Oysters In Champagne Sauce
Recipe by Barbara Kafka, Cook's Magazine, September/October, 1987.
Yield: 4 Servings

24 raw oysters in shell

CHAMPAGNE SAUCE
1 1/2 tb unsalted butter
1 1/2 tb flour
1/2 c oyster juice - from above
1/2 c champagne or other dry sparkling; wine
1/4 tsp celery seed ground
1 freshly ground white pepper
2 c rock salt or coarse salt for the; broiler pan

Open the oysters as instructed in: Opening Oysters in the Microwave*. Measure 1/2 cup of the strained cooking liquid and reserve.

For the CHAMPAGNE SAUCE: Melt the butter in a 1-quart glass or ceramic measure or bowl, uncovered, on high for 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup reserved oyster juices and Champagne and cook, uncovered, on high, stirring twice during cooking, for 4 minutes or until thickened. Recipe can be made to this point a few hours ahead.

Heat the broiler with rack set at its highest level. Stir celery seed and white pepper to taste into the sauce. Spread 2 cups of coarse or rock salt in the bottom of a broiler pan to steady oysters. Nestle reserved shells into salt. Put each oyster in a shell and thoroughly coat the tops with sauce. Put under preheated broiler until just golden, about 2 minutes. Makes 4 first-course servings.

*Opening oysters in the microwave:
rec.food.recipes/Carl McCaskey
Scrub oysters under running water.
Place them in a glass casserole dish.

Using this method, the oysters will be uncooked:
Put them in microwave for 5 minutes on warm.
Remove from oven, pry open and shuck at once.

Using this method, the oysters will be thoroughly cooked:
You can completely open oysters by putting them in the microwave for 3 minutes on high.