What would you do with 4 dozen free oysters?
The best answer wins 48 fresh Puget Sound oysters!
Contest Dates: October 2 – 19
UPDATE: The oyster contest is now closed. Vote for your favorite idea Tuesday, October 21 – Friday, October 24.
If we were to send you 4 Dozen fresh Puget Sound Oysters, what would you do with them?
TWO WAYS TO WIN:
1. Leave your answer in the comment section below. Be delicious (see comment #19), funny (#13), sensual (#43), poetic (#46), or tug on our heart strings (#39).
2. Refer the most contestants to this contest. Pass this on to family and friends or via your blog. Make sure to tell them to leave your name in the “referred by” field. The person who makes the most referrals will also win a fresh oyster sampler.
THE PRIZE:
Four Dozen Fresh Puget Sound Oysters and a set of Biodegradable Plates. The oyster sampler will include one dozen each of Pacific Oysters, Kumamoto Oysters, Virginica Oysters, and Olympia Oysters.
HOW WILL THE WINNER BE CHOSEN?
Our readers will vote on the finalists! The polls will be open October 21 – 24 @ noon PST, and a winner will be announced on Monday, October 27.
Comments 127
Eat them all fresh with just a squeeze of lemon and a dash of Tobasco. Why ruin perfectly good oysters by cooking them? 🙂
If they are alive, I would throw them back in the ocean.
What would I do with 4 Doz. live oysters?
Invite 6-8 friends over, create a wonderful seafood meal with oysters as the appetizer, serving them raw with a little fresh lemon and cocktail sauce.
YUMMMMMMMMMMMM
Marx Food staff – are you up for a trip to Michigan to join me?????
I would call my friend, the carpenter. We would invite the little oysters for a stroll along the beach. We would discuss such deep subjects as string, and sealing wax, and the aerodynamic potential of swine. We would make sure all the little oysters made it back home in time for bed. Oysters, as is well known, need their beauty sleep.
What are oysters? 😉
Simple. I would fire up my Weber Grill up with charcoal and some mesquite to white hot.
I then would open up the oysters, keeping them on the half shell, put a pat of unsalted butter on each, then 1 tablespoon each of fresh grated romano and Parmesan cheese on top.
Then I’d put the oysters on the grill and wait until the cheese melts and crisps a little on the edges.
Finally, I’d take them off, put them on a large plate covered by kosher salt, toss on some chopped parsley for garnish, and serve with hot french bread.
There is no better way to eat oysters.
We would get fried oysters once a year when I was a child. It was my favorite meal of the year!
Though the possibilities are endless, I would take at least a dozen and enjoy them with some lemon and a good hot sauce. Maybe a dozen and a half:) The remaining I would perhaps make a tasty stuffing and lightly bake them, then enjoy with a squeeze of fresh lemon over that.I might even get my 23 year old son (happy birthday to him today) to try one stuffed 🙂
Bruce & I would eat 1 or 2 dozen raw with lemon, Tabasco, horseradish, and cracked black pepper while we prepared the rest. We would grill the oysters in their shell, pop them open, and then serve them with a myriad of different sauces: nuoc cham, Thai or Vietnamese peanut sauce, pesto, Spanish garlic aioli, salsa verde, etc. The walrus and the carpenter would not be invited… 🙂
I would grill them on the barbeque pit.Invite a couple friends and let them sample their delicios taste.
No doubt about it! Three dozen would go into my traditional oyster dressing for our Thanksgiving dinner. I just make the usual southern cornbread dressing substituting the oyster liquor for the broth and stirring in the oysters before baking. My family would disown me if I did not make this for them. The other dozen I would savor fresh with lemon and a good red sauce – but not too much.
My thought for 4 dozen oysters would be something I tried this past summer. I prepared Oysters Rockafeller using Swiss Chard and mustard greens instead of the traditional spinach. The results were delicious. I use a little dash of Pernod when they came out of the oven, and topped the oysters with Hollandaise before browning them under the broiler. That’s what I’m talking about!!
Four dozen live oysters? That would put our total of live oysters in Nebraska up to — four dozen. Being somewhat land-locked here, most people in this state have never even seen an oyster (let alone an ocean). What do you do with them? Break them open to look for pearls — and then what? I guess I would throw them in the Regency Lake, let them propogate and use the crushed shells in my landscaping. We’ve read about that in old books and magazines, you know. Oh, no, how much salt would I have to put in the lake so they could live. The world may never know.
With 4 dozen fresh oysters I would make a recipe for a special holiday, Thanksgiving. with the fresh oysters, fresh steamed artichoke hearts and a light champagne cream sauce. Its so decadent it melts in your mouth- yummy!
I would bring my oysters over to my dear friends Rachel and Matt and share them… but they have to do the cooking!
Would love to win the oysters!
On November 27, my husband and I will celebrate our 27th Anniversary. Each year we reminisce on the festivities of our wedding, and we jokingly commit to another year together.
You see, marrying forever was too much of a task for us and we decided early on to take this commitment in a smaller dose.
Thinking about this year’s celebration, we must make it an unforgetable celebration for all. I will invite another dear couple to share our joy. I will arrange 2 large trays of these scrumptious oysters. One tray will display the raw oysters, open in their own natural juices, and a simple mignonette sauce on the side. The other tray will display the oysters broiled with just a touch of pepper, and lemon juice, with a side of sundried tomato pesto sauce. These options satisfy both palates. I am for the simple raw effect and my husband likes them cooked. So, no problem.
To wash these delicacies down, I think a glass of champagne is the only option. Well, let’s celebrate; it is only another year around.
Live oysters would definately be a treat for our family christmas appetizer party. They are a bit spendy here and I dont get to use them often so I would make a mini buffet with some being served raw on the half shell, some being topped with garlic butter and parmasan cheese then broiled, maybe even fry up a few and serve with a nice cocktail sauce.
Grilled Kumamoto Oysters with a Mango Relish and Champagne Granita
1 750-m bottle of quality Champagne
*Reserve 1/3 cup to pour over oysters prior to grilling.
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of water
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
To make simple syrup:
Boil sugar and water in a saucepan.
Whisk until sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and let cool.
In a 9″x12″x2″ baking pan pour the champagne along with simple syrup, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix well. Place into your freezer. Check after 45 minutes. Using a fork scrape sides down (fluffing) and mixing. Repeat process for 4 hours. Prior to serving fluff one last time. Spoon over mango.
Relish:
1 large ripe mango, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1/4″ cubes
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon of honey
1/2 of a serrano chili, stem removed,
seeded and minced
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
In a bowl combine; mango, honey, onion, serrano chili, salt, cilantro and black pepper. Stir till well combined. Set aside.
Grilling:
Place champagne splashed oysters over indirect heat and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until opened. Use tongs to remove onto a baking sheet. Oysters should all be opened after grilling.
Presentation: Place grilled oysters onto a serving dish. Spoon mango relish over oysters. Top with a dollop of champagne granita and serve.
I would have a Hi Low party/dinner featuring all sorts of upscale oyster starters like Angels on Horseback, Oysters Rockerfeller, Oysters Casion , and raw chased with fine Champagne. And then get a lilltemore lowbrow and serve up the Po Boys, fritters, and more raw chased with some beer.
4 dozen live oysters…oh my! Being from the midwest I have very little experience with oysters. I’ve eaten them raw and I think I tried oysters rockefeller once. I went through a phase where I was really into tose canned smoked oysters…but that’s unrealted, I guess.
If I had 4 dozen oysters, I would probably share them with friends. We’d eat a bunch of them raw, for sure. The rest would be perhaps made into po boys? Or can you grill them? I thought I saw Anthony Bourdain eat grilled ones once…Whatever I do with them it will be a valuable chance to learn more about them…
Fifty years ago, as a kid growing up in the Midwest, my first taste of oysters was at a wedding reception where Oysters Casino were an appetizer. Forty years later I was living on the West Coast, in Oregon and re-discovered the taste, and I can’t get enough of ‘em. If I win, I’ll make four dozen Oysters Casino, pack a picnic basket and walk down to my favorite sunset spot on Florida’s Gulf coast with my lovely lady, to eat and drink a nice white wine as the sun goes down. Life’s too short to waste on bad food!
Oysters Casino
4 dozen Oysters, shucked and drained
24 deep half Shells
8 slices Bacon
2 large Shallots, peeled and finely diced
1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup Celery, finely diced
1 Lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
6 to 8 drops Hot Pepper Sauce
Put two oysters on each half shell. On a baking sheet, lay down a bed of Kosher or rock salt at least 1/4” deep. Arrange the shells on the salt bed.
Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the bacon strips into thirds. In a skillet on medium heat, cook the bacon it just starts to wrinkle. Don’t cook until bacon crispy, it will be overdone at the end. Remove to paper towels and drain. To the bacon drippings add the shallots, bell pepper and celery, and saute until just tender. Stir in the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Spoon the mixture onto the oysters and top each with a piece of bacon. Bake for 10 minutes, plate and serve.
Today I visited my 80-year-old uncle in Yakima. He fixed us fried oysters for lunch, (talk about serendipitous!) served with a green salad, sourdough french bread, Yakima corn on the cob and my aunt’s soup made with homegrown vegetables.
The oysters were dabbed on a paper towel to get rid of a little of their juices, dipped in beaten egg with a bit of half and half, and rolled in fine cracker crumbs, then lightly fried in a heavy cast iron skillet in a mixture of olive oil and butter.
He entrusted me with making a tartar-type homemade sauce; here it is:
1 cup good mayonnaise
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp. prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes Tabasco, Frank’s or other Louisiana-style red pepper sauce
1 medium dill pickle, chopped fine
1 – 1/2 T. rummage relish (or other relish with a bit of sweetness)
fresh ground pepper
Mix it about 15 minutes ahead, and put a dollop on the plate as a dippoing sauce. It brushed up against my corn, which was also very good with it.
If I had four dozen oysters, I would invite my uncle for Christmas Eve, as well as the rest of the family. If the Olympias are little, I’d serve them raw. Our Christmas Eve tradition since I was little (I’m now 59) is oyster stew. It was always served up freshly made and hot with warm homemade bread or rolls and plenty of pickles, olives, crudites and light desserts on the sideboard, before any presents could be opened.
My first visit to Paris, my boyfriend and I stood at the zinc bar at the Pied du Cochon in Les Halles around midnight, right after our arrival (we were hungry from our flight). We downed two dozen oysters, followed by onion soup. Then a tiny raffish Parisian with his nose squished to one side of his face asked me to dance in the crowded bar, which had live accordion music. Of course I danced with him, blushing away, while my boyfriend scowled. If the little man is still alive, I’d ask him, too, (but not my former boyfriend).
OYSTER & FAVA BEAN STEW
This recipe came together from random items in the fridge and some oysters I picked up today. It has a lot more vegetables than a traditional oyster stew, but I like the variety of texture and the sweetness the veggies impart. If you want it to be more about the oysters, you could omit the butternut squash and strain the stew before you add the roux.
I also used soymilk because that’s what was in the fridge (and it was surprisingly creamy), but if you feel like this is sacrilege, by all means, swap it out for real milk. If you wanna go for the full coronary, you could even add a bit of cream at the end.
This would also work well with some diced fennel in the moir poix, or with a splash of Pernod at the end. You could also add other seafood, like clams, shrimp or fish if you wanted to. I was also thinking that it would make a great filling for a pot pie, but you’d probably have to refrigerate the filling and put the oysters into the pie raw before going into the oven to prevent them from overcooking.
1 medium carrot diced
2 small stalks celery diced
1 medium onion diced
6 medium crimini mushrooms (aka baby portobellos) each cut into 6 wedges
1 C butternut squash cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 bay leaves
2 Tbs dry sherry
2 C soymilk (or regular milk)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt ( or 3/4 tsp regular salt)
1/2 tsp ground sage
black pepper to taste
1 Tbs butter
1 1/2 Tbs flour
1/2 C shelled fresh fava beans
12 small oysters shucked with liquor reserved
To make the moir poix, saute the carrots, celery and onion in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. It should be soft and fragrant, but not brown. Add the mushrooms, butternut squash and bay leaves and continue to saute another 4-5 minutes.
Turn up the heat and add the sherry, cook until the alcohol has burned off then add the soymilk, salt, sage, and black pepper. Turn down the heat to medium low and and simmer until the butternut squash is cooked.
In a separate pan, make a roux. Melt the butter then add the flour, cook until the two are well incorporated and the flour is cooked but not brown (about a minute or two). When the butternut squash is cooked, ladle some of the liquid from the stew into the roux and whisk until smooth. Pour this back into the stew and gently stir together making sure there are no clumps of roux.
To finish, add the fava beans and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the oysters and liquor and cook until the oysters start curling around the edges (make sure you don’t overcook them, or they will get tough). Serve immediately with a thick slice of crusty bread.
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My husband loves to eat Kumamoto’s on the half shell with some hot sauce. I have never tried them that way. If I win the 4 dozen oysters I will have to try it. My favorite way to eat oysters is to cook them on the grill, I like extra smalls or smalls. Let the oyster do the work by releasing the shell open, this will happen after being on the grill a few minutes. Remove the top shell with an oyster knife, cook on the grill, in the bottom shell, for a few more minutes. Dip cooked oyster in garlic butter. Yum! It is the best. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
I would invite my friend denise over and have an oyster shucking contest. The winner gets 2/3 of the oysters and the loser gets the rest. We would eat them on the half shell with a touch of lemon.
I would invite our friends over for a oyster feast. We would steam the oysters open on the grill and serve them with a lemon, cilatro butter sauce and a great white wine.
Christmas is a Big deal for my partner’s family, so I would present them to her parents as a contribution to the feast for the day. Selfishly, and very hopefully, they would share them with me.
Simple Pan Fried Oysters.
I make these for my out of state (or country) guests who don’t feel comfortable eating them raw. (Why? Makes no sense to me).
Shuck Oysters and shake them in a container with italian seasoned bread crumbs.
Heat butter in frying pan with a dollop of olive oil.
Fry golden brown in high heat.
Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and a few twists of pepper.
Serve with a wedge of lemon, a shot of ice cold vodka and a nice crispy pilsener in an appropriate tall glass.
(Garlic aioli or hot sauce is optional).
Simple and perfect.
Mmmm, 4 dozen oysters . . .please vote for my plan.
I’d plan an evening of scrumptious dining for Christmas Eve. My family’s tradition is to have a few dozen oysters on the night before Christmas and often we simply barbecue the whole lot. But in this case, I’d make it a more varied feast. First task: shuck the first 3 dozen. . .
Then starting with the first dozen on the half shell, presented on a bed of shaved ice, platter garnished with evergreens. Accompanying them, 4 sauces to please any palate or mood that evening: red and green Tabasco sauces (feeling Christmasey yet?), a champagne mignonette (1/2 c. champagne, 1 T champagne vinegar, 1 shallot sliced paper thin, salt & pepper to taste), and light tartar sauce (1 egg yolk, 1/2 c. soybean or olive oil, dash of salt, dash of pepper (or cayenne if you like), 2 T lemon juice — use mini processor or hand beater to beat the oil and seasonings together, then with it still running, drizzle the oil in slowly until it thickens making mayonnaise. To that add: 2 T pickle relish, 1 T lemon juice,a few capers and you have tartar sauce)
For the next course, I’d present oysters gratin starting with a tasty gremolata: 3 T chopped parsley, 3 cloves garlic, and zest of 1-2 lemon plus 1 c. dried breadcrumbs. Pulse in a mini processor (or chop very finely). Place oysters on a baking sheet, dot each with a bit of the gremolata and a dot of butter, sprinkle a bit of paprika overall if desired. Bake in 400 deg. oven about 10 min.
Next: melt in the mouth fried oysters. Beat together 2 eggs and 1 c. milk. Season 1 c. flour with salt and pepper. Dip each oyster into the milk mixture, then dredge in the flour and shake off excess. Heat 1-1/2 c. vegetable oil in a deep skillet, when hot quickly fry the oysters and drain on paper towels before gobbling. Serve with ketchup, Tabasco, tartar sauce or naked.
And then the favorite: the last dozen gets barbecued, old school like in my mother’s home town of Charleston, SC. Thoroughly wet down the burlap sacks that a bushel of oysters shows up in and light the fire in the barbq pit. With the grate as close to the charcoal (and it should be real, not those “briquettes”), place one soaked sack on the grill, place the oysters in their shell evenly all along on top of the sack, and place either the other sack on top or the top onto the grill. Obviously they’re done when they pop open at least a little bit. You can also just place them straight onto your grill grates if no burlap sacks are available or you’re afraid of burning the place down . . .
DELICIOUS!!(Don’t forget — vote for me!)
Our nonprofit organization, The Balmer Fund, dedicated to preserving the history, art & culture of the prairies for future generations, owns the LAST remaining oyster parlor, (also only Prairie Gothic style) in Kansas, the Anchor Oyster Parlor. It was built in 1881 by I.P. Campbell of Boston. If we had 48 oysters we’d sell them for $100 each and have a big party to help raise money to restore this rare structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s been more than 100 years since oysters were served in it, so we would sweep out a corner of the debris, set a fine table with wine and candles,invite the Chiara String Quartet, and think of how it is going to be again, just as it was when the wealthy young folks from Boston settled Harper and it became “the intellectual Oasis of America” till the turn of the century. Then corruption settled in, but that’s another dinner for another time!
I would make my Dad some oyster stew for Christmas Eve–a tradition that my Grammy started. She’s passed away, and my Dad tries to make the Oyster Stew, but so far hasn’t quite gotten it right.
But I have her recipes, and I think I’ve found the one she used. Oyster Bisque clipped out of a magazine. If you want to see it–look here: http://grammyrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/10/oyster-bisque-recipe.html
I wouldn’t really need 4 dozen oysters for this, I think I could give the rest with my Sister’s in laws–they have seafood for the holidays.
Thank-you!
4 dozen oysters? I’m thinking the most spectacular and memorable Thanksgiving! Not many in my family have experienced oysters but all enjoy trying new foods. I’d use them in a variety of ways so that all could have a taste according to their comfort, raw or cooked.
We’d start off with oysters sashimi style -iced, on the half shelf with ponzu sauce, scallions, spicy grated daikon radish, and pickled ginger as condiments. Most likely a refreshingly cold seaweed salad or vinegar dressed cucumber salad would go with this. (1 1/2 dozen)
Next, we’d warm up with a miso chowder – a pairing of nutty red miso with cream to add richness to the chowder base, topped with a panko fried oyster. (1 dozen)
For the main dish, we’d enjoy a baked salmon slathered with a brown butter soy sauce and filled with an oyster, scallion and sausage stuffing. (1 1/2 dozen)
Mmmm.
Succulent sea treasure
Feminine folds of tender delight
Hiding the secrets of the ocean
Beauty hidden, as a woman
But well worth the effort also.
With 48 free oysters I would invite friends over to eat oysters and wax poetic over their lusciousness.
A lone oyster would greet my man at the front door attached to a note that would lead him to the next oyster. The trail of oysters would lead him through the home on a scavenger hunt and ultimately to the bedroom, and the biggest surprise of all….(Remainder of section intentionally deleted by sponsor.)
I would take them to my dear Mom’s house in my home town of Lancaster, Ohio and let her indulge in the amazing creatures that helped turn me into the foodie I am today. I have loved them raw since the age of 6 and my taste buds tingle with the thought of them. 32 years of briny bliss. YUM!
Four dozen oysters? My sister would have to visit me so that we could split them.
I think we’d eat two dozen raw, with a little lemon and shallot vinegar, followed by a dozen oysters Kilpatrick (grilled with bacon and butter).
We’d probably have to take a break after that, so I’d turn the last dozen into oyster pot pies. (I saw a recipe in the New York Times a few months ago, and it sounded intriguing.)
This past summer on a family vacation to the Oregon Coast, all my eight-year-old son Will could talk about was getting to try oysters right from the ocean. He had never tried fresh oysters before and was very excited to sample them. So off to Bandon, OR we went in search of some oysters. We stopped at a little ocean side restaurant with outdoor tables and Will ordered oysters warmed on the BBQ with white wine, garlic and butter. He proceeded to “slurp” down six of the largest oysters I have ever seen! (Check out the photos!) He LOVED them.
Throughout the vacation he sampled oysters prepared various ways, but said he liked the wine, garlic and butter the best. When asked why he preferred this recipe he said, “It’s simple – I can taste the yummy oyster flavor.” So…out of the mouth of the sweetest eight-year-old boy with the sophisticated palate…the more simple the oyster preparation, the better.
I would love to be able to surprise Will with more “yummy” oysters, especially the variety that is included. He could maybe even learn to discern a Kumamoto oyster from an Olympia oyster and become the youngest oyster expert.
I would give them away to someone who likes oysters — then go build one of those big, juicy burgers from the MarxFoods.com burger recipe contest!
Hi Emily, 48 oysters – heaven indeed. I guess I’d have to share them but I really do think I could manage them on my own. Oysters are my favourite food.
Here are some things I’d do with them:
1. Take them to Thailand – Serve them raw with lime juice, minced bird chillis, thai fish sauce and cilantro
2. Next stop Japan – fry them in a light tempura batter with a wasabi mayo dipping sauce
3. Hop into China – Gently fry them in an ommelete with a siricha dipping sauce
4. Dash over to the east coast of America and crumb them in crackers, fry them and serve them on a hot dog bun with homemade tartar sauce. While I’m there I might roll them in cornmeal, fry them and then wash them down with a cold beer
6. Back over to the west coast to relish them au natural with a twist of lemon juice and maybe even a drop of tabasco.
I could go on…and I will…just one more…
I’d slurp them down with a touch of blood orange granita.
Some of the four dozen will go into my Oysters and Pearls Stew. The rest will be shucked and slurped directly from the shell with just a squeeze of lemon!
Oysters and Pearls Stew
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 cups chicken or fish stock
½ cup small pearl tapioca
12-ounces fresh raw oysters, undrained
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
In a large pot, sauté onion and garlic in butter until translucent. Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the tapioca and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. When the tapioca is clear, turn heat to low and add the oysters. Cook over low heat until the edges of the oysters begin to curl and the stew is hot but not boiling. Serve in bowls and garnish with sliced green onions. Serves 4 to 6.
I would create a tantillizing romantic meal for two starting with char-grilled oysters with roquefort cheese and red-wine vinaigrette and the quintessential NY treat, the Oyster Bar’s Oyster Pan Roast as the main course. Both of which are perfectly complemented by champagne or white wine.
A favorite of food lovers throughout the world, oysters carry a long standing reputation as the ultimate aphrodisiac– said to increase one’s libido. Many a romantic gourmand has thrived on eating raw oysters and sipping a glass of wine or champagne with lascivious visions of the glory to come. It’s no wonder Casanova, one of the World’s most notorious lovers, would start each meal with a dozen oysters to set the stage for his evening’s folly. And the mere notion of Aphrodite the Greek Goddess of Love, emerging from the sea on an oyster shell firmly plants the oyster as a bewitching charm to be reckoned with–a true elixir of love.
Appetizer
char-grilled oysters with roquefort cheese and red-wine vinaigrette from 86 New Orleans Cookbook / Chef Scott Snodgrass
http://www.seductionmeals.com/2008/01/chargrilled-oysters-with-roque.html
1 cup of crumbled Roquefort cheese
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon of chopped shallots
1 green onion, sliced
1/8 cup of honey
1 cup of red wine vinegar
1/2 cup of pure olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil) Juice of 1 Lemon
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon of ground black pepper
12 – 18 oysters on the half shell
Combine all ingredients, except oysters, in a mixing bowl. Put oysters on the half shell, over a hot charcoal fire. I placed the oysters on a fish/vegetable rack to keep them even on a tray. It is also easy to move them on and off the grill this way. Top each oyster with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and cook until edges of the oysters start to curl, about 2 minutes. Place a mound of rock salt (about 1 cup) on a salad plate and top with 3 – 6 oysters on the shell per person.Serve with your favorite white wine or a glass of champagne.
Main Dish: A truly Seductive Soup
This Recipe is from The Grand Central Oyster Bar and Restaurant Cookbook Ingredients Per Serving
This is for ONE serving so be sure to double this for TWO, and if you think you will want more than one serving (and I bet you will) –make even more.
8 freshly opened oysters
2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) of sweet butter
1 Tbsp chili sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup oyster liquor, also called liquid (the juice inside the oyster)
1/2 tsp paprika
dash celery salt
1 oz of claim juice
1/2 cup cream
1 slice of dry toast (I used peasant bread)
Place all ingredients except cream, toast and 1 Tbsp of butter in the top part of a double broiler over boiling water. Do not let the top pan of the double broiler touch the water below.
Whisk or stir briskly and constantly for abut 1 minute until oyster edges begin to curl. Stirring carefully as to not damage the oysters.
Add cream and continue stirring briskly, Do not boil.
Pour pan roast into a soup plate over the slice of dry toast
Top with remaining 1 Tbsp butter, and sprinkle with paprika, and serve right away.
Oyster po’ boys and beer! Here’s what you do. Invite six of your closest friends over. Put out a cooler full of ice-cold beer. Teach everyone how to shuck and then fire up the stove. I make oyster po’ boys the Nawlins way. Egg the oysters, then batter in equal parts flour and cornmeal. Now fry in lots of butter. Lay the fried oysters on a soft French roll smeared with mayo along with thinly sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce. A squirt of Frank’s Red Hot sauce and dollop of Mama Lil’s hot peppers for heat lovers. Voila! A taste of the Bayou in Seattle. Did I mention you need lots of beer?
You can read more about my po’ boys here.
i’d like to say i’d fire up the grill, let it get good and hot, throw those babies on and cover w/ a wet towel to steam open. heck with condiments, just a cold beer and the oysters.
but, i think at least a dozen would be consumed while waiting for the grill to get hot. i’m ready and waiting, i have the oyster knives and gloves, send em on.
The queen called for dinner,
the queen large and round.
She wanted fine oysters
from cold Puget Sound.
“I’ll need quite a few,
at least four or so dozen.
That’s three dozen for me
and one for my cousin.
I’ll eat them in stews,
in soups and in stuffin’s,
and I’ll dip them in flour
and put them in muffins
(which will make the gulls mad
and disturb all the puffins!).
Oysters have been a treat since I was a small child. We would get a gunny sack of oysters and plop the individual oysters on the grill until they popped open and then dipped the tender morsels in garlic butter. I love to have family and friends over for fun meals and I would share the oysters with those closest to me. Some we would have raw on the half shell with fresh squeezed lemon, and sea salt, and others I would open, remove one side of the shell and leave the oyster in the shell, brush with beaten egg, dash of lemon, sprinkle with Panko flour salt and pepper to taste and pan fry, oyster side down in melted garlic butter just a couple minutes, they will steam done and the egg and panko will have a crusty topping and the oyster will be tender and juicy. Serve with a great bottle of chilled Pinot Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc. What better than sharing fresh seafood and a great wine, along with conversation with friends and family.
I would don my shucking glove carefully rolling it over my bare skin. The I would brandish my oyster knife. Glinting in the sun, sharp against craggy oyster shell. Caressing the oyster onto my glove, I would slowly and deliberatly coax the oyster to part its rigid shell. Then, I slowly insert the sharp tip deeper, and deeper into the shell while twisting and pressuring the hard protector. The oyster will then open itself to me completely showing it’s soft and vunerable secret place. I will gaze upon it’s nakedness and look for the precious pearl. Failing to find the ultimate satisfaction I would next……………….Crank up the grill and BBQ those suckers. I would add a dab of my world famous hot and spicy BBQ sauce and grill until bubbly hot. I will remove them from the grill and squeeze a little lemon on each oyster and suck ’em all down.
LIFE JUST DOSEN’T GET ANY BETTER!!!!
Being transplanted from the east coast to Denver, we miss the variety of oysters found in New England. However, every year, my partner and I host an oyster party ofr family and friends. We poach the succulent bivalves in a saffron and fennel broth, grill with proscuitto and brie, flash fry with garlic and red pepper aoili, etc. The best, however, is sitting around the fire pit with friends, openning the oysters, squeezing with fresh lemon and slurping them down. Then we take a swig of champagne from the bottles passed around and throw the shells in the pathways of our kitch garden to try to create the wonderful pavings of shells back east! With four dozen oysters, we would gather those friends and add to our memories, stories, laughter and garden paths!
Well I’m little miss practical and my work is all about building community around delicious, place-based foods. Soooooo, I’d invite 3 chefs from my area “over here” in nowheresville Spokane, but not so nowhere as Wasilla, to join me in enjoying these amazing treats, on one condition. Each of them has to concoct and share some sauce or garnish to embellish the experience and be willing to divulge their recipes to our Slow Food group, as well as their tasting notes of the oysters.
Oh, and I guess there’d be another invite… local food writer.
Every year, on Christmas Eve, we would get together with our good friends, Judith and Richard, for oyster stew, pan-fried oysters and champagne. We would dredge and cook the oysters together, laughing and talking. Then we would feast.
But one Fall, Judith and Richard got divorced. And we never cooked together again.
Now, it’s been ten years. They’ve both remarried, happily, and they both have a child. We have a daughter too. Between us, we have lived through breast cancer, a heart attack, job changes and one disasterous rebound relationship.
If I had 48 oysters, I’d invite Richard and Judith, along with their new spouses and children, over to our house on Christmas Eve for oyster stew and pan-fried oysters.
We’d drink a champagne toast to the days gone by and the days yet to come. We’d all probably get a little teary, and our children would roll their eyes and make us laugh, just like old times.
Well I have never had fresh Oysters! I would probably eat some raw and probably make some delious Oyster stew for me and my loved one!
College students generally aren’t known for their selective, discerning palates, but I believe our house must be the exception. Over the last four years, we have had some superb meals, be they post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving turkey with some fennel sausage stuffing, homemade french onion soup, Tom kah gai, or a seafood feast, there is almost always something delicious on the stove-top, in a house full of folks who either like to eat, like to cook, or both.
We live in Tacoma, so we have come to know seafood, in fact, we have kind of made it our mission to know seafood. In my opinion, oysters are the epitome of the sea. I prefer them raw, unadulterated, with a touch of migonette. When that first briny bite hits your tongue, followed by the delicious juice from the shell to follow…. Bliss!
One of our first memorable meals was a simple one: Oysters in their shells on the barbecue. Simple, beautiful, perfect. Grab an oven mitt, and pop them open as soon as they start to bubble. Throw on some tobacco, some lemon… the perfect meal.
This is what oysters are really about. They are a luxury, and they are sophisticated, but really, it is about the experience, the shared bond of having something amazing with friends, and enjoying the experience together as much as the food itself.
I would recreate this moment with a few dozen oysters! A few friends, a bottle of wine, sitting on the deck, and knowing it can’t get much better than this.
Oyster season is in full swing and all great foods deserved to be shared with family and friends. My husband and I visited Seattle this past summer and found the huge oysters from Washington’s Puget Sound. Being raised on the Gulf Coast where the oysters are small, these Washington oysters ROCKED OUR WORLD!
Believing that all great food should be shared, if I would receive these oysters I would be sending out this invitation to family and close friends for a New Year’s Day Bash.
Please join us at the Hahn’s Farmhouse January 1, 2009 for a New Year’s Day Bash 11am UNTIL
Liquid refreshments will consist of Bloody Marys, Irish Coffee, Beer, and Wine from Artesian Springs Winery (our son’s winery)
Buffet style menu will consist of Bourbon Glazed Ham slices on Buttermilk Biscuits, Raspberry Glazed Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Texas Black-Eye Caviar (for luck), Tillamook Cheese Scalloped Potatoes, and various dips with fresh vegetables.
The main attraction will be Fresh Oysters from Washington’s Puget Sound served as
Oyster Bisque in demitasse cups
Baked Oysters Casino on a bed of Confetti Cabbage Slaw
Pan Seared Mustard Oysters with Horseradish Cream
Please RSVP by December 15
I love her response. It made me cry.
Ode to the common oyster,
Those humble little bivalves,
Upon which I’ve supped
With friends or by myselves
Prehistoric middens prove we’ve
smoked, boiled, stewed, and steamed them,
Since before we could write we
baked, fried, roasted, and grilled them!
Beloved mollusks featured in lore,
Can it be true you increase amore?
It matters not in the slightest to me,
I eat you because you are so tasty!
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Miriam and the Bawdy Bivalves: A Short Radio Play
(knock knock)
Tiny oyster voices: “Ma’am, we’re here to see about the plankton bloom.”
Miriam: “But you’re not the regular plankton cleaner! You’re much…juicier.”
Tiny oyster voices: “Yes, ma’am. But we’re not wearing any pants.”
BA-CHICKA-WA-WA!
Miriam: “Here at the Castle Wolffenstein, we have but one punishment for lewd lamellibranchs! Let me help you slip out of that hard, heavy shell into something a little more comfortable.”
(shadow of shucking knife on the wall)
EEE-EEE-EEE-EEE (Theme from “Psycho”)
Tiny oyster voices: AIEEEEEEE-ack!
Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if four dozen voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
(slurping sounds, followed by sizzling sounds, followed by dipping-in-garlic-butter-and-eating sounds)
(the rest is silence. happy, contented silence.)
I live in Arizona and fresh seafood is nothing more than a dream, they say fresh but mean fresh frozen…so to get fresh oysters is absolutly wild…I would dredge them in equal parts flour and cornmeal and fry them and serve them with lemon and hot sauce and only share with my boyfriend because we could probably eat them all!! and we LOVE OYSTERS!!! maybe a few we’d have raw on the half shell…yum- yum!! 🙂
A favorite of mine and my family is Oysters Rockefeller Casserole. My recipe follows: Turn oven to Broil and coat caserole dish with pan spray, melted butter or bacon grease
1.) Let fresh shucked raw oysters drain in a colander until ready for use. 2.)cook 1/4 lb good quality bacon, let it get crisp but careful to not burn. Place cooked bacon on paper towels to drain and cool. Leave about 3 TBSP of bacon grease in the pan, disregard the rest. 3.)On medium heat sautee 1/2 medium finely diced onion or 2 shallots in the bacon grease. Also add 2 or 3 finely diced garlic cloves 4.) add 2 boxes of thawed, well drained frozen chopped spinach to the pan and the fresh squeezed juice of one lemon, stir frequently not to over-brown the spinch. Spinach requires salt so add about 1/4 tsp of Kosher or Sea and a couple dashes of ground black pepper or fresh ground. 4.) Not mandatury but an excellent addition would be canned, drained & chopped artichokes, as many as you can handle! 5.)add one 8oz block of cream cheese, 1/4 cup of cream and a couple dashes of your favorite hot sauce, let simmer stirring mixture so that the cream cheese is fully melted and ingredients now resemble a beautiful dip.6.) Put drained oysters in the casserole dish, spread out evenly and top with a slight sprinkle of Kosher salt followed by the beautiful spinach mixture 7.)Top this with your favorite shredded white cheeses (swiss, white Cheddar and Shredded Parm are my fav. Some Feta would also be lovely)and then crumble the bacon on top of the cheese.
Broil on a rack closer to the middle of the oven until the cheeses turn a little brown around edges. The spinach mixture will cook the delicate oysters slightly and that is exactly what we want! Have this as a one dish wonder meal or as an amazing dip with buttered baguette toasts (homemade of course). If you have an abundace of oysters, this dish freezes well and is very ideal for the Atkins and South Beach diets.
O h
Y ou
S hould
T ry
E m
R aw
S weetie!
Thank You & Enjoy!
I’d pop a cold one and eat ’em!
Winning 4 dozen delectable oysters would provide an opportunity to gather 3 generations of oyster lovers. It would be an evening of fun, food and priceless family bonding. Great memories always involve memorable food.
Baked Oysters with Slab Bacon, Wilted Greens and Breadcrumbs
From Frank Stitts Southren Table
Ingredients
30 oysters, He says to use 30 but I’d use 48;) or maybe just eat those 18 raw with a dash of hot sauce!
2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned, quartered, and cut into thin slices
1 shallot, quartered and sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 ounces slab bacon, cut into small dice
2 pounds fresh spinach (crinkly organic if possible) or substitute watercress, or a mixture of green herbs, and lettuces
1 small bunch chervil, chives, parsley and tarragon, finely chopped
1 day-old baguette, crust trimmed and coarsley ground in food processor
¼ pound unsalted butter, melted
2 lemons, one zested and juiced, one cut into wedges
Sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1 scrape of nutmeg
1 lemon
Method
Shuck oysters and place on a baking rack. Preheat oven to 500°. In a medium-large sauce pan, fill ¾ full with water. Add a handful of kosher salt and bring to a boil. Drop greens mixture in and blanch 30 seconds. Remove and shock in a bowl of ice water. Remove when cool and squeeze dry. Finely chop and set aside.
In a large sauté pan, add olive oil and sauté bacon until cooked only half way. Remove bacon from pan. In the same pan, add leeks, shallot and garlic and gently soften over low heat.
In a large mixing bowl, add leeks, shallot, garlic, blanched spinach, reserved bacon, lemon juice and zest, breadcrumbs, melted butter, salt and pepper to taste, and the nutmeg.
Stir well. Taste and adjust seasonings. Place the mixture on the oysters, trying not to compress, but leave loosely covering them.
Place oysters on platters with rock salt and put on the top shelf of oven and bake until golden – about six minutes.
Serve with lemon wedges.
And if the oysters made it here by the 28th of Oct. I’d make them for my husbands 44th birthday and surprise him with one of his favorite dishes. Wouldn’t that be a cool b-day surprise!!
With what shall we embellish the oyster?
shall we shower her with lemon zest,
or shock her tender flesh
with a whiplash of chile?
no,
nudity becomes her best
her smooth grey sheen needs no gilding
slippery in her nacre bath,
irresistible,
just lift her shell
and kiss the sea.
Well, being from southern Maryland (GO CHESAPEAKE BAY!!!) home everything good and right in seafood, I’d make my family’s secret pickled oysters recipe.
Shuck those beauties and put them and their liqour into a quart jar. Add one small chopped onion, a teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning (It’s a sin if you don’t own any!!! so buy it and tell me you always have, I’l believe you) fill the remaining space in the jar with a mixture of 1/2 tomato juice and 1/2 apple cider vinegar. Let those precious babies hang out in the refridgerator for a few hours.
Invite your friends over by luring them with St. Mary’s County Bloody Marys and Pickled Oysters.
To make a secret St. Mary’s County Bloody Mary add a dash of clam juice and Old Bay to a regular bloody mary and rim the glass with old bay.
Serve Pickled Oysters with crackers, saltines are just fine,and enjoy your pickled oysters.
Every Thanksgiving I get 3 to 4 dozen oysters. My plan is simple. I need the people out of the kitchen. There is an oyster fest on the patio. Sometimes it is a little cold (but not too bad this is SoCal afterall) but we have the BBQ on and we grill the oysters up outside, while I have the kitchen to myself to put the finishing touches on the meal.
Cook’s Tip: Barbecuing the oysters takes one dish and guests out of the kitchen while you’re preparing the big meal 🙂
Take a look at last year’s post: http://tastewiththeeyes.blogspot.com/2007/11/barbecued-oysters.html
Pacific oysters on the grill with a pat of butter, minced garlic, smokey barbecue sauce, a dash of Crystal Hot Sauce, and freshly grated horseradish.
Come on over on November 27 to eat OYSTERS before the big meal! You will be happy!
Cooking and science lessons for 48 three- and four-year-olds at my sons’ preschool. The kids would delight in being introduced to the sight, feel, sound and taste in what would be a new food for most. How great to expand the minds and desires of the future through this awesome bivalve!
The story of the fizzing oyster!
The man with the oyster that fizzed, did no leave it in his mouth for long.
Realising it could not be disposed of that easliy. As the dinner party looked on, the oyster fizzed and fizzed. Then to the mans luck someone yelled “Oue aye la pomlemous?” As the guests were distracted the oyster flew through the air straight out the window. Never again did an oyster fizz nor did the man eat an oyster.
I am a Mobile southern bell living in Chesse head country WI (Green Bay Packers ref). I would take some of those wonderfully luscious oysters fry them up and dress them up on some nice fresh French Bread with some lettuce, tomato, and mayo. In honor of the Wisconsinites I would find a delectable baked cheesy way to serve up part. My husband would sit down to a nice date night and reminisce about some good southern seafood cooking.
My husband is deployed for a year; he won’t be back until July of next year. This will be his third deployment in as many years; but this is the longest. When he’s home, he is usually training someplace else for 4 months at a time. My daughter is 2 years old… and my husband has missed so much.
If this contest came at the right season, I’d love to win and surprize him with his favorite food – fresh oysters on the half shell, with a bit of horseradish, tabasco, lemon and crackers. I guarantee you he’d eat all of them. The first time he ever tasted them was when we were dating (I’m a chef – or used to be before I was a stay at home mom). He loved them instantly and I knew he was the man for me. I miss him terribly and I can just imagine how delighted he would be.
Since he won’t be able to enjoy them until they are out of season (he’ll be home in july) please DON’T vote for me. Although I would love them, I’m sure there are others out there who could make 4 dozen oysters a more raucous party than I could with just me and my daughter… not sure anyone on this base even has an oyster knife besides myself! 🙂
Whoever wins, enjoy!!
I would love to be awarded the four dozen live oysters in honor of my beloved fiance, David Kim, who died after a heroic battle with bile duct cancer this past summer. The love I have for David is deep, and spiritual. He literally saved my life ten years ago when he was selected to be my acupuncturist. He helped me with the challenges I faced having lupus, M.S., rheumatoid arthritis, myasthenia gravis, spasmodic torticollis, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Tethered Cord Syndrome, Chiari 1 Malformation, and a vestibular-cochlear stroke. My recovery is miraculous and David’s kind and attentive treatment spurred me on to great heights.
Two years ago, standing on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Carlsbad, California, we talked finally of marriage and a life together. Two weeks later our dreams were shattered when he was hospitalized and diagnosed with bile duct cancer.
David taught me a lot about nutrition and took me to many of the Korean restaurants in Southern California. He encouraged me to eat oysters and other seafood in his efforts to heal me, and he always put the dishes we ate in context of his love for “his Korea.” We enjoyed such Korean dishes as seafood Soon Du Bu, Pajeon (Korean Pancake with Oysters), Fried Oyster Hot Pot (made with sesame oil, watercress, beef rib eye, etc.), and Koljon (fried oysters).
I would love to recreate these dishes over the holidays, and enjoy them with many of his Korean friends and fellow acupuncturists who loved him so dearly. It would be a memorial to David’s kind heart and brave soul.
And I’d play the song, “Unchained Melody,” the song he sang to me five years ago. The song still melts my heart.
Love you David. Rest in peace.
I would barbecue ’em, broil ’em, and sautee ’em. I’d make oyster kebabs, oyster creole, oyster gumbo, pan fried oysters, deep fried oysters, stir fried oysters, oysters Rockefeller, oysters on the half-shell, oyster soup and oyster stew. That’s about it but in case I’m wrong I’d consider a few other ways.
Just call me Bubba Steve.
But whatever I did I wouldn’t tell my friend Lawrence, or I wouldn’t have any oysters for myself.
By the way, while I ate I would sing a little ditty:
In Pugets fair city
Where the food is so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Marx’s fine foods
Alive, alive O,
Alive, alive O,
Crying oysters for freebies
Alive, alive O.
The Pacific Oysters would get the grill treatment, then served with a soy-sesame oil-lemon dressing.
The Kumamotos would be eaten raw and undressed – as God intended.
The Virginicas would be eaten raw, but with a little bit of horseradish and green onion.
The Olympias I think I would use them in an omelette, like the O Chien dish from Malaysia.
I would call my two best friends over for dinner: (Butter and Garlic)
O I would just keep it simple and turn them out to pickle.
An Old Tyme feast – with block o cheese, crusty bread, and browned steaming slab o roast beast.
I’d do an oyster roast outside for fall. I’d make homemade crackers and condiments from recipes of local DC Chefs.
A DATE NIGHT COOKING CLASS
So far from a coast
for an extraordinary host
we plan for an evening affair.
Of lovers and oysters,
baked, broiled and roasters
so none will have even a care!
I would have a cooking class for 8 couples to explore how to shuck, prepare and eat such a glorious trasure from the sea.
Together each couple would learn to enjoy a task together while feasting on the experience of love and accomplishment.
I would be so ecstatic to bring my four different types of oysters into my culinary class at the Art Institute of Philadelphia and ask my chef for advice on cooking oysters in four different ways. I know my classmates would love to both work with and eat delicous Puget Sound oysters!
I think oysters would be awesome if they were sauteed with bacon, shallots, garlic and red bell pepper and then topped with freshly toasted bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.
Succulent oysters in Puget Sound abound! How great it would be to eat them from the sea…please, please pick me!
I would donate them to Chef Ennes at Broadway Community on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, my hometown. He is the most talented, creative, passionate chef I’ve ever met working to feed and fully nourish the homeless. He trains many of the residents how to be cooks so they can get jobs and get off the streets, and I bet they’d get a real kick out of working with some fresh oysters. I’d also bet a dollar to a donut that Chef Ennis would concoct a wonderfully ecclectic dish that would magically stretch 4 dozen oysters into 40 dozen. http://www.broadwaycommunity.org/
I would take a dozen of oysters and hickory smoke them. During the smoking process, I will make a stuffing which will include: mix mushroom duxelle, bread crumbs, and grier cheese.
Once the oysters are smoked to perfection, I will than take each oyster and stuff it with a layer of mushroom duxelle, add another layer of bread crumbs and top it off with shredded grier cheese. The next and last step would be putting all already stuffed oysters in the salamader oven and cook it until the cheese is lightly caramelized. Serve it with lemon.
Easy! Throw an Oyster Shooter Party for my close friends and family!
Raw oysters removed from their shells and put into shot glasses along with their juices and one of three sauces:
1. vodka, tomato juice, lemon, horseradish, tabasco.
2. whiskey, vinegar, worcestershire, salt
3. sake, soy sauce, yuzu juice, scallions, jalapeno
Serve with dirty martinis. Now that’s a party!
I get at least one bottle of pouilly-fuisse, more likely two and enjoy them on my deck, remembering my time in Paris, eating oysters and drinking wine in cafes on the Left Bank.
If it is a perfectly fresh oyster it’s a shame to do anything with it but enjoy it as is. A little fresh squeezed lemon juice won’t hurt but just a little.
I have twin five year olds who have been eating oysters (raw, smoked, etc) since they were two. I would finally let them just go crazy and enjoy! What could be better?!
Bipolar solution:
Mania–eat them in 5 minutes
Depressed–eat them in 15 minutes
Just kidding. In 5 or 15 minutes they’d be a total joy!
I would shuck em and eat em raw on the half shell. With a little home made cocktail sauce on the side.
If given 48 free oysters I would use them to promote peace and harmony among all peoples of the world.
My son would be in heaven! He’s only 7, but can eat 4 dozen oysters by himself… The only place he likes to go for oysters is Hooters here in San Diego, but so far, he knows the establishment as “The Oyster Place,” so his mother doesn’t get mad when he tells her where we’ve been 🙂
4 dozen oysters would be a wonderful treat,
To have at least one of my own and not have to compete.
For my husband and 5 children scarf them down with vigor,
Using elbows, arms, and bodies to become the victor.
Oh to blissfully savor in leisure this tasty shellfish,
Whether Rockefeller, raw, or in a side dish,
Would be heaven and earth and something I wish.
Please grant me these 48 wonderful mollusk,
So I can reap the flavors from the shells that I shuck.
I would have a small dinner party of Oyster fans only. As hostess I would dress up as the walrus from the poem “The Walrus and The Carpenter”. I would ask the guests to come as carpenters. There would be sounds of the ocean complete with seagulls flying and a walrus roar, heard in the background for the beach effect.
The menu would feature the oysters in one form or another, but all raw as that is how they were eaten by the walrus and the carpenter. I would have Washington Beer to go with the meal.
As dinner came to a close, I would read the poem by Lewis Carroll. We would blow out the candles and have a moment of silence for the oysters that gave their lives so that we could dine first class.
1 dozen i would eat raw at home w my wife with a bottle of serge rafflin champagne we got on our honeymoon to france
2 dozen i would bring into my restaurant, encore in denver, and broil them in our wood fired oven w some parmesan crumb
the other 1 dozen would have to be decided as sonn as i received them…most likely more at home but with scotch
What would I do with a free four dozen oysters????? I would just slip away into a wonderful world of ME. God has handed me more then I ever thought I could handle. Yet I am still here through it all. There are days I cry all day but yet the next day starts anew. I lost my one true friend this summer, my Mother to cardic failure-she went to bed and never woke up. She was my wall as my life got tougher and tougher. I pray she keeps me making the correct choices in my life for my family and my newest edition, my 11 1/2 year old foster son. So as a family of four adjusting to a family of five I look for her guidence to keep me moving. We all have many challenges but I am the base of my family and I hold us all up. To enjoy that sweet taste of a gourmet oyster would give me that small reprive in my crazy life of appointments, coaching, work, mourning, homework, and housework to move forward in the next few minutes. I would be happy with just one oyster….just that one minute to enjoy it; to slip away from reality; to re-charge my batteries; and then return ready to face all those challenges that keep me moving from 6:15 AM until 11:00 PM every day. To just enjoy ME. Even if it is just for a minute.
I would go crazy with delight, at the welcome sight.
Forty-eight of those chilled bites – it would be so right.
Lemon juice, cocktail sauce, a bit of mignonette, already my mouth is watering, hungry and wet.
Kumamotos are my favorite to date,
when you send them, to the table I won’t be late 🙂
I would make four fabulous “marriage-survival” gift packs including: bottles of champagne, candles, massage oil, truffles, strawberries, and 12 glorious oysters each.
I would keep one basket for myself and give the other 3 to my closest friends.
… How beautiful to slow down for one night and celebrate marriage, romance, good food, and love? And to afford my friends an opportunity to celebrate their own blessings and hard work??? That would be so meaningful in these hard times.
Thank you!!!!
When I was a young child I remember my mother’s Oyster Casserole that she made for Thanksgiving every year. I have continued that tradition and now, after forty years, my children and grandchildren practically fight over it. This is one Thanksgiving tradition that I believe will continue long after I am gone. It is simple to prepare and tastes wonderful. I do not know the originator of the recipe–it could have been my mother–or I would give due credit to that person. Having fresh oysters would make the casserole so much better.
3 dozen oysters, drained
2/3 cup chopped parsley
2/3 cup chopped green onions
1 cup cracker crumbs, rolled fine
1 stick butter, melted
1 small lemon
½ tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Place 3 doz. drained oysters in shallow pyrex dish. Sprinkle with parsley & green onions and sprinkle cracker crumbs on top. Melt the butter, add juice of one lemon, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and pour over the crumbs. Bake in 450º oven until oysters curl and crumbs are brown, about 10-15 minutes. Serves six.
We live in the heart of the Texas Hill Country which is a mecca for musicians, especially singer/songwriters. House Concerts are very popular here to promote Texas music. A singer/songwriter is invited to provide the entertainment. The host is responsible for the main course and the people who come bring pot luck. Everyone chips in a few dollars which is given to the musician. So, I would sponsor a House Concert with grilled Oysters Rockefeller as one of the entrees. The recipe that I use was originally for indoor cooking. I have adapted it for the grill. Here’s the recipe (I would alter it for 4 dozen oysters):
Oysters Rockefeller
36 fresh oysters on the half shell
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons finely minced raw spinach
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 tablespoons minced parsley
5 tablespoons bread crumbs
Tabasco sauce to taste
1/2 teaspoon Pernod
1/2 teaspoon salt
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add all the ingredients except the oysters. Cook, constantly stirring for 15 minutes. Line six pie tins with rock salt. Set 6 oysters in the rock salt on each pie tin. Place the tins on a hot grill. Close the lid. The oysters will open in about 3-4 minutes. Divide the topping into 36 equal portions. Place one portion on each oyster. Close the grill lid and bake for 3 or 4 more minutes until the tops begin to turn brown. Serves 6.
I would open them and eat them raw. No lemon, no cocktail sauce, no mignonette, and certainly no cooking could ever improve a fresh oyster.
I would invite several friends up from the city and have a feast with the oysters and other foods — And the oysters would be transformed into oysters casino. Yum
I would simply open then, top with some horseradish and slurp them down. Please don’t make me mess with the sweet, salty, rich taste of a raw oyster!
I would show my husband how much I appreciate him with a smorgasbord of oysters. He has had to work a lot of over time lately and between both of our work schedules we do not get much time together and I do cherish the time we get. It would be great to surprise him when he gets home one day with an oyster feast. (we both moved to the south to be near my ageing parents and we soooo miss the northern coastal shell fish that we both grew up on). I would serve a dozen (mixed variety) raw with some home made cocktail sauce (nice and spicy), horseradish and fresh lemon wedges on the side. I would steam a dozen (using beer and old bay seasoning to flavor). I would make a nice white wine butter sauce to dip these tasty treats in. I would take the third dozen and dredge them in a little old bay seasoned flour and deep fry them (serve them with a homemade tarter sauce) and the last dozen I would make a nice tasty but simple oyster stew. Cooking them up with a little cream, butter and old bay.
My mouth is watering just thinking about it. And I can just see the smile on my hard working hubbies face when he comes home to a nice smorgasbord of tasty treats that he knows I made with love for him. He really is such a hard worker and since I can’t afford to fly him to the northern coast I can at least bring a little of it to him.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Wish me luck
Oysters? Is that the same thing as mussels but just a little bigger? Down here we use them thangs as bait. My wife says that people eat them thangs and that they are pretty good. She is lil more sophisticated than me so I’ll take her word for it. What would I do with 4 dozen? I reckon I’d take em to the lake with some lemon and hot sauce and a 6 pak of beer. One for the hook and one down the hatch.
I grew up in Southwest Louisiana and I love the food there. I would make a double batch of gumbo and invite all of my friends over for a scrumptous meal. Here’s my recipe:
Seafood Gumbo
two dozen shucked oysters
one pound of peeled raw shrimp
½ pound fresh picked crab
one cup of canola oil
one cup of all purpose flour
one cup of diced onions
one cup of diced bell peppers
one cup of diced celery
one or two tablespoons minced garlic to taste
one quart of warmed seafood stock or chicken broth (you can warm in the microwave)
one quart of warmed water (you can warm in the microwave)
one-half bottle of a 12 oz. Dixie or other beer—do not use a light beer
one tablespoon chopped parsley
one or two tablespoons of Creole seasoning to taste
one bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup of chopped green onions
hot sauce
Cooked rice
Combine oil and flour in a large 6-8 quart Dutch oven on medium to medium-high heat to make a roux. Stir constantly until the flour and oil are the color of milk chocolate, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and add the diced onion, bell pepper, and celery and sauté for one minute. Roux will darken. Add garlic and warmed broth and water. Put back on medium-high heat until it boils. Add the bay leaf and beer. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. If the gumbo becomes too thick, add more warm water or stock to desired consistency. Add salt, pepper, and Creole seasonings. Simmer, for 30-40 minutes. Add seafood and simmer for 20 minutes. Correct seasonings and sprinkle parsley and green onions on top. Remove bay leaf. Serve over rice. Pass the hot sauce and French bread. Makes 8-12 servings.
If I won four dozen delicious oysters I would out-do my wife’s gumbo (which is wonderful) with my oysters etouffee.
Oysters Etouffee
¾ stick of butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. minced garlic
½ teaspoon salt
6 oz. tomato sauce
¼ cup water
juice of one lemon
two dozen shucked oysters
Melt butter in large heavy pot (like a Dutch oven). Add next five ingredients and sauté over low medium heat until translucent, stirring occasionally. Add tomato sauce and water. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add oysters and lemon juice and cook uncovered ten minutes.
Serve over rice. Serves four.
I would make the Oysters in Aspic from Gourmet Magazine’s October issue.
It’s an end of an era! It was more than just the oysters. For years, my friends, Sue, Johnny, Dave, Pat, and my husband Tom gathered together on Sunday afternoons for the shucking of oysters. Some were barbequed, some raw, smothered in a great sauce our friend Dave made with fresh tomatoes, fresh cilantro, fresh garlic and fresh squeezed lime. We either drove to the coast in Tomales Bay, CA or got them fresh from a local fish market. Now our friends Dave & Pat are retiring to the Pacific Northwest. I thought it would be a great send off to have one more Sunday sharing a piece of what they will be tasting in the future, and remembering that no matter where the oysters come from, they will be a part of our lives forever.
Oh my gosh, I wish I’d heard about this sooner!!! I love raw oysters, straight up with just a squirt of fresh lemon juice and maybe some apple cider vinegar, damn that sounds good right about now.
But I haven’t gotten into cooked oysters yet, so maybe I’d try frying some just to try again ;D
Carol McLeod Says:
If I would be lucky enough to win the 4 dozen oysters, I would have a nice dinner with my family. We live in Florida, close to the Apalachicola oyster area, so we would love to have the chance to compare the two oysters. We would grill part of them and eat the others raw. All you need to compliment these oysters will be hot sauce, lemon and crackers. Awwwww…….there is the makings of a wonderful evening.
SEND THOSE OYSTERS ON DOWN!!!
4 dozen oysters call for the bar-b-q to be fired up and let them babies pop open and….YUMMY in My dad and mines TUMMY!!!
My fiance and I used to live in Washington state. I don’t have any fancy ideas only that I would give one dozen to our church so they can give out to some needy families. We live in Hawaii where everything is expensive and there would be no way that we would have the luxury of buying soooo many oysters.
I would then share it with my family of five, and make it three ways”
one dozen oysters,1/2 jar of minced fresh garlic and olive oil, with a dash of pepper and lemon juice squeezed.and fried until flavor locks in.
one dozen oysters in a tin foil (after taken out of its shell of course) poked with holes so that the kiawe wood could smoke the meat, dash of hawaiian salt and some louisiana hot sauce. smoke until its ready!!
the last dozen I would put into a dutch oven with butter, touch of red wine, and hawaiian salt….thats it!!
For the most part I would be grateful to recieve such a gift.
I took my son for his 20th birthday to Red Lobster after a LONG delima of where to go because his grandmother couldn’t go at the last minute due to her dementia and the only reason he chose it was to get oysters on the half shell. Well due to hurricane Ike they didn’t have any we didn’t leave but it left a big void in our plan. The next day I asked him when his father had finally called to wish him a “Happy Birthday” and he said he never did. It only made the lack of oysters worse. This would have been the first time in 5 years that he would have had them because I can’t afford to go and splurge on them. It would be an AWESOME SURPRIZE to get these. Thanks for the consideration.
I would smoke them on the grill and serve them at a Packers tailgate party, Who cares if the Packers lose when you’re eating beautiful, delicious oysters. Ummmm, Yummy!
First , I would thank you very much!!!!
Then I would call up my good friend in Murrells Inlet, SC , Tell her about my wonderful luck of getting some of the world’s greatest tasting oysters ever… Go to her house, Get our fishing gear together, Have a marguerita…(we’re two old ladies who love to fish and eat oysters, and drink margs).
We would set up our fishing rods in the surf, light a nice campfire… slap a pot of boiling water on the fire and just steam them long enough to warm them up…(Don’t need anything else)
Have a marguerita, while we wait for them to steam, check our poles for bait, check out any cute “young guys who might be trolling the beach”…. Slowly take one of them out of the pot one at a time and savor the feel, touch, and smell of each oyster, have a marguerita… and give thanks for our blessing of such wonderful oysters and your company and their wonderful gernerosity. We would then raise a toast to you with a marguerita and watch the sunset tell a few oyster jokes and laugh into the wee hours of the morning, and if we had any oysters left over, we would have some for breakfast…Cause you know “us” old ladies need all of the “get it up” we can get, anyway we can get it. Have a wonderful day and I will be anxiously awaiting your most magnifiscent oysters!
Sincerely, Yours,
Linda Strauss
I would fly them back to Puget Sound and let them go!!!!!
My youngest sons birthday is November 17th. He had his first taste of oysters last year. He loved them, he even likes them raw. It would be a great birthday gift to give him his very own platter of oysters.
The first 24 oysters would go to the “house” That’s meeeeee!. They’ll be a special treat to deep fry, Calabash Style, served with homemade picy tarter sauce, sweet potato French fries, cole slaw and a banana cream pie for desert. Um!
The remaining 24 will go into the pot for my Rich Oyster Stew (recipe follows):
24 Fresh oysters, shucked, liquor reserved
1 teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh chopped parsley
Oyster crackers
Directions:
1. In a large saucepan heat oyster liquor with celery salt, cayenne and thyme.
2. Add oysters and cook just until edges curl.
3. Stir in cream, milk and butter and heat mixture together slowly stirring until stew is hot and steamy throughout – never boil.
4. Season pot with salt pepper to taste.
5. Sprinkle stew with cut parsley and ladle into bowls. Serve immediately with oyster crackers. Serves 4.
I would also invite SortinItAllOut (on this site) and her Dad to join us. SortinItAllOut and I have never met or spoken; but, bless her for wanting to make stew for her Dad! I would do the same, if I could. If I win – I want half my oysters shipped directly to her house so she can make her Dad Oyster Bisque. And I’ll enjoy my Calabash Oyster fry with the remaining oysters! Yum. This is a great forum and it brings a smile to my face ~ Donna from Maine.
Ahhh a dream come true
as i am from the pacific NW~
having spent all my summers on the Long Beach Peninsula form the time i turned 2 until now at 47, believe me i know what to do with these beauties.
Hopefully they will arrive around the full moon so i can bundle them up with my bottle ( or 2 ) of prosecco and my oyster knives and a sweet friend : )
or two. .
we would make a picnic on the banks of the Core Sound imagining the entire while that we were truly at the edge of Willapa Bay ( one of the most exquisitely beautiful & pristine places on earth ) there we would take turns opening and feeding each other these delicacies while the moons soft glow sparkles on the water around us. we will save the kumamoto for last as they are certainly THE Desert oyster~ MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm no need for sauce or crackers. . ..a sip of prosecco in between the creamy saltiness of these raw delights and all will be right in this ladies life~
Oysters “A la Cancun” were created by myself a few years back at the age of 16 and it’s been a huge hit locally.
These Oysters reflect my Mexican heritage but satisfy that exotic and tropical taste we all crave.
Follow these simple instruction to archive taste bud heaven!
Cooking time: 45 min. Start to finish:
Makes 12 hors d’oeuvre servings, or 2 individual servings.
Ingredients:
12 MarxFoods Oysters
1 thick strip of bacon finely chopped
1 Med. size jalapeno
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallion
1/2 cup firmly packed baby spinach finely chopped
1 tablespoon very finely chopped fresh curly-leaf parsley
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 teaspoons minced pineapple
2 tablespoons of pineapple juice
1/2 cup shredded Manchego cheese
3 teaspoons Coconut flavored Malibu rum
3 tablespoons coconut cream (Coco Lopez or your favorite brand)
1 slice minced Mango (Optional)
1 cup white rice
2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons finally chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon Sea salt
2 table spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Lb.Kosher Rock salt
Preparation:
Boil chicken stock then add rice,sea salt and cilantro on low heat until done then set aside. This will serve as a base for your Oysters.
Add the olive oil to your sauce pan and fry bacon and the Jalapeno at medium heat.
Remove bacon once it is crispy and the jalapeno toasted. Set the bacon bits and jalapeno aside for later use.
Do not wash your pan, add the Scallions to your hot pan stir for 1 minute then add crushed jalapeno (easily mashed with fork), spinach, parsley, butter and
pineapple. Stir these ingredients together for about 4 minutes then add Malibu Rum, Pineapple juice and mango.
Stir for about 2 minutes on high heat then remove from heat and transfer mixture to a bowl and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 hour.
Preparing your Oysters:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
First scrub shells very well under cool running water. You can use a vegetable brush if you own one then carefully open each Oyster.
Place the Oysters in a glass pie dish over 1 inch of rock salt so that they stay in there place.
Place at least 2 tablespoons of the mix in each Oyster. Be generous with the mix. Sprinkle each oyster with bacon and cover with shredded manchego cheese completely.
Put the Oysters in the oven in the middle position.
Bake oysters until edges of oysters begin to curl and cheese melts. About 10 minutes.
Transfer the Oysters and serve warm in shells, nestled on white rice platter.
Be sure to use great care as the Oyster shells remain hot for a at least 15 minutes.
Bon Appetit, Provecho and enjoy!!!
I’d use these wonderful oysters in this delightful original salad as a starter or main entree….
Roasted Corn, Oyster & Baby Bok Choy Salad with Spicy Corn Lemongrass Vinaigrette
Non stick cooking spray
6 ears fresh corn, shucked
6 bunches of baby bok choy, halved
3/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
1 tablespoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
4 dozen fresh Pacific Sound oysters, shucked & removed from shells, juices reserved
2 tablespoons fresh lemongrass, crushed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Preheat oven to 375F. degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray; set aside. Cut the corn from cobs and place on baking sheet. On another baking sheet, place the halved bok choy cut side up and drizzle lightly with vegetable oil. Sprinkle the corn and the bok choy with salt & pepper then place in the oven. Roast the corn for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, and the bok choy for 10 minutes per side. meanwhile, make the vinaigrette by scraping the milk from the reserved corn cobs. Add to a food processor or blender, along with 1/2 cup of the roasted corn, the reserved oyster juice, lemongrass, crushed red pepper, rice wine vinegar, and remaining vegetable oil. Puree mixture until completely blended; season with salt and pepper. Remove bok choy and set aside. Remove the corn, stir and place the oysters on top; return to oven for five minutes. After five minutes, remove corn from oven; set aside. To plate the dish, place two halves of the bok choy, cut side up on each of six individual serving dishes. Spoon the corn over the top and evenly divide the oysters. Lightly drizzle with the vinaigrette and garnish with cilantro. Pass remaining vinaigrette at the table. Makes 6 salads.
The oyster contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who submitted and shared their great ideas!
Vote for your favororite idea Tuesday, October 21 – Friday, October 24 to determine the winner.
I vote for #39.
Will is adorable and, it seems, a true oyster lover.
Too many kids aren’t willing to try new foods. Will not only tried these incredible oysters, but loved them! His sense of adventure wins my vote.
Plus, he’s a Dodgers fan … so he’s obviously a very, very bright child.
This boy is a Dodger fan but still has great taste for food. He is a rare flower among the young men these days and needs to have more Oysters!
I vote for #39. Very impressive, sophisticated palate for an 8 year old. And what a wonderful surprise if he wins (for grandma too!). Good luck.
I vote for Harvey Weed, # 74. He had the most straitfowrward answer, & deserves to win because of it.
I vote for #39 – He is impressive – and has excellent taste. He would be the most appreciative of all should he win.
First let me start by telling you a story…Once upon a time I was on Puget Sound with my family eating and roasting oysters on the beach. I had never tasted the erotic delicacy before, and I had to close my eyes because each oyster was at lease 5 inches long…the oyster not the shell! It was the most wonderful thing I had ever tasted. I knew at that moment that I was going to be a chef and eat all the world had to offer.
If I had the oysters I would set a table on Puget Sound, Invite my few oyster loving friends and remember that day.
In closing the only thing my grandmother had in here fridge was milk, Long Beach, Wa. oysters, onions and hot sauce. True Story, but she passed away so I would have it on her birthday April 1st, because she was the best person in the world, and she showed us Puget Sound.