Shirred Oysters
Place small squares of toast in a pan and on each as many oysters as it will hold, well seasoned with salt, pepper and bits of butter. Cover the pan and cook the oysters in the oven until they are plump and curled at the edges. Serve immediately.
A three-line recipe that assumes you already know what shirring is and how an oyster behaves. The whole thing hinges on pulling the pan the moment the edges ruffle.
- The one thing that mattersOysters are done when the mantles ruffle and the flesh turns opaque and plump — roughly 5 to 8 minutes. Past that they shrink, weep liquor into the toast, and turn to rubber. Check at four minutes and expect to be surprised by how fast it happens.
- Shirred means the dish, not a techniqueShirred usually means baked in a shallow pan or individual gratin dish, the same word used for shirred eggs. Any low-sided ovenproof pan works; a rimmed sheet pan is fine if the oysters sit in a single layer — though this recipe wants it covered.
- Oven temperatureThe original names none. A hot oven, around 425F, gets the oysters curled before the toast goes soggy. A moderate oven risks letting them sit in their own liquor long enough to soften the bread.
- Covering the panThe lid traps steam and speeds things along, which is why the timing is so short. If you have no lid, foil does the job; uncovered, allow a couple more minutes and expect drier oysters.
- Buying the oystersUse shucked oysters sold in their liquor, drained well — wet oysters flood the toast. On a small square, two or three medium oysters is about what "as many as it will hold" means.
- The toastToast it dry and firm, not pale. Soft bread turns to paste under the oyster liquor. The small squares called for would suit individual portions.
- SeasoningOysters carry their own salt, so season lightly. A few drops of lemon at the table helps against the richness of the butter.
- YieldReckon two toast squares per person as a first course, three or four as a light supper dish. Serve straight from the oven; they will not hold.
Shirred dishes belong to the era of the shallow earthenware or tin baking pan, when a covered oven dish was the standard way to cook something quickly and gently without a sauce. Oysters were still cheap and abundant in American cities, and cookbooks of the period devote whole sections to them: fried, panned, scalloped, broiled, in patties, on toast. Serving them over a square of toast — or a "panned oyster" — was the standard way to make a small quantity of shellfish into a plated course for a light supper or a chafing-dish breakfast. The word shirr is of uncertain origin; in practice it meant little more than baked in a shallow pan with butter.