A Washington man won two tickets and an all-expense paid trip to the Super Bowl for submitting a tailgating cookery video to Rachel Ray. His winning recipe was salmon stuffed with garlic-herb cream cheese, grated green apple, and julienned water chestnuts, wrapped in bacon and grilled. Article here. He said, ‘Pacific Northwest. Some of our local favourites are salmon and oysters.’
No oysters in the recipe, but his comment reminded me that I like oysters. I like salmon, too. I end up cooking salmon one of two ways at home, since they’re not offered that way in restaurants. I never order salmon out, as I find the restaurant offerings boring. Oysters though, are enough of a hassle that we usually eat them out. For home preparation, you first have to find them. Supermarkets here generally have one or two varieties (often local). But there’s only one store in my area that sells the really big ones I like for grilling or frying. Then you have to shuck them. I scrub them before I pry them open, but never get all of the debris off. And when I open them, there always seems to be ‘grit’ – not from the outside, but little grains of shell from the actual prying. The actual shucking isn’t that difficult. Last time though, there was one particularly reluctant oyster that ‘stripped’ the shucking blade from the handle when I twisted. Anyway, shucking oysters is cold and messy enough work that it’s easier to have them in a restaurant.
But I’m still going to have them at home. This is where I’d like some ideas. This is what I currently do with them:
[ul][li]Eat them raw; either the big ones, or one or two of the smaller varieties. Or the big ones and a couple varieties of the smaller ones;[/li][li]Coat them and fry them;[/li][li]Coat them and fry them and make a po’boy;[/li][li]Top the big ones with a mixture of butter, garlic, parsley, and salt, and freshly-shredded parmesan cheese, and grill them in their shells over charcoal. (Or broil them, if I don’t want to mess with the grill.)[/ul][/li]
The last is a fairly recent addition, after having grilled oysters at Acme Oyster House in New Orleans on the suggestion of a Doper. Any other ideas? I’m not adverse to using the jarred raw oysters that are in the seafood case, but I won’t use canned oysters. Also, I’m not overly keen on oyster stew.
EDIT: Aw, crap. I fat-fingered the forum. Please move to CS. :smack:
Oysters Florentine is easy. The primary ingredients are shucked oysters, spinach, and cheese. You can actually make them quickly in a microwave. Smear a plate with olive oil, dust with breadcrumbs, a layer of blanched spinach, salt and pepper, some herbs like oregano, basil or dill, a layer of shucked oysters, some more breadcrumbs, then some parmesan or cheeses. Microwave the plate uncovered 5-6 minutes. Brown the top under a broiler if you like.
Goddammit. Now I want oysters. Char-grilled from Felix’s (across the street from Acme in Nola, food just as good, but without the line) and an ice cold Abita. Maybe a basket of hushpuppies alongside.
Scalloped oysters. Layer of crushed saltines, layer of oysters, layer of saltines, pour over the liquid off the oysters if any (or a touch of cream), pour over some melted butter. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Some people put in onions (not me!) and my mom used to put on some chives at the end if she had some. One year at Thanksgiving dinner she left the oysters in the oven (which was turned off). She was upset after the meal was over but my dad and I were elated: the whole pan for us! Yay!
Unshucked, put them on the Weber grill. They’ll open on their own, and pick up a bit of smoke flavor. Then eat either plain, with a mignonette sauce, or some blueberry vinegar.
Yes! Oh how I miss Cooter Brown’s! I lived in New Orleans in 1986 for about a year and then again in 1994. Haven’t been back in about a decade. Mmm…oysters
I have yet to make a carpetbagger steak. I suppose I should use a thick-enough steak (ribeye) and cook the inside rare- to medium-rare.
You’d want to cook them in a slower, more delicate way to avoid over-cooking. Use the oysters rockefeller method: put them on a ceramic plate with a little coarse salt on the plate for a more even heat, and use the oven instead of charcoal.
Chop up and fry with diced bacon, mix in some chopped parsley, serve on hot buttered toast. Trust me, delicious.
A traditional British dish is beef and oyster pie - oysters used to be the food of the working classes in London, and oysters were used to fill up a beef pie with a cheap ingredient (how times change), but the result is lovely. Here’s a recipe from the BBC.
