I went to my fish market last weekend and bought some king crab legs, to make crab stuffed ostrich, the legs were huge and when I removed all the meat I realised there was far too much meat for just the ostrich I had. I had also bought some oysters as my niece loves them and she was coming over, I had planned on making oysters kilpatrick and mornay to start, when I realised I had so much crab I changed my mind and made crab topped oyster instead.

Ingredients

16 Large Oysters
1/4 Cup dry Bread Crumbs
Paprika
Rock Salt
Béarnaise Sauce
450g Fresh lump Crab Meat

Easy Béarnaise Sauce

2 Large shallots, minced
3 Teaspoons tarragon, chopped finely
2 Teaspoons parsley, chopped finely
1/4 Cup dry white wine
Pepper to taste
1 Cup hollandaise, kept warm

Method

1. Scrub oyster shells and open Oysters discard top shell, drain liquid, rinse under cold running water to remove any sand or grit.

2. Place oysters on a bed of rock salt (this helps to keep them stable.) in a large flat pan.

3. Put 1-2 teaspoons of béarnaise over each oyster and top with 1 tablespoon of crab meat. Add another 1-2 teaspoons of sauce over crab.

4. Sprinkle oysters with bread crumbs and paprika. Bake at 190c degrees for 15 minutes or until sauce starts to brown.

Béarnaise Method

1. Combine shallots, tarragon, parsley, white wine and pepper in a small saucepan and boil over a high heat until liquid has been reduced by half.

2. Remove from heat you can either leave as is or strain through a fine sieve if desired.

3. Cool slightly and beat the mixture into the warm hollandaise. If desired add a few extra chopped fresh herbs.

Yields about 1 cup

Makes 4 stater servings

All Photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.