Huîtres Gratinées au ChampagneOysters Gratinéed with Champagne Sabayon

Wash and shuck the oysters, reserving the meat and liquor

• 1 Scrub 12 oysters with a brush under running water.
• 2 Hold each oyster in a thick cloth with its flat side up. Insert an oyster knife at the hinge and twist to open.
• 3 Run the knife along the inside of the upper shell to cut the adductor muscle. Remove the oyster from the deep shell and collect it with its liquor in a bowl.
• 4 Strain the liquor through a fine tea strainer into a small saucepan and set the oyster meat aside in another dish.
• 5 Scrub the 12 deep shells, boil them for 2 minutes and wipe dry.

Soften the leeks in butter and reduce with Champagne

• 1 Halve the white and pale green parts of 2 leeks lengthwise, wash and cut into 5mm slices.
• 2 Melt 20g unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the leeks and 1g salt, cover and cook for 8 minutes, stirring to prevent browning.
• 3 Add 100ml Champagne and reduce by half over medium heat.
• 4 Take off the heat and stir in 10g unsalted butter until melted.

Poach the oysters in their liquor and Champagne until cooked through

• 1 Add 50ml Champagne to the saucepan of oyster liquor, then add water to make a total of 300ml and heat over medium heat.
• 2 Bring to a boil and add 6 oysters.
• 3 After the liquid returns to the boil, cook for about 3 minutes, until heated through to the center.
• 4 Lift out with a slotted ladle onto paper towels, then cook the remaining 6 oysters in the same way.
• 5 MeanwhileWhile heating the oysters, preheat the oven to 250°C.

Whisk the yolks and Champagne over a water bath into sabayon

• 1 Put 2 egg yolks and 100ml Champagne in a bowl.
• 2 Set the bottom of the bowl in a saucepan of water at 80°C and whisk constantly in a figure-8 motion.
• 3 When thickened, take off the water bath and mix in 0.5g salt and 0.2g white pepper to make sabayon, a sauce of yolks whisked over a water bath.

Set the shells in salt, add leeks and oysters and cover with sabayon

• 1 Spread 900g coarse salt 1cm deep on a baking sheet and set the 12 deep shells level in it.
• 2 Put 1 tablespoon softened leeks in each shell.
• 3 Place 1 oyster on the leeks in each shell.
• 4 Spoon 1 tablespoon sabayon over each, covering the oyster completely.

Brown the sabayon in a 250°C oven

• 1 Broil using the oven’s top heat for 2 minutes. Without a broiler, bake on the upper rack at 250°C for 3 minutes, adding 1 minute at a time if not yet browned.
• 2 Spread 50g serving salt on each of 4 plates, set 3 shells on each and serve immediately.