lissa's toast cups

1 lb sliced bread
2 T butter
2 or 3" biscuit cutter

Grease mini muffin tin and press bread into each place. bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. can store up to 3 weeks in airtight container.

Filling:

4 T butter
3 shallots, minced
1/2 lb finely chopped mushrooms
2 T flour
1/2 c heavy cream
3 T chives
2 T chopped parsley
1/2 t salt
1/2 t lemon juice
1/8 t cayenne
2 T parmesan cheese

Melt butter, add shallots, cook 2 min. Add mushrooms and cook 10=15 min. Sprinkle flour over mixture, cook 2 mint. turn heat to high and add cream, cook and boil 3 min., stirring. remove from heat, add rest x cheese, fill cups, sprinkle cheese on top. bake 350 10 min.

Mignonette Sauce for Oysters Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes

Make the mignonette at least 4 hours ahead of time, preferably a day or two, which allows for the flavors to blend, and the shallots to mellow.
Ingredients

4 large (walnut-sized) shallots (enough for 3/4 of a cup, minced)
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup clear, unseasoned rice vinegar*
1 pinch of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of finely crushed white peppercorns (do not use pre-ground or powdered white pepper)

*If using seasoned rice vinegar, omit the sugar and salt


Method

1 Peel and coarsely chop the shallots. Put them into a food processor and pulse a few times, until the shallots are finely minced, but not mush, with pieces no smaller than the tip of a match. You can also finely mince by hand if you wish. The advantage of using a food processor is that the food processor bowl captures all of the liquid released by the shallots as they are minced, which will enhance the flavor of the mignonette.

2 Place the minced shallots and any liquid released from them in a non-reactive (glass or pyrex) bowl. Add the white vinegar, rice vinegar, and sugar and salt. Stir with a fork. Add the freshly crushed white pepper. Stir with a fork.

3 Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours. For best results, store for at least 2 days before using. The mignonette flavor will be better blended the longer it sits. You may notice that the crushed white peppercorns may sink to the bottom of the bowl as the mignonette rests. If you see this, just give it a little stir.

The mignonette will last up to a month in the refrigerator.

To serve, shuck the oysters. (Here is an excellent video by Serious Eats on How to Shuck an Oyster.) Make sure that the oyster is loose in the shell before serving. Usually the mignonette sauce is served in a small bowl with a small spoon, alongside the oysters on a platter (or as the French say, "plateau de coquillages"). People can scoop a small amount of the mignonette (1/8 of a teaspoon or so) onto their oyster before eating.

Yield: Makes about a cup and a half, easily enough for several dozens of oysters.

Fideos with Shrimp and Clams

I had a ham bone in the freezer. Making the broth now. might make this at the beach...

1. 4 smoked ham hocks
2. 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
3. 12 scallions
4. 1 1/4 pounds fideos or angel hair pasta, broken into 1-inch lengths
5. 1 pound large shrimp
6. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
7. 1 pound abalone or oyster mushrooms—stems trimmed, caps sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
8. Salt and freshly ground pepper
9. 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
10. 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
11. 1 cup Spanish green olives, pitted and chopped
12. 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
13. 1 cup dry sherry, such as fino
14. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
15. 2 dozen Manila or littleneck clams, scrubbed
16. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. In a large pot, cover the ham hocks with water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the hocks to a large bowl. Strain the broth into a very large glass measuring cup and skim off the fat; you should have about 6 cups of broth. Crumble the saffron threads into the broth and reserve. When the ham hocks are cool enough to handle, remove the meat and coarsely chop it; discard the hocks.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Grill the scallions over high heat until lightly charred all over, about 2 minutes. Coarsely chop the scallions. Spread the fideos on 2 large rimmed baking sheets and bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven for about 10 minutes, until browned.
3. Using scissors, cut down the back shell of each shrimp. Remove the dark intestinal veins, leaving the shells intact.
4. Heat 2 large skillets and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to each. Add half of the mushrooms to each skillet, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillets. Add the garlic and shallots to the skillets and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes; stir in the chopped ham, olives and crushed red pepper, then stir in the fideos. Add the sherry to the skillets and cook over moderately high heat until reduced by three-quarters, about 2 minutes. Stir in the ham hock broth and the lemon juice, then add 1 cup of hot water to each skillet. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
5. Add the shrimp and clams to the skillets and simmer over moderately high heat, turning the seafood a few times, until the fideos have absorbed most of the liquid, the shrimp are cooked and the clams have opened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the grilled scallions and sprinkle with the cilantro. Drizzle the fideos with olive oil and serve right away.


Make Ahead
The recipe can be prepared through Step 3 up to two days in advance. Refrigerate the ham hock broth, chopped ham, scallions and shrimp separately. Store the toasted fideos in an airtight container at room temperature. Warm the ham hock broth before using.

Four-Minute Egg Gribiche

Zuni Café’s
Adapted from The Zuni Café Cookbook

This version is essentially a mayonnaise, and it’s particularly important to use a very mild-tasting olive oil. If your oil is at all bitter, or if you’re unsure, use a mixture of it and a more neutral-tasting oil, like canola.

2 medium shallots, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
Salt
1 ¼ cups mild-tasting olive oil
2 tsp. thinly sliced chives
2 tsp. finely chopped parsley
2 tsp. finely chopped chervil
½ tsp. finely chopped dill
2 Tbsp. capers, rinsed and dried, coarsely chopped

Combine the shallots and the vinegar in a small bowl, and set aside to macerate while you prepare the rest of the sauce.

Put the egg in a small saucepan of barely simmering water, and bring it to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for about 4 minutes. Drain, and put the egg in a bowl of ice water to cool completely.

When the egg is cool, crack and scrape it into a medium bowl. Add the mustard and a pinch or two of salt. Mash it all together, and then begin whisking in the oil, just a few drops at first, then gradually increasing the flow to a thin stream. Stop adding oil when the mixture is satiny and has lots of body, like – and I love that Judy Rodgers describes it this way – a hot fudge sauce. Stir in the herbs and capers. Add the vinegar and shallots, and adjust with salt to taste.

Serve with grilled fish or poultry, fried seafood, roasted potatoes, boiled shrimp, or asparagus, or - my personal preference - as the dressing for a fantastic potato salad.

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