Oyster Pan Roast Recipe

Years ago, when I was working at Pearl, I read M.F.K. Fisher's Consider the Oyster. It was then that I first learned about the oyster pan roast. I experimented with recipes for it a few times. Then when The John Dory opened next door to Del Posto a few years ago, I fell in love with chef April Bloomfield's "Oyster Pan Roast with Sea Urchin Butter." A little salt, a little pepper, plump oysters sitting at the bottom like some lost treasure, found.  That smoothness of the cream and uni butter that just melts away. Amazing. So it was a real blow when the restaurant closed and New York lost Chef Bloomfield's Oyster Pan Roast and Hangtown Fry (juicy oysters, thick bacon, and spicy jalapeño). Sure, Grand Central Oyster Bar has a pan roast that's celebrated, but it just didn't matter. New York had lost two of its best oyster dishes. I was forlorn. So I rejoiced when The John Dory and its Oyster Pan Roast were revived at the ACE. But in the jilted time in between, I was forced to perfect my own recipe. It's fairly simple, and I didn't try to replicate the uni butter (though The Times did everyone a public service by adapting the chef's recipe so you can try if you like), but I have to say, I'm pretty proud of it. This recipe features oysters from Hood Canal (the Puget Sound) provided by the New York Oyster Company — big, juicy, very briny oysters. But truth be told, I've made pan roasts with all kinds of oysters and I've yet to encounter an oyster that makes the dish a fail. You can even use a combination of oysters if you like. Now, how about bringing back the Hangtown Fry, Chef? [[{"fid":"5694266","view_mode":"full","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element","data-delta":0},"fields":{"format":"full","alignment":"center","field_image_alt[und][0][value]":"","field_image_title[und][0][value]":"","field_image_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_image_credit[und][0][value]":""},"field_deltas":[{"format":"full","alignment":"center","field_image_alt[und][0][value]":"","field_image_title[und][0][value]":"","field_image_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_image_credit[und][0][value]":""}]}]] Click here to see 7 Outstanding Oyster Recipes.