Arnauds Oyster Bienville Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat and saute' the mushroom until tender. Drain and set aside. Drain the oysters, reserving 1 cup of the liquor (or substitute milk or chicken broth). Cover a large baking dish (or as many baking dishes as you need) with rock salt. Fit as many oyster shells as you can in each dish. Place an oyster in each shell. (You may also use ramekins, placing 4 oysters in each one) Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter in a 9 inch skillet over medium heat. Saute' the green onions and garlic for 5 minutes. SLowly add the flour and stir to make a smooth mixture. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks, and stir in the parsley and cream. Stir the yolk mixture into the green onion and flour mixture, blending them well. Add the 1 cup of oyster liquor and cook over low heat, stirring, until it becomes a thick, creamy sauce. To the sauce, add the drained chopped mushroom, cheese, and salt. Stir until the cheese is melted and well blended. Spoon this sauce over the oysters and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake for 15 minutes, or until browned. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Spread a 1/2-inch thick layer of rock salt on a large baking sheet and across the bottoms of 2 large plates. Set aside.
• Fry the bacon until just crisp in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, salt, and cayenne and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and butter, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the butter melts. Add the flour, and stirring slowly and constantly, cook for 2 minutes. Add the milk and wine and stir to blend.
• Reduce the heat to medium, then add the mushrooms and shrimp. Stir and fold to mix and cook until the mixture is thick, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the Parmesan, lemon juice, green onions and parsley and stir to blend.
• Remove from the heat, add the egg yolk, and blend well. Let cool to room temperature.
• Arrange the reserved oyster shells on the prepared baking sheet. Put 1 oyster in each shell and top with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the sauce, spreading the sauce evenly out to the edges of the shell to completely cover the oyster. (Alternatively, pipe the sauce over the oysters.) Bake until the sauce is lightly browned and the oysters begin to curl around the edges, about 20 minutes.
• Using tongs or a spatula, carefully transfer the hot shells to the salt-covered plates and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Sauté the chopped shallots in the butter and slowly stir over a very low heat until the onions are well cooked, but not brown. Sprinkle the shallots with the flour and cook until the flour begins to brown. Add the chicken broth and the mushrooms and mix well. Beat the egg yolk into the wine and add to the chicken broth mixture, beating all the while. Season with the salt and cayenne, and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.
• Heat a pan of ice cream salt in a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes. Place the oysters on the half shell in the hot ice cream salt and return to the oven for about 5 minutes. Spoon the sauce over each oyster and sprinkle with a mixture of the bread crumbs and cheese. Return to the oven and bake until the bread crumb mixture is lightly browned. Two dozen oysters served this way will serve four.