The Old Oyster Factory Food Blog
We hope you enjoy what has inspired us and our menu.
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Hello Seafood Lovers! If you travel to Hilton Head Island in the cooler months, not only do we hope to see you again, but we highly suggest dining at the outside fireplace at our sister restaurant, Red Fish.
* For Reservations at Red Fish: 843.686.3388
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(Photo: Hannah Whitaker. Illustrations by John Burgoyne)The French call them mange-touts, or “eat all,” referring to the fact that the edible-podded sugar snap is a decidedly nose-to-tail legume, a sweet-and-crunchy package deal. Something else you’ll want to eat in its entirety: ABC Kitchen chef Dan Kluger’s amazing snap-pea-and-endive salad.
Dan Kluger’s Sugar-Snap-Pea-and-Endive Salad
For the Dressing:
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp. Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tbs. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sunflower oil
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oilFor the Salad:
3 cups sugar snap peas
12 spears Belgian endive
12 spears red endive or radicchio di Treviso
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
2 tbs. each parsley, chives, chervil, tarragon, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper to tasteFor the Dressing:
Combine the Parmesan, vinegar, lime juice, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender. Emulsify with the oils. Reserve. For the salad: (1) string the snap peas. Blanch for 30 seconds, and remove to an ice bath to cool. Dry the snap peas, and (2) slice into thin strips. To plate each serving: Place 1 Belgian- and 1 red-endive spear on a plate. (3) Top with a small mound of sliced snap peas, a drizzle of dressing, and sprinkle of cheese. Repeat twice using smaller endives each time. Sprinkle with herbs, and drizzle more dressing around the plate. Finish with black pepper. Serves 4. Save remaining dressing for another use. Adapted from Dan Kluger. -
A bit of advice to pass on… if you are fortunate to find yourself in the Coconut Grove in Miami looking for a lunch spot we highly suggest the Pork Taquitos Moritas at Jaguar! As pictured they are shredded pork with chipotle morita, fresh hand made tortillas, picked red onion and guacamole. Delicious especially when served with a cerveza.
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The Russian Tea room is classic New York spot. We enjoy it most for the vodka and caviar up at the bar, but the food is certainly not a let down. Please enjoy a recipe of the Beef Stroganoff we tried at the Russian Tea room our last New York trip. Recipe serves 4.
- 2 lbs lean boneless sirloin (trimmed of fat and gristle) or 2 lbs bottom round steaks, in one piece (trimmed of fat and gristle)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder (OR 1 Tablespoon prepared Dijon style mustard)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste (optional)
- 1 tablespoon minced onion
- 1/2 lb mushroom, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 1 cup sour cream, warmed
- Cut meat into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place between sheets of waxed paper and pound until its 1/4 inch thick (be careful not to tear meat). Cut pounded meat into 2x1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper, let stand for 15 minutes.
Heat 2 TBS butter in a frying pan large enough to hold everything. Addsliced onion, cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add meat to pan and cook for 3 minutes, turning meat to brown evenly. - Stir in flour and mustard, and cook 1 minute more. Add 1/2 cup wine and optional tomato paste. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- In another frying pan, heat 2 TBS butter. Add minced onion and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat 2 minutes. Add 2 TBS wine and cook 2 minutes more. Add mushroom mixture to meat mixture. Check seasonings and add warmed sour cream.
Over lowest possible heat, simmer for 5 minutes to heat through. Do NOT let it boil. - Serve over hot rice with a green vegetable on the side.
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Anyone in the mood for French cuisine? While in New York a few weeks ago we tasted this wonderful Coq Au Vin from chef Daniel Boulud’s kitchen at Bar Boulud! This one is certainly a favorite. It takes some prep, but delicious! Serves 4.
Ingredients
- 2 Amish chicken, broken into 4 breasts and 4 legs
- 4 celery stalks, peeled and cut into 2” batons
- 2 heads garlic, sliced in half
- 2 pounds small button mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
- 1 pound pearl onions
- 2 pounds baby carrots, peeled and trimmed
- 1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into ¼ inch slices
- Sachet (8 sprigs thyme, 1 fresh bay leaf, 2 teaspoons coriander seed, 1 teaspoon cracked white pepper tied up in cheesecloth with butchers twine)
- 1 bottle (750ml) dry red wine
- 1/2 bottle (375ml) ruby port wine
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups unsalted chicken stock or canned chicken broth
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, for garnish
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- For the Foam:
- 1/4 cup lobster stock, reduced
- 1/4 skim milk
Cooking Directions
For the Benedict:
Place oil, chopped garlic, Scallops and Chorizo slices in a sauté pan on medium heat. Cook together until garlic is golden brown and let rest, strain.
For the Lobster Foam:
1. The Day Before: Separate the chicken legs and thighs. Place in a large container with the celery, garlic, mushrooms, pearl onion,s carrot, carrots, and bacon. Cover all ingredients with the red wine and port and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Drain all ingredients from the wine and reserve. Reduce the wine in a large pot by half. Meanwhile, pat all ingredients dry and brown the bacon in a Dutch oven; remove and set aside, reserving the fat in the pot. Sear the chicken on all sides in one layer. Remove the chicken; add the sliced vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, on medium heat until browned about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for another 4 minutes.
3. Add the reduced wine, crisped bacon, chicken, veal and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, cover with a round of parchment paper and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until the chicken is tender.
4. If the sauce seems too thin, remove the chicken and vegetables, and return to the heat and reduce until desired consistency (it should coat the back of a spoon). Incorporate all ingredients back together and serve hot.
Note: This dish is great served with fresh pasta or rice. It can be kept, chilled, for up to 4 days.
Wine Recommendation: 2007 Cotes du Rhone, Mont Olivet
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Good News… its cooler, but certainly not the winter! Let’s toast to the last days of warm weather with this Heirloom Tomato, feta, and watermelon salad from New York’s Rouge Tomato. We’ve made versions of this before with the heirloom tomatoes from our Bear Island farm and the flavor was sensational. There is nothing quite like a tomato strait from the vine and onto your plate!
Heirloom Tomato, Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad
Serves 4 people- 3 large or 16 cherry-size heirloom tomatoes
- 1/4 Seedless Red Watermelon (with the rind removed and saved). You can use a mix of red and yellow if you can find it
- 1 Cucumber, rind on and seeds removed, cut into thin 1/2-moon slices
- 1/2 small red onion cut into thin slices
- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled but not too finely
- 4 1” slices of Rustic Sourdough bread
- 1 oz Sherry vinegar
- 1 oz Olive Oil
- 2 oz Black-Olive-Oil Cured Olives (pits removed)
- 1/4 cup Chiffonade Basil plus 4 leaves whole
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Salt and pepper
For the Watermelon
Remove the rind of the watermelon. Carefully remove the thin layer of green skin on the outside of the rind from the white part. Cut the white into 1/4-inch cubes and place in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the rice wine vinegar and sugar to a boil and pour over the rinds enough just to cover. Place the bowl in the refrigerator to cool.(If you have access to a cryovac machine or home version, cut the watermelon into rectangle logs about 2” x 2” x 4”. Season them with a touch of salt and pepper and place them in the plastic bags with the basil leaves. Remove all of the air with the machine and let stand for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator for most flavor.) If you do not have one of these machines, don’t worry, the salad works almost just as well with fresh watermelon; the latter is just a fun technique that will yield incredibly sweet and basil-flavored melon. Cut the melon into 1” cubes and set aside in the refrigerator.
For the Salad
Cut the tomatoes into 1” cubes or if you have the small ones, you can cut them into quarters. Basically, you want bite-size pieces. Place them in a large salad bowl with the cucumber, red onion and watermelon. Place the slices of bread on a plate and drizzle with a touch of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and grill until a bit crispy on the outside but still soft inside. Cut into 1” pieces and add to the bowl while still hot. Season the salad with a mixture of the sherry vinegar and olive oil until well dressed. Add the basil chiffonade and season the salad with salt and pepper. You might not need all of the dressing. Plate the salad and garnish with the olives, crumbled feta cheese and pickled rinds (removed from the liquid of course). Serve immediately as the warm bread against the cold salad makes for a really wonderful texture and flavor. If you plan on serving the salad at a later time, just keep all of the components separate and mix when you are ready -
Recently we were in New York and came across this delicious Carbonara sauce at Landmarc Restaurant at the Time Warner Center and thought we’d share.
Spaghetti a la Carbonara
(serves 6 to 8 people)Ingredients:
- 1 box of spaghetti
- 6 whole eggs
- 2 cups grated parmesan
- 1 slab of bacon (small dice)
- fresh cracked black pepper
- salt to taste
Preparation:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a large bowl combine eggs, cheese and pepper. Mix well. Cook bacon in a sauté pan until golden brown. Cook pasta to al dente, then drain (reserve some pasta water). Add hot pasta and bacon (with all the fat) to egg & cheese mixture. Mix well (add some pasta water if mixture is too dry.) Season with salt if necessary and serve.
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I cannot look at a salt marsh, veined with salt creeks swollen with the moonstruck tides, without believing in God. The marsh is feminine, voluptuous when the creeks fill up with the billion-footed swarm of shrimp and blue crabs and oysters in the great rush to creation in the spring.Pat Conroy
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Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument.Richard Whately
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We hope you enjoy our Gumbo. After all it’s football season so why not substitute the usual chili with some Old Oyster Factory Gumbo! We promise it will be a hit!
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 Each. Red, Yellow and green peppers diced
- 1 bunch celery, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup cut corn
- 2 ½ lbs. Andouille sausage
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup sherry
- ¼ lb. beef base
- ¼ lb chicken base
- 1/2 tsp. Thyme, Cayenne, Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 oz. lemon juice
- 1oz.Worcestershire
- 1 gallon water
- ¼ can tomato paste
- 16 oz. okra
Combine above ingredients through water, bring to a low boil. When vegetables are just turning soft, stir in paste, cook for a few minutes until paste is incorporated. Stir in okra, remove from heat. Serves 8-10
