If you want a locally sourced meal for the holidays, but don’t know how to get it, Little Ram Oysters and Chronicle Wines are doing all the legwork for you.
For Christmas, the oyster farm is releasing a book of recipes for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner, the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Each of the recipes features plenty of fish and oysters, obviously, but also local produce from a few of the farm stands still open this time of year.
The recipe book comes as part of a meal delivery kit, complete with oysters, produce and many of the ingredients necessary to cook the meals. For those ingredients not included in the kit, Elizabeth Peeples and Stefanie Bassett, the owners of Little Ram Oysters, encourage home cooks to source their own locally by telling them where they can find it on the North Fork.
For the fluke crudo, the tomato-coriander mignonette, kaffir lime leaves and Naked Farm microgreens are all provided but it is suggested to buy the fish at Southold Fish Market. Course five is a Little Ram broiled oyster and garlic linguine (see the recipe below). It comes with shucked Little Ram oysters and a garlic and shallot compound butter, but encourages people to purchase fresh pasta from Lombardi’s Love Lane Market. Other courses include a clam chowder latke, sea scallops in a Little Ram clam-fennel broth and even an oyster ice cream for dessert.
“It’s all farm-fresh food,” Bassett said. “We thought it was a great way to feature our oysters, to feature our products, but also for everybody else out here who’s working so hard on beautiful food and wine.”
Each course will also be paired with a wine tasting kit from Chronicle Wine, which can be purchased separately.
“They are expanding their tasting kits to include seven wines to go with the seven dishes,” Peeples said. “I think this could be really cool for people during the holidays when they can’t go out and try the different tastings of the beautiful wineries.”
The Feast of the Seven Fishes kit can be ordered in for two, four, six or eight servings, and all orders are due on December 20. Pick up from Chronicle Wines Tasting room and local South Fork deliveries will happen on Wednesday, December 23, and local delivery to the North Fork on Christmas Eve. Orders can be placed through the Little Ram website.
To get a taste of what the recipe book has to offer, here’s one of Peeples and Bassett’s favorite recipes, the Little Ram broiled oyster and garlic linguine.
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 4 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Ready: 30 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 Pint Shucked Little Ram OystersGarlic-Shallot Compound Butter (provided in holiday package)
1/3 Package of Linguine
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 TBSP chopped parsley
DIRECTIONS
1. In a food processor, pulse any dry bread you have to make breadcrumbs.
2. Toast breadcrumbs with a generous amount of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Stir constantly until breadcrumbs are slightly toasted. Remove from pan, transfer to bowl and toss with a pinch of salt and chopped parsley. Set aside.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to boil for pasta.
3. In an oven safe shallow baking dish (approx. 8″ x 8″), combine shucked oysters and their liquor (oyster juice), white wine and garlic-shallot compound butter. Stirring once or twice, broil on high heat until the liquid is boiling and the oysters appear slightly cooked, approximately 12-15 minutes.
4. While the oysters are in the oven, add linguine to the boiling water and cook according to the package minus 2 minutes. Once pasta is done, drain and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
5. When the oysters are done, put drained pasta back in the pot on the stove on high heat and pour in the oyster mixture along with approximately 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss until the liquid is boiling and has reduced slightly, about 2 minutes.
6. Plate and top with breadcrumb mixture.
PAIRING NOTES: 2018 Saltbird Cellars Chardonnay
A rich swirl of lemon cookies, apple blossom and hints of jasmine that take to the buttery, briney goodness in a seafood pasta.
