Anges à Cheval

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rimmed baking sheet
• •Oven-safe wire rack
• •4 short metal skewers
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Oyster knife and protective towel, if shucking at home

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the broiler

   Set an oven rack about 4 inches (10 cm) below the broiler and heat it on high for at least five minutes. Fit a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Fierce heat is essential: gentle heat cooks the oyster before the bacon has any chance to crisp.

2. 2

   Toast the bread

   Arrange the twelve bread pieces on the wire rack and broil until pale gold, about 45 to 60 seconds. Turn them and toast the second side. Watch closely because pain de mie colors quickly. Transfer the toasts to a warm serving platter, leaving a little space between them so their edges remain crisp.

   If a few pieces darken ahead of the others, remove them immediately and continue with the pale ones. Ça se rattrape. Burnt toast does not improve beneath an oyster.
3. 3

   Wrap and skewer

   Pat every oyster thoroughly dry. Stretch each bacon slice gently with the back of a knife until it is thin enough to wrap once around an oyster without overlapping heavily. Wrap one slice around each oyster, then thread three parcels onto each metal skewer, piercing through the bacon seam so it stays closed. Leave about ½ inch (1 cm) between parcels. Season very lightly with the salt and black pepper; the bacon already carries plenty of salt.

4. 4

   Grill them fiercely

   Lay the skewers across the wire rack and broil until the exposed bacon edges bronze, about 2 minutes. Turn each skewer and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, watching without wandering away. They are ready when the bacon is crisp at its edges and the oysters remain swollen and just opaque, reaching 145°F (63°C) at the center. If the broiler colors unevenly, ça se rattrape: rotate the sheet and aim only the pale faces toward the element in 15-second bursts. Pull any parcel that begins to shrink before its companions.

5. 5

   Finish on toast

   Slide one bacon-wrapped oyster from the skewers onto each toast. Mix the breadcrumbs with the cayenne, then sprinkle a light, even veil over the oysters just before serving, exactly as the old entry directs. Bring them to the table at once, while the toast is crisp, the bacon gleams, and the oyster is still tender. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for streaky bacon sliced paper-thin. Thick rashers force an impossible choice between raw bacon and an overcooked oyster; the thin wrapping is part of the technique, not a matter of thrift.
• •Buy oysters from a fishmonger you trust and have them shucked the day you cook. Their liquor should smell clean and briny. Drain it away for this preparation because a wet oyster softens both bacon and toast.
• •The breadcrumbs go on after grilling, not beneath the broiler. They absorb the bacon's surface sheen and carry the cayenne without forming a heavy crust.
• •Serve within two minutes of leaving the broiler. A brut Champagne has the acidity and bubbles to meet both oyster salinity and bacon fat without crowding either.

Advance Preparation

• •Cut and toast the bread up to 2 hours ahead. Let it cool completely, then keep it uncovered at room temperature so it stays crisp.
• •Measure the breadcrumbs and cayenne and prepare the bacon earlier the same day. Keep the bacon refrigerated until wrapping time.
• •The oysters may be wrapped and skewered up to 30 minutes ahead and held covered in the refrigerator. Pat them dry before wrapping, season only when the broiler is hot, and never set them on the toast in advance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)