Phillip Searle

Oysters with cucumber in ham jelly

serves 10

Ham jelly

Ingredients

bones of 1 leg of ham
white wine, to cover
water, to cover
4 spring onions, peeled and chopped
2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and crushed
6 broken star-anise
freshly ground pepper
2 gelatine leaves, softened in water (optional)

Method

This jelly must be made a day in advance.

Place the ham bones in a large saucepan and cover with a mixture of 1/2 white wine and 1/2 water.

Add the spring onions, ginger, star-anise and pepper.

Bring to the boil, skim and cook over very low heat for up to 8 hours, skimming when necessary.

Strain the liquid through a piece of damp muslin into a large bowl and discard the solids.

Set aside to cool, then cover and refrigerate.

A natural consomme should form; if not, clarify the liquid.

Test the setting of the jelly, if it is not medium set, add the 2 softened leaves of gelatine (or more if necessary) to make a jelly to hold the oysters.

You will need 500ml of the jelly for this recipe. (If you wish you can substitue fish jelly).

Oysters

Ingredients

10 x 2cm cubes of eggplant, salted lightly, rinsed and dried
10 freshly opened plump oysters
10 pieces of Japanese pickled ginger
1/4 Lebanese cucumber, seeds removed and chopped very finely

To make the oysters in ham jelly

Place 10 metal or porcelain eggcups in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Bring the ham jelly to room temperature.

One by one, remove the eggcups and roll the jelly around the moulds to coat them evenly.

Set aside the remaining jelly and place the eggcups in the refrigerator to set. Deep-fry the eggplant cubes until golden and set aside on paper towels to cool.

When they are quite cold, make a pocket in one side of each cube of eggplant with a sharp knife.

Place an oyster in each pocket and a piece of pickled ginger on top of the eggplant cube.

Remove the moulds, one by one, and place some of the cucumber on the bottom.

Place the oyster and the eggplant into the moulds, ginger side down. Pour in the jelly, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Six hours before serving, remove the jellies from the refrigerator and dip them quickly into very hot water.

Turn the jellies out onto a tray that has been refrigerated for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Spread small rounds of toasted brioche or toast with some horseradish which has been pickled in vinegar.

Remove the jellies from the refrigerator. Using a spatula, place a jelly on each piece of brioche and serve immediately.