1 pint oysters.
Half a lemon.
2 tablespoonfuls butter.
1 tablespoonful flour.
1 teacupful milk or cream.
Cayenne and nutmeg to taste.
Stew the oysters in their own liquor five minutes, and add the milk.
When this boils, strain the liquor and return to the saucepan. Thicken
with the flour when you have wet it with cold water; stir it well in;
put in the butter, next the cayenne (if you like it), boil one minute;
squeeze in the lemon-juice, shake it around well, and pour out.
_Or,_
Drain the oysters dry without cooking at all; make the sauce with the
liquor and other ingredients just named. Chop the raw oysters, and stir
in when you do the butter; boil five minutes, and pour into the tureen.
Some put in the oysters whole, considering that the sauce is handsomer
than when they are chopped.
Oyster sauce is used for boiled halibut, cod, and other fish, for
boiled turkey, chickens, and white meats generally.