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Help with coming up with dish

1K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  petalsandcoco 
#1 ·
Ok so i was asked to come up with something for an upcoming event where we, and 50 other restaurants will be serving a couple hundred people. Our restaurant is based around oysters/raw bar. My gm originally was thinking shrimp cocktails, but i think we are over that idea, to plain, to many people have done it. She also was thinking tuna tataki, but ours is nothing special. We both agree that oysters should be used, but moreso for presentation, we will just end up using half shell oyster shells.

Im not to sure about the specifics yet, i will be asking her tomorrow, if we can bring a skillet out there then itll be a diffrent story, but for now i think the idea is to serve something cold.

I have several ideas already, but id like to hear any suggestions that you guys have.

My current ideas:

- Tuna & Mango tartare

- Tuna cube with sesame crust with a soy base & ginger

- Shrimp cocktail in a oyster shell

I will update this thread when i get more information, this is a pretty big thing for me, im not looking for someone to give me a recipe or do all the work, just some ideas from you more experienced folk :)

Thanks,

sebastian
 
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#4 ·
Ceviche served in a shell. No cooking, only assembly required at the event. Is there such thing as oyster ceviche?
Awesome idea. Although I don't know of an oyster ceviche parse, I bet it would be great esp. served in the half shell. Another idea might be to serve the oysters in their shell with an apple mignonette...

For a dozen medium oysters:

-2 Tbsp each: red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, shallot, fresh flat-leaf parsley (each finely chopped)

-1 cup fresh apple cider (or juice if you can't press the cider/get it fresh)

-1/4 C + 2 Tbsp finely chopped granny smith apple

-1 Tbsp each: raw cider vinegar, fresh lemon juice

-1/2 tsp coarse ground black pepper

-salt to taste

Combine clean, scrubbed oysters with the apple cider in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Steam oysters, covered, and transferring to a plate as they open after about 4-ish minutes. Reserve liquid and throw out any oysters that didn't open. Chill the loosely covered oyster plate for about 30 minutes or until they're cool. While they're cooling, pour cooking liquid through cheesecloth to remove grit... stir 4 Tbsp liquid with all other ingredients. Loosen cooled oysters with a knife, put oysters in the round half of their shell, spoon the mignonette on top and arrange on a plate. Garnish with a nice little parsley leaf on top of each one.
 
#5 ·
I like the idea of the seared tuna cubes.  Easy to prep and will keep well in transit, easy to serve and eat for the customers.  The oysters would be a touch iffy to keep fresh in transport, and awkward if you want to do them raw at the venue and have to shuck them there. very time consuming.
 
#6 · (Edited)
This is quite a nice challenge, Mini Chef. Let's resume; showing the capability of your restaurant to work with oysters, serving hundred(s) of people,... mamma mia!

I had to think it over, serving that many people without having to open oysters the same day? Let's look for a job with most preparation to be done the day before, but with a gastronomic touch. This is my suggestion, easy to make but should be delicious, and they all are going to eat their oyster;

Oyster Vichysoise with a puff pastry butterfly

Oyster Vichysoise;

The day before;

- make a fantastic chickenstock but do not salt!!

- open oysters above a sieve placed on a bowl to recupe all the oyster jus. Take the oysters out of the shells. You don't need the shells no more.

I would go for small oysters, they are much less threathening to "virgin" oyster eaters.

- sieve the oysterjus thouroughly in the finest sieve you have, bring to a boil, add oysters away from the fire and let poach just a minute or so

- remove poached oysters from the jus and cool asap and store until the next day. Preserve the jus!

- make the Vichysoise; potato, leeks (white only!), white celery sticks, garlic, potato, chickenstock, oysterjus (I would guess no more than 1/3 of the chickenstock, just taste)

The day of the event;

- use small mokkacups to serve, put a poached oyster in all of them

- heat Vichysoise without boiling! Add cream without boiling!!!!

- pour in the mokkacups (and maybe a tiny cress or shoot of your choice on top)

Pastry butterfly;

The day before;

- roll out puff pastry to a 2-3mm thickness and cut rectangles out 20 mm x 80 mm or around 3/4 inch x 3 inch or so in your money

- take the rectangles by their ends, turn both hands in the opposite direction as to make a twist in the middle of the pastry. You now have butterflies.

- paint some slightly deluted beaten egg on them and sprinkle with a mixture of sesam seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds and very little salt. Do use caraway, it's a perfect match with leeks.

- pre-bake in the oven.

The day of the event;

- heat them in the oven at 180°C (350°F)

Service!

BTW; I put the emphasis on no boiling when warming the Vichysoise and certainly when adding cream to avoid a disaster if you do boil it; it will split, no dought!
 
#7 ·
For the oyster ceviche, you could just do a ceviche with petit diced ingredients as the bed/garnish with the raw oyster put back on top. I'm thinking of oysters with vinegar, like mignonette, just more. Spice and acid as the flavor, and other simple seafood as the texture in the shell. Raw bar in a half shell!
 
#8 ·
Oysters are pretty damn good all by themselves. The sushi place I go to serves them with a sauce made from grated daikon, yuzu, soy, and chile sauce. Garnish it with just a little bit of green onion.

Have you ever had tuna poke? It is a traditionally Hawaiin dish with lots of Japanese influence. I make mine with raw cubed ahi (yellowfin tuna), chile sauce, soy, toasted sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and green onion. You can also add either some chopped wakame or strips of nori. It is easy to make ahead, tastes amazing, and needs no cooking.
 
#9 ·
Oysters are pretty damn good all by themselves. The sushi place I go to serves them with a sauce made from grated daikon, yuzu, soy, and chile sauce. Garnish it with just a little bit of green onion.

Have you ever had tuna poke? It is a traditionally Hawaiin dish with lots of Japanese influence. I make mine with raw cubed ahi (yellowfin tuna), chile sauce, soy, toasted sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and green onion. You can also add either some chopped wakame or strips of nori. It is easy to make ahead, tastes amazing, and needs no cooking.
Chef Sam Choy adds crab meat to his tuna poke along with all those flavors .....leave it or not, both ways are great.

Chris, Your idea is terrific.
 
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