 9 minutes. You want the onions to be almost translucent and real loose when they are done. If they are starting to brown that is fine, you don’t want them to cook much more than that though. When you get close to 9 minutes you need to have your oysters as separated from the juice as possible. Go ahead and put the oysters in another bowl and have the juice ready for the pot. When the onions are done or 9 minutes goes by you are going to pour all the juice in with the onions and stir it up real well.

Set another timer for 9 minutes and reduce the heat a little bit. During this next 9 minutes you are going to be reducing the juice/butter onion mixture by a little more than 1/2 so it will need to be on a good simmer. During this time you will stir the pot occasionally and this will be the time to measure out your whole milk and heavy cream because they come next.

After 9 minutes your juice/butter onion mixture should be reduced by about 1/2 or more and it will be time to add the milk and heavy cream. Once you do this you again will need to stir it up real nice and then immediately turn the heat up to High. The mixture should be starting to take on the look of oyster stew at this point without the oysters.

Now the next thing you are doing is waiting for the stew to come to a simmer. Stirring occasionally. This is VERY important since you do not want your milk and heavy cream to come to a full boil which will result in the milk curdling. When the stew is getting close to a simmer (the sides will start bubbling slowly and then faster and faster) you will need to start slowly reducing the heat. Once you start seeing that it has come to a simmer (it will just be starting to bubble in the middle and all over) you need to add the oysters to the stew.

Then set a timer for 9 minutes. Now doing this will reduce the heat in your stew so you will need to increase the heat of the stove a little bit. You really need to watch the stew like a hawk at this point if you haven’t been already. This is the most critical time. You need the stew to be at a slight simmer or close to it. Anything over that and you run the risk of ruining your stew. If all the sudden it has gotten way too hot and it’s looking like it is almost boiling DON’T PANIC. Simply reduce the heat and put on some oven mitts and put the pot on another part of the stove and stir for a few seconds. It will cool down enough to stop bubbling.

Now if you have managed a real nice simmer or close to it for 9 minutes then you are almost done!!! You will want to pick up an oyster with the spoon. To make sure they are done the sides of the oyster will start to curl up. That’s how you know it’s done. Once you get to this point then turn the heat off, take the pot off the stove (place it on a towel or hot rack or something, don’t just set it on the counter as hot as it is) and let it sit for about 3 minutes.

Then it is time to season. No need to get fancy. Salt and pepper will do the trick. I normally like to do fresh ground pepper and PRE ground salt. The reason being is that I have found if you use a salt grinder for whatever reason it takes a lot longer to dissolve into the stew. So use pre ground salt and grind some pepper in that wondrous stew you have there and stir it up and taste test. You can ALWAYS add more seasoning but once you over season something you can’t take it back so when in doubt go light on the seasoning, taste it and if it needs more then add more. Always stir it up in between seasoning and testing.

Once it reaches a seasoned flavor to your liking you are DONE! Serve it up with some crackers and enjoy yourself and your stew! Great job!

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Ingredients:

1 Pint of fresh oysters in juice

3 Tablespoons of butter

3 Cups of whole milk

1 Cup of heavy cream

1 Yellow onion

Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Separate oysters from juice

2. Peel and cut up yellow onion

3. Melt butter and cook onions for 9 minutes or until translucent

4. Add oyster juice and simmer for 9 minutes

5. Add whole milk and heavy cream and bring to a simmer

6. Add oysters and simmer for 9 minutes

7. Let it rest for 3 minutes

8. Season with salt and pepper

9. Serve with crackers and enjoy