Smoked Oyster Savouries

July 8, 2002

In spite of the vet's suggestion that I keep the cat inside for a couple of weeks, the cat had other ideas. His second night home and he was desperate to visit the great outdoors.

Our kitchen has a door that leads into a lobby. The lobby has a cat door to the outside. There was no doubt that puss remembered all this. He ignored the french doors that lead directly outside and sat by the lobby door. And meowed. And meowed. I decided to chance it and opened the door. He continued across the lobby, sniffing the unpacked boxes and headed straight for the cat door, gave it a tap with his paw and made his exit.

I could see it all coming back to him as he checked out the garden. The barbecue sits by the backdoor with a cover on it. Puss was busy staring up at it, working out the effort needed to jump up. From there it was a short jump onto the top of a gate and then a march along the fence to survey his old territory.

He disappeared down the path and soon found the hole in the wall that led under the house. By then I was freezing so I decided to leave him to it. He reappeared about 15 minutes later, looking mighty pleased with himself. With a mat and a basket in front of the kitchen gas heater, he's not going to run away anywhere. Occasionally he wanders over and tries to coax me to turn the fire on and it's great to see him well settled in.

Beyond the kitchen the work goes on with me doing the occasional bit to speed things along, namely wallpaper stripping. It's a curiously satisfying job, particularly if the wallpaper comes off easily. I can remember stripping wallpaper in earlier times, the stripper solution running off the sponge down arms. But the builder had this brainwave and puts the solution in a garden spray. Works like a charm. Takes no time at all to wet a wall.

When I was moving in the pantry goods the other day, a can of smoked oysters reminded me of a pre-dinner pass-around I used to make several years ago.

Smoked Oyster Savouries

12 slices sandwich-sliced bread
oil spray
1 can smoked oysters
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
200ml milk
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

With a large cookie cutter, cut the bread into rounds that will fit in patty pans. Spray with oil and press, oil side down, into the patty pans. Bake at 200C for 8-10 minutes until golden and crisp.

Meanwhile melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook a further minute then whisk in the milk and parsley and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Drain and chop the smoked oysters and add to the white sauce. Reheat and spoon into the hot bread cases and serve.