Recipe: Warm Oysters with Barsac Sabayon

Name: Warm Oysters with Barsac Sabayon
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 24 fine de claire oysters size 2; 10.5 oz (300 g) of endives, just wiped and cut into thin sticks (julienne); 1.75 oz (50 g) of butter; 1/2 juice of lemon; 1 teaspoon of caster sugar; salt and 1/2 teaspoon of four spices; 0.8 cup (20 cl) of Barsac*; 6 egg yolks; 1 dl of liquid cream; coarse salt

By chef patrick Asfaux 5/5 (12 reviews) · 🍳 9 made it

Prep 20 min

Cook 30 min

Total 50 min

Servings 8 serv.

This is an appetizer for festive meals, when you have guests at the table and want to impress them without stress. No need to be a pastry chef or experienced cook : if you know how to boil wine and whisk over a double boiler, you'll pull it off. Fine de claire oysters size 2 are meaty enough to handle the heat without becoming rubbery, and candied endives make an excellent buffer between the shell and the oyster.

Ingredients for 8 servings

Adjust for

servings

24 fine de claire oysters size 2
10.5 oz (300 g) of endives, just wiped and cut into thin sticks (julienne)
1.75 oz (50 g) of butter
1/2 juice of lemon
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
salt and 1/2 teaspoon of four spices
0.8 cup (20 cl) of Barsac*
6 egg yolks
1 dl of liquid cream
coarse salt

Step-by-step directions

1 In a saucepan, melt the butter then add the endives in julienne, salt, sugar, lemon juice and four spices. Cover and cook gently over low heat for 30 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, open your oysters, discard the first liquid then let them release their second liquid. Detach them from their shells, pour them into a bowl, clean the shells and keep them.

3 Bring your Barsac* to a boil and add freshly ground pepper. When it reaches boiling point, plunge your oysters and their released juice for 10 seconds then remove them with a skimmer (drain) onto a plate.

4 Reduce the wine by half then let it cool to room temperature.

5 Prepare an oven-safe plate with a good thickness of coarse salt so that your shells stay balanced horizontally.

6 Arrange your 24 shells on the plate and in each one, place a spoonful of candied endives, then add a poached oyster on top.

7 Make the sabayon : over heat, over a double boiler, in a saucepan pour the reduced Barsac and your 6 egg yolks. Then with a whisk, beat this mixture with a whisk until it reaches the consistency of a cream. Remove your saucepan from the double boiler and immediately add the cream, salt lightly and pepper.

8 Turn your oven on to broil setting.

9 Then using a soup spoon, coat each oyster with sabayon, put the plate in the oven. 2 to 3 minutes will be enough for them to be nicely colored.

10 To serve : on each plate, place small piles of coarse salt so that the oysters stay horizontal.

11 Serve with a small glass of the wine used to make the recipe.

Chef's Note : You'll see that in most recipes, when poaching oysters, many of my colleagues often use the first liquid. For my part, I find that fine de claire is already quite iodized and since I've had comments from time to time about the sauce being too salty, even though I hadn't salted it, I prefer to share my experience. That is, to use only the second liquid released so that your recipe will turn out perfectly.

A chef's advice

Candied endives and Barsac sabayon : two textures that play together, one soft and tangy, the other airy and sweet. The trick is that the reduced Barsac cools to room temperature before whisking, otherwise your egg yolks cook on one side and your sabayon stays grainy. And forget the liquid from the first opening : fine de claire is already iodized, no need to overload it. For this recipe, you can prepare everything in advance before your guests arrive because the broiler run when serving will be enough to warm the oysters and the shredded endives.

* Barsac wine or Sauternes or Saint-Croix-du-Mont and even late harvest wines from Alsace.