TartQueen's Kitchen

It’s been a seemingly unending winter here in Central Texas. At least our version of it. Damp & chilly with the occasional freeze and subsequent public freak-out.

So, seeking out “hearty” comfort foods to try to ignore Winter’s lingering visit is simply human nature. In that spirit, I decided on Oyster Stew for dinner last week.

I suppose one could call this a chowder.  It certainly has some milk (my preferred chowder base) in the broth. However, this recipe only uses 1 cup of milk, is thickened with a roux, and doesn’t have any bacon or salt pork in the recipe as traditional chowders do.

I do serve it with oyster crackers, though.

Note: In this example, I did use clam juice.  It has a fairly neutral flavor and is readily available.

If you do use a commercial seafood-based stock, be careful of how much salt you add.  Commercial stocks, especially seafood, can be salty.  Some of it is simply from the natural saltiness of the seafood and some is from the addition of salt during manufacturing.

The Ingredients. (Not pictured: Milk)

From top left: salt, Old Bay, pepper, thyme

2 tbsp. vegetable oil or butter

1 stalk celery, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)

1 small onion, finely diced (about 3/4 cup)

1 lb. Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes

2 tsp. dried thyme

1 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning, or to taste

4 c. fish stock, shellfish stock, or clam juice (or, in a pinch, chicken broth or water)

4 tbsp. butter

4 tbsp. flour

1 1/2 pt. oysters (keep any oyster liquor [juice] – it will be added with the milk)

A beautiful oyster from Quality Seafood Market. I was assured by the fishmonger that the red was simply the color of the food they were filtering – not Red Tide. It’s too cold for Red Tide in this hemisphere right now, anyway.

The oyster with its connective muscle removed. I generally remove this from the oyster because I don’t like the texture. It’s easy to remove; just pull it out (try not to take too much of the oyster meat with it). However, you can keep it in if the texture doesn’t bother you. To see the muscle in the oyster, look at the above photo. It’s opaque and plastic-looking.

Juice of 1 lemon

1 c. milk or half-and-half

Salt & Pepper to taste

1.  In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter or heat the oil.  Add the celery and onion and saute until the vegetables are soft but not browned, about 3 – 5 minutes.

Sauteing the onion and celery.

2.  Add the potatoes and continue sauteing just until the potatoes begin to warm up, about 3 – 5 minutes.

Adding the potatoes. While I generally don’t like to use Russets in soups, they are the best potato to use for stews and chowders. It’s their starchy quality that just works for these dishes.

Add the thyme, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and the Old Bay Seasoning.  Stir until the vegetables are coated with the seasonings.

The spices and thyme added.

3.  Add the stock or broth.  Cover the saucepan and bring the liquid to a boil.  Once the liquid comes to a boil, uncover the saucepan, turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

Adding the clam juice

After about 20 minutes of boiling. The potatoes are just about done and the broth has thickened slightly.

4.  Meanwhile, make the roux.  In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the flour and stir until it is mixed thoroughly with the butter.  Stir over the heat for an additional 2 minutes.  Take the skillet off the heat and set aside.

Making the roux. You want to stop at a blonde roux.

5.  When the potatoes are done, add the roux, lemon juice, milk, and oysters (along with their liquor).  Continue cooking until the milk is heated through, the stew is thickened a bit more, and the oysters are cooked, about 5 – 7 minutes.

Adding the rest of the ingredients.

The stew has thickened up. Try not to let it come to a full rolling boil. A few bubbles on the surface is fine, but you run the risk of overcooking the oysters and curdling the milk if you let the stew boil.

Taste for seasoning and serve with crackers.

Nothing like a nice warm stew on a cold night.

Enjoy!

One again, it’s time for Quick Meals You Can Make After Work.

This time, it’s Carrot Tart.  I guarantee you, even the kids will like it.  As well as any meat-and-potatoes eaters in your house. You can make it as a light dinner (or lunch) with just a salad, or, as a heartier meal with wild rice and a green vegetable or salad. (This is also an excellent cold-weather dish, believe it or not.)

Not too many extra notes for this recipe, really.  It’s pretty self-explanatory.  If you don’t have or prefer not to use honey, you can use maple syrup (the real stuff, not Mrs. Butterworth’s), or raw or brown sugar.

And, yes. I did use a frozen pie crust.

The Ingredients

Clockwise from top: ground ginger; salt; fresh ground nutmeg; dry mustard; fresh ground black pepper; allspice

Carrots. I just thought this was pretty.

1 ea. 9-inch frozen pie crust or your favorite savory pie crust recipe

2 eggs

1 c. whole milk or half-and-half

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. honey

4 large carrots, grated (you want approximately 2 c. grated carrots)

2 tbsp. parsley, minced

-or-

1 tbsp. chervil, minced

1.  If you are using a frozen crust, keep it frozen until you’re ready to fill it.  If you’re using a from-scratch crust, par-bake the crust at 425F for 15 minutes and let cool.

2.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and honey together over medium heat.

Melting the butter and honey together.

Add the carrots and toss in the butter-honey mixture.  Continue cooking until the carrots have softened slightly and all the liquid has evaporated, about 7 – 10 minutes.

Cooking the carrots. You want to cook them until they are just slightly softened. Remember, you’re going to cook them more in the oven.

Remove the carrots from the heat, spread out onto a plate or other flat surface and let cool for about 15 minutes.

3.  Mix together the milk, eggs, spices, and parsley or chervil.  Set aside.

The custard mixture. In this example, I used parsley. if you use chervil, you’ll have a slight anise flavor.

4.  In the waiting pie shell, spread the carrots as evenly as possible over the bottom.

The prepared pie shell. I like to wrap the edges so they won’t burn in the oven.

Carrots in the pie shell. Spread them as evenly as possible.

Slowly pour in the custard mixture.

Adding the custard. be sure to pour slowly so the custard can seep into the carrots. If you pour too quickly it can overflow out of the shell.

Bake the tart at 375F for 30 – 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.  Let sit for about 10 minutes, then serve.

The finished pie. Mmm….

Make this meal as light or as hearty as you like. It’s a great cold-weather dish when it’s served with wild rice and a lovely green vegetable like green beans, asparagus, or a bitter green like kale or mustard.

Enjoy!