Recipe of the Week: Shigoku Oysters with Bloody Mary Granita

Recipes for Seattlemag.com’s Recipe of the Week are contributed by participating chefs, cookbook authors and food bloggers. This week’s (bonus!) submission arrives courtesy of AQUA by El Gaucho, restaurant host of this year’s Red and White Party, which officially launches Taste Washington festivities this Thursday.

Name of Recipe: Shigoku Oysters with Bloody Mary Granita

Source of Recipe: Wesley Hood, Executive Chef, AQUA by El Gaucho

Why I Love This Recipe: I’ve been having fun with my new ice cream machine! We’re serving 800 dozen oysters at the Taste of Washington this year, so I wanted to come up with something that works well with oysters. The spicy tart flavors of a fresh Bloody Mary pair perfectly with the briny Shigoku oyster.

Shigoku Oysters
One dozen; serves 3 

Bloody Mary Granita

1.5 cups V-8 juice
1.5 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1.5 tsp. prepared horseradish, Beaver Extra-Hot
¾ tsp Worcestershire
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
3/8 tsp. Tabasco
3/8 tsp celery salt
¼ tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
1 pinch cayenne

In a small bowl with a whisk, combine all of the ingredients together. Place the mixture the refrigerator to chill completely. Add the mixture to the frozen bowl of your ice cream maker and mix. Alternatively, if you do not have an ice cream machine you can still make this recipe by pouring the chilled liquid into a shallow pan and mixing periodically with a whisk or fork, scraping the outer edges as it freezes. This recipe yields too much for just the oysters. I recommend reserving a little for your cocktails later!