I did manage to get to get in quite a lot of thermomixing over the school holidays, however most of it was repeats of my In The Mix Favourites, Mojito Cheesecakes, Caramelised White Chocolate Mousse with Passionfruit Puree and Coffee Crumb, the amazing Beetroot, Pomegranate and Pistachio Salad, Kirsch Ganache and Pastilla. We were enjoying our annual holiday down at the coast – and of course my thermomix came too!
What’s more though – I did manage to score quite a few thermo-related presents. The individual pudding basins I’d been wanting for the Steamed Celeriac and Mushroom Puddings, and a box full of goodies that are a little harder to find. I’m really looking forward to making some new dishes over the next little while.
One of the new dishes I did try over Christmas was the Oysters with Yuzu Granita. I adore oysters. The man of the house doesn’t. As simple as that. Won’t go anywhere near them, hates the sight of them. So I had to wait for an occasion where I was feeding a lot of people and what’s more, a group of people I knew liked oysters – they really are a polarising food I’ve decided.
This recipe comes from Darren Robertson, who was a chef at Tetsuya’s. I was lucky enough to go there once, and it was everything I had hoped for and more. I do need another fix at some stage – but as it’s been 4 years since I’ve even been in Sydney, it might be a while coming.
So, Christmas night at our house, my extended family descended. We are nearly unanimously seafood lovers, so it was a perfect opportunity to showcase the Oysters with Yuzu Granita. I did have to cheat a little, and used lime instead of yuzu. I’ve never actually seen a yuzu to my knowledge, and I wasn’t sure that the pre-Christmas day nightmare at the supermarket, greengrocer or any shopping precinct in general was the time to try and track it down.
You need to make sure that you have enough time to freeze the granita mix, so I actually prepared mine the day before, so it would be completely frozen, and I wouldn’t have to even think about it until a few minutes before I needed to serve them up the next day. I was making triple quantities as I had quite a few oysters to dress – but next time I’ll probably go with the single quantity, as it made quite a bit, and unless you’re using absolutely massive oysters, I don’t think you would need it.
The sand that you make to serve the oysters on is not strictly necessary – but it does help it look pretty on a serving platter. For mine, if you’re serving for a crowd and you have lots of oysters on a platter, you may not need it. I you were serving only a few oysters, then I’d definitely do the sand.
When you’re serving, and this might be a result of me making the basis the day before, it was quite icy. For mine, I’d prefer it to be a big slushier, so it could be a good idea to leave it in the TM bowl for a few minutes until you reach the desired consistency.
Overall though, it’s lovely. I’m even tempted to make it and serve the oysters and the granita in a shot glass.
In the Mix Tricks 