Recipe - Cornmeal Battered Oysters On The Half Shell

32 Oysters; shucked (reserve
half of the shells)
1 cup Milk
2 cup Cornmeal
1 teaspoon Salt
One fourth teaspoon Cayenne
3 tablespoon Unsalted butter
2/3 cup Onion; julienned
2/3 cup Celery; julienned
2/3 cup Carrot; julienned
Salt and pepper
14 cup Vegetable oil for deepfrying
Tartar sauce
3 Sweet gherkins; finely
chopped
2 Shallots; finely chopped
Yolk of 1 hardboiled egg;
sieved or finely chopped
1 tablespoon Capers; finely chopped
2 tablespoon Fresh parsley leaves; finely
chopped
2 tablespoon Grated onion
1 tablespoon Fresh tarragon; finely
chopped or
1 teaspoon Dried; crumbled
1 tablespoon Fresh chervil; finely
chopped or
1 teaspoon Dried; crumbled
1 One half teaspoon Dijon mustard
One half teaspoon Grated lemon peel
Salt and pepper
1 One half cup Homemade or prepared
mayonnaise

Combine cornmeal, salt and cayenne in a shallow bowl.

Dip oysters in milk then dredge in cornmeal mixture. Arrange oysters on a
baking sheet or tray and chill 30 minutes.

Melt butter in a saucepan over mediumlow heat. Add onions, celery and
carrots and cook, covered, until softened, about 5 minutes. Season lightly
with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a deepfat fryer or large, heavy pot to
365 degrees. Add oysters, in batches, and fry 40 seconds until golden
brown. Scoop up with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Arrange
cleaned oyster shells on serving platter. Fill each shell with 1 teaspoon
of vegetable mixture. Top with oysters and a spoonful of tartar sauce.

Yield: 8 servings

Tartar sauce: Fold gherkins, shallots, egg yolk, capers, parsley, onion,
tarragon, chervil, mustard and lemon zest into mayonnaise; season to taste
with salt and pepper.

Yield: about 2 cups

Notes: Thanksgiving Special with Drew Nieporent

Recipe by: TVFN Show #TGSP94

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #921 by Sue suechef@sover.net on Nov 23,
1997