Seattle Water-Rocks

How great is a city that sells freshly harvested oysters at its farmers market?

I came home last Sunday morning with a two-pound bag in hand, and a vague idea about how I wanted to spend my afternoon.

That afternoon included mixing up my favourite oyster topping, jon shucking, and us drinking a bottle of sparkling wine. Bubbles may just be a must-have for the first oysters of the season.

So. Oyster toppings. Sure, you can just squeeze a lemon over them and call it a day – enjoy the subtle, briny flavours that each differing varietal has, but that’s about as much fun as vanilla ice cream. Or you can douse them with hot sauce and bread crumbs. Or you can put that awful pre-chewed spinach mixture on top (I puke in your shoe if you actually like oysters Rockefeller).

But I love the mignonette sauce. I think it’s delicate and beautiful. Oh, and easy to make at home.

Start with 1/2 c. red wine vinegar (I had to use white because that’s what we had in the cabinet. It’s fine, but you lose the pretty rose colour). I’d really like to try this with different wine-vinegars to see how it impacts the flavour.

And to that you add 1 T black pepper…

and 2 T chopped shallots….

Shake them all together and spoon on top of your oysters. I think if you were to add 1-2 T of dijon or stone ground mustard (or an egg yolk) it would make a really tasty vinaigrette too. Yum!