Sometimes, Artichoke Hart sees something in a kitchen store, flea market, or vendor market that piques his interest; a new utensil, cooking tool, or a serving platter that would allow for a unique presentation. Often, it would inspire a snack or a meal, like this pottery piece he found at an outdoor vendor market. It seemed ideal for a small shellfish; oysters came to mind. And with the deep design, Oysters Rockefeller seemed ideally suited.

INGREDIENTS

Five fresh rock oysters
small batch of spinach
2 rashers of bacon (or slab of pancetta)
1 tbsn lemon juice
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese (or substitute)
1 cup kosher salt (sea salt)
dash of pepper

METHOD

Shuck oysters and leave meat in large half of shell. Place on ice while working.

• In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add spinach; cook and stir until wilted. Remove from the heat; stir in the cheese, lemon juice and pepper.
• Spread kosher salt into an ungreased baking pans. Lightly press the oyster shells down into the salt. Place one oyster in each shell; top each with 2-1/2 teaspoons spinach mixture.
• Bake, uncovered, at 450° until oysters are plump, 6-8 minutes. Serve immediately.

Although traditionally, oysters would be served on the salt bed, in this case, Hart used his fancy new dish… just for fun. A quick snack for two people.

This and other recipes occasionally pop up in the Artichoke Hart series (available here), or the London Cartwright series (available here). Both chefs are fictional… the dishes are not.