Oyster Gratin - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 green onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped watercress leaf
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumb
1 teaspoon Pernod (optional) or 1 teaspoon anisette (optional)
salt & freshly ground black pepper
8 oysters, chucked, reserving any juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400\u00b0F.
In a skillet on medium-high heat, melt butter. When butter sizzles, add parsley, celery, green onions and garlic, cook for 2 minutes. Add watercress and cook for a further minute.
Place in food processor and puree with 2 tbsp (25 mL) breadcrumbs and Pernod. Season with salt and pepper.
Place oysters and 1 tbsp of oyster juice in small gratin dish. Top with watercress puree and sprinkle with remaining breadcrumbs. Bake 10 minutes or until edges of oysters have curled slightly.
For an alternate presentation, oysters can be topped with puree and baked in their shells.