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Scalloped Oysters in Ramekins
Follow the recipe for Scalloped Oysters given in the chapter on "Fish"; but use ramekins for baking.
This is a serving variation rather than a standalone recipe, so the work is in the base formula and in the change of vessel. Individual ramekins cook faster and dry out faster than one large dish.
- You need the parent recipeThe instruction is meaningless without the Scalloped Oysters entry from the Fish chapter. That base formula is not reproduced here; a period scalloped oyster recipe of the usual type (oysters, cracker or bread crumbs, butter, oyster liquor or cream, seasoning) will stand in for it.
- Oven heatScalloped oysters are generally baked in a hot rather than a moderate oven; in modern terms something like 425-450F, the aim being to brown the crumbs before the oysters shrink. The recipe as printed gives no temperature.
- Timing in small dishesSmall ramekins will be done well before a large dish; expect roughly 12 to 15 minutes against perhaps 25 to 30 for a full casserole, though the recipe gives no times. Pull them when the top is brown and the edges bubble; oysters cooked past the point where their edges curl turn firm and rubbery.
- Two layers, not threeA ramekin is too shallow for the classic crumb-oyster-crumb-oyster-crumb stack. Use a thin crumb base, one layer of oysters, and a buttered crumb lid, or the middle layer will steam into paste.
- Drain the oystersReserve the liquor and add it back by the spoonful. In a small dish, undrained oysters release enough liquid to flood the crumbs, and there is no depth of casserole to absorb it.
- YieldNo quantity is given here. A base recipe built on a pint of oysters would fill something like four 6-oz ramekins as a first course.
Scalloped, or "escalloped," oysters were one of the workhorse dishes of the American table from the mid-nineteenth century onward, when oysters were cheap, sold by the quart from barrels and carts, and treated as everyday food rather than a luxury. The dish itself is just crumbs, butter and oysters baked together, and the name is usually traced to the scallop shells once used as baking vessels, though that derivation is traditional rather than documented. The chafing dish enjoyed a long vogue for informal supper parties in the same period: small portions in small dishes, brought to the table and kept warm in front of the guests.