Halp save my oyster stew!

April 12, 2009 1:16 PM

The milk in my oyster stew boiled over. Is it salvageable? I've got an oyster stew on the stove, ingredients are half and half, a tonne of butter, oysters, shallots and celery. I left it (I know, I know) in the care of a roomate for two minutes, and it boiled over. Now the milk is a little clotty. Is there a fix, or has this been ruined?
posted by thatbrunette to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Response by poster: Note: I don't think it has scalded or burnt, it's simply boiled and gotten scummy on top.
posted by thatbrunette at 1:18 PM on April 12, 2009

Taste it -- if there's no burnt taste, it's fine, even if the texture is a little off.
posted by beagle at 1:18 PM on April 12, 2009

Maybe skim off the scummy part.
posted by beagle at 1:18 PM on April 12, 2009

Um... how would it be ruined? What's wrong with it? Is it curdled? Burnt tasting?
posted by rxrfrx at 2:00 PM on April 12, 2009

Should be fine. If it tastes okay that is. There isn't any health issue that would be caused by boiling it. Some recipes even call for that. The main reason most cooks avoid it is the bad taste from scorching and the scum that forms.
posted by y6y6y6 at 2:22 PM on April 12, 2009

Boiling milk let's it it's flavor change to scalded milk. It won't taste the same, but googling reveals oyster stew recipes actually calling for scalded milk (which is delicious). Why not see if you can modify your recipe based on those?
posted by Pants! at 3:31 PM on April 12, 2009