Oysters, shrimp stars of Southern-style ‘sammie’
As I’m making a trip down to New Orleans this month (half business, half pleasure), Big Easy recipes have been on my mind. You’ll discover a little taste of my most treasured city in America to visit in these quick, easy oyster and shrimp po’boys.
My favorite “Sammie” in the Big Easy is at Domilise’s Po-Boy & Bar on Annunciation Street. This is my take on the establishment’s best sandwich of all.
Oysters are one of my most cherished foods — briny, alluring and glorious with very little fuss. When testing this recipe for my most recent cookbook, America Farm to Table (Grand Central Life & Style, $35), we got our oysters from the Pemaquid Oyster Co. in Damariscotta, Maine, where Jeff “Smokey” McKeen raises over a million oysters each year.
Oddly enough, my favorite version of the greatest remoulade sauce on the entire planet is served at Pearl Oyster Bar in New York’s West Village, where chef Rebecca Charles makes the best tartar sauce I’ve ever tasted.
I modified the recipe for this po’boy, but when I eat it, I am back on Annunciation Street, dreaming.
OYSTER AND SHRIMP PO’BOY
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 cups peanut oil, for frying 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning 2 large eggs 1/2 cup Texas Pete hot sauce 16 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 16 oysters, shucked 4 soft hoagie rolls 1 cup remoulade (see second recipe) 2 ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced 1/4 head iceberg lettuce, shredded Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Splash of red-wine vinegar
For the remoulade:
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise 1/4 cup Creole mustard Zest and juice of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon pimenton (Spanish paprika) 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish 1 teaspoon sweet pickle juice or sugar 1 teaspoon hot sauce 2 scallions, minced 1 rib celery, cut into fine brunoise 1 tablespoon tiniest capers, or large capers, chopped
Directions:
Before you start cooking the shrimp and oysters, make the remoulade: In a bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon zest, lemon juice, pimenton, horseradish, pickle juice or sugar, hot sauce, scallions, celery and capers; mix well, then cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Heat the oil in a tall-sided pot until it registers 365 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer.
Place the flour and Old Bay in a shallow bowl, and mix
well. In a small bowl, beat the eggs; then add the hot sauce, and beat again.
Dip the shrimp in the egg mixture, letting any excess drip off; then dredge the shrimp in the flour mixture.
Place the shrimp into the oil one at a time, and cook until golden brown, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp, and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining shrimp.
Dredge the oysters in the same flour
mixture, and drop them into the oil one at a time. Fry until golden, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels.
Assemble the sandwiches: Split and toast the rolls; then spread both sides of the bread with some of the remoulade. Divide the sliced tomatoes among the rolls; then the shredded lettuce. Season with salt and pepper, and add a splash of red-wine vinegar. Place four oysters and four shrimp on top of the lettuce in each sandwich, and close. Serve immediately.