Brown Oyster Stew

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: October - 2022

With October come thoughts not of autumn leaves but of a bowl of stew. Not just any stew, but a brown oyster stew – a silky, saline, succulent bowl of fat, luscious bivalves cloaked in cream and topped with benne seeds as prepared by my late husband, Chef Louis Osteen. More than 40 years ago, before it was fashionable to do so, Louis would scour old cookbooks, reinvigorating long forgotten recipes. Such was the case with the stew. It became a mainstay on our restaurant menu and something of a banner for Southern chefs of the 1980’s who were creating their own culinary patois, celebrating the re-emergence of Southern cookery. It’s especially poignant to me now recalling the last time I slurped that stew. It was in October 2018 at a gala at The Farm at Old Edwards honoring Louis – half a dozen chefs, culinary comrades who like Louis have a history of worshiping at the altar of Southern cooking, joined together to serve up a meal worthy of even the most finicky a Southern aristocrat. The stew scrupulously made according to Louis’s recipe by acclaimed chef Mike Lata of Charleston was as extravagant and delicious as remembered. Brown Oyster Stew with Benne Seeds
Reprinted from Louis Osteen’s Charleston Cuisine Ingredients 4 tablespoons Benne seeds 2 tablespoons peanut oil 2 tablespoons pancetta, diced 2 tablespoon yellow onion, minced 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 ¼ cups heavy cream 24 fresh oysters, shucked, liquor reserved 1 ¾ cups fish stock or bottled clam juice 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped 1 teaspoon sesame oil 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped Salt and pepper to taste Directions 1. Place the benne seeds in a small heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and roast 9 minutes or until dark and fragrant. Remove from the heat, roughly crush half the seeds with a spoon and set aside. 2. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over low heat. Sauté pancetta for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. 3. To the oil in the pan add the onion and crushed benne seeds and sauté for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. When lightly browned, add the flour, stir to combine and cook 2 minutes. 4. In a separate pan heat the cream to just below a simmer. 5. Add the reserved oyster liquor, fish stock or clam juice and thyme to the onion simmer, stirring with a whisk for about 2 minutes or until lumps disappear. Add the warm cream and simmer 5 minutes. Add the oysters and whole benne seeds, along with the lemon juice, sesame oil, and parsley. Leave the stew on the heat until the oysters just begin to curl. Quickly remove the saucepan from the heat and add salt and pepper to taste. 6. Divide the stew among four warm soup bowls. Garnish with the reserved pancetta and serve at once, accompanied by oyster crackers or buttered toast fingers. At the table the stew should be hot and steamy and the oysters plump and juicy. by Marlene Osteen