Oysters with a Mango Habanero Mignonette

Anytime I see oysters in the store, I almost always buy them because both Clare and I love oysters.  Mostly raw, but occasionally in a good po' boy sandwich.  One of the few good things from working in a seafood restaurant is that I left with the knowledge of how to shuck oysters, and fairly quickly.

So, when I recently visited Whole Foods and saw that they had oysters, I bought a dozen.  The question was whether to make a mignonette.  Generally, a mignonette is a "sauce" of shallots and vinegar, usually with some other ingredients.  A few weeks back, I made oysters with a Peach Champagne mignonette.  This time, I wanted to go in a different direction, away from sweet and toward the heat.

So I decided make a mango habanero mignonette.  I have to say that the idea is not truly original.  Buffalo Wild Wings has a mango habanero sauce for its wings, and that is where the idea came from.

But a wing sauce is the last thing you want on oysters.  Rather, a mango, half a habanero, a scallion and a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  That is it.

OYSTERS WITH A MANGO HABANERO MIGNONETTE


A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2


Ingredients:
1 dozen oysters
1 mango, diced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/2 habanero, finely diced
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Directions:
1.  Mix all of the ingredients of the mignonette together.  Spoon a little on each oyster.

2.  Shuck the oysters.  Rinse each oyster.  Only use an oyster knife.  Oysters have an opening in the back.  Work the tip of the knife into that opening and begin to turn the knife to each side, working to loosen the top shell.  Once you can get enough of the knife into the oyster, Begin to push down to lift up the shell. Once the top shell is separated, use the knife to make sure the oyster is separated from the top shell.  Use the knife to separate the oyster from the rest of the shell.  There is a muscle underneath the oyster that connects to the bottom part of the shell.  Cut that muscle.  Rinse the oyster if necessary.

3.  Fill a bowl with crushed ice.  Spoon the mignonette onto each oyster.  Serve the oysters over the crushed ice.

ENJOY!