Oysters with Mignonette Sauce
This is my personal favorite way to eat oysters. The name comes from the OG method of peppercorn crushing. It is done with brute strength, pressing down on whole peppercorns with the bottom of a sauté pan. Forget cocktail sauce. This simple, spicy, acidic concoction is, for me, the perfect counterpoint to briny shellfish. I like to make my sauce a few hours ahead, to give the flavors a chance to macerate.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon pink peppercorns
1 teaspoon unrefined salt – try Japanese shio, bamboo, flor de sal, something from the American Northwest or Northeast, a smoked salt, or a salt infused with peppercorns, citrus, herbs, fennel, shallots, or red wine.
1 shallot, minced
1 cup good quality red wine vinegar
1 dozen fresh oysters (or more—more is better), shucked, on the half shell
Method
- Place peppercorns (black and pink) and salt on a cutting board. Hold a small sauté pan firmly, one hand on the handle, the other on the rim. Press in s a rolling motion over the peppercorns, crushing them roughly. Repeat until all peppercorns are cracked.
- Combine peppercorns, salt, shallots, and vinegar in a small a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Turn off heat and set aside to steep and macerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Shuck the oysters, being careful to keep all the liquid (a.k.a. oyster liquor) in the bottom half of the shell. Nestle shucked oysters into a plate of crushed ice. Keep cold until service. Present shucked oysters with a ramekin of mignonette sauce and a small spoon. Eat oysters with a generous spoonful of mignonette sauce on top of each one.
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Whole Spices
Spices will keep for years if left whole. But the minute they are ground, they start deteriorating. That means that spices taste better, and are a better value, when bought whole and ground as needed. The process isn’t hard, but it does take a little time.
Most spice benefits from toasting before grinding – but not all. Black pepper, for instance, is good to go. Recipes will specify, but in general, the heat releases the spice oils, which changes their flavor, usually for the better. Use a dry pan, preferably made of cast iron, which conducts heat evenly. Add the spices to the pan and keep them moving by shaking the pan or stirring. This constant movement ensures the spices will toast evenly. As soon as they become fragrant, the toasting is done. Be careful, as these tiny seeds and berries can burn very quickly. Remove them from the heat and the pan ASAP. Remember, the pan is still hot and it will keep cooking the spices until you remove them.
Sometimes recipes will include heating the spices in liquid, so the toasting step can be omitted.
Next comes the grinding. Cool the spices before you grind them. They are easier to handle, and they emit fewer fumes.
A coffee grinder is a good tool for the smaller spices. It is small, which forces the spices through the blade more often than a larger food processor or blender does, producing a finer, more even grind. I recommend you get a separate grinder just for spices. I have had some mighty weird coffee after a particularly spicy kitchen escapade.
When I am feeling historic, I enjoy grinding in a mortar. The result is rougher, but more spiritually satisfying. (Culinary geeks, unite!) There is also a method the French call mignonette, in which whole spices are crushed by the flat bottom of a frying pan. Don’t whack the pan onto the spices like a fly swatter, but rather, use the pan to knead or rub the spices into submission. This is typically done with pepper, but it works for everything in a pinch. I like to do this when I am trying to impress people. Or when I am too lazy to dig out the machinery.
