Oyster Po'Boy

Ingredients:
16 oz raw, shucked oysters
1-2 cups matzo meal
1 cup superfine flour (like Wondra)
1-2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
hot sauce*
2 eggs, beaten

hot sauce romulade
2 pickle spears, diced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 teaspoon worchesetershire sauce
1/2-1 teaspoon hot sauce*
salt
pepper

4 hoagie rolls
1 tomato, sliced
1 leaves Romaine lettuce

canola oil (for frying)

*I used my favorite classic style red hot sauce

Directions:

Whisk together the sauce ingredients. Set aside. Heat about 1/2 to 1 inch of oil in a large, shallow skillet, enough to cover the oysters. Meanwhile pour the egg, flour and matzo meal into separate shallow bowls. Stir the hot sauce into the eggs. Stir the the spices to the matzo meal. Stir a few drops of hot sauce into the egg. Dredge each oyster in the flour, then in the egg then the matzo meal. Drop the oysters into the hot oil, taking care that they do not overlap or they will stick together. Cook until golden on all sides, about 1-2 minutes. They should float to the top when ready and may not need to be flipped. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Place on a split hoagie roll that has been lined with lettuce and tomato and spread with sauce.

My thoughts:

Is there a better sandwich than the oyster po'boy? I am not sure. I like them with a bit of a pickle-y sauce. This time I added hot sauce to the sauce vs. drizzling it on top and I really liked it because the oysters seemed to stay crisper.

Matzo meal is slightly untradtional but makes for super crispy oysters and is easily found at grocery stores, especially as we move closer to Passover. Cornmeal is pretty good too but depending on the brand, it can taste too corn-y and overwhelm the oysters. Regular bread crumbs would work too.

Creamy Oyster Parmesan-Spinach Sauce

Ingredients:
2 cups shucked oysters in their liquor
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice and zest of � lemon
� cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
� teaspoon white pepper
� teaspoon salt
� teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup defrosted chopped frozen spinach
1/4 cup Parmigiana Reggiano

To serve: hot, cooked 8 oz mafaldine or linguine

Directions:
Stir the lemon juice and the zest into the oysters. Set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Saut� the garlic in the oil until fragrant. Add the cream, 1 tablespoon butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and cook for just a minute or so, until the cream starts to thicken. Add the oysters and spinach to the pan and reduce the heat. Continue to cook just until the oysters are warmed through and look set. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmigiana Reggiano. Toss with the hot pasta and serve.

My thoughts:

When we think about buying food in season fruits and vegetables are the first things that come to mind. However, there is another favorite food that many people consider to have a season: Chesapeake Bay oysters. Many people still follow the rule that states that oysters should only be consumed during months that contain the letter �R�.

The reasoning behind the rule was simple. Before modern refrigeration, it was risky to ship oysters any distance during the steamy Summer months. On very hot days, oysters often spoiled during transit. By restricting the season from Autumn to early Spring, diners were less likely to get food poisoning from improperly refrigerated oysters.

While oysters are now safe to eat and available for purchase all year, many people still stick to the traditional season. Because of this, fresh, local oysters are often easier to find during the colder months than they are the rest of the year. Luckily I was able to find these lovely examples and turn them in to a wonderful, creamy but not too heavy sauce.

Spicy Fried Oysters

Ingredients:
16 oz shucked, raw "frying size" oysters
2/3 cup Instant Blending Flour
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
3 1/2 tablespoons garlic-habanero hot sauce*
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon chipotle
salt
freshly ground black pepper

canola oil for frying

Directions:
Pour the oysters in a small bowl. Douse in hot sauce. Allow to soak for 10 minutes or up to one hour in the fridge. Meanwhile pour the egg, flour and breadcrumbs into separate shallow bowls. Stir the the spices to the breadcrumbs. Beat some hot sauce into the egg if desired. Heat about 1/2 to 1 inch of oil in a large, shallow skillet, enough to cover the oysters.

Dredge each oyster in the flour, then in the egg then the seasoned bread crumbs. Drop the oysters into the hot oil, taking care that they do not overlap or they will stick together. Cook until golden on all sides, just a minute or so. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

*I used the yummy Miss Anna's that I bought in St. Croix but any garlic-y habanero sauce would work.

My thoughts:

I love oysters very much. Growing up, once a year my mom and grandpop would pick up a huge order of fried oysters from a local seafood shop and we'd have a feast of oysters just barely garnished with coleslaw and cocktail sauce. It was the culinary high light of my year even when I was quite young, even under age five or so. Despite our love of oysters, I don't think it ever occurred to my family to fry our our own. It wasn't until I was off on my own that I realized how easily (and cheaply!) it was to find local frying oysters. Normally I just fry them dredged in matzo meal or bread crumbs but these time I decided to branch out and make a spicier version that had no need of a sauce. I was worried the oysters' flavor would be overpowered by the spices but it really wasn't. Each bite was crispy then spicy then very oyster-y. Fried seafood perfection! We had these for dinner straight but I think they'd be great in po boys or even as an appetizer.

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Oyster Stew

Ingredients:
1 lb oysters with liqour
1 large onion, chopped
1 large russet potato, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 habanero pepper, chopped
1 cup diced smoked ham
24 oz evaporated milk
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Heat the butter or oil in a dutch oven or large pot. Saute the onion, pepper, potato, celery and ham until the vegetables are softened. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the oysters are cooked through.

My thoughts:

This past weekend we went to the oyster festival in St. Michaels. One of the events was a oyster stew competition. For $5 you got a mug and could try 8 different stews then cast your vote. I honestly had never had oyster stew before but I liked it a lot. There was one that I loved but all of them were pretty similar. They were also pretty rich; lots of cream and butter. Which, to me, overpowered some of the oyster flavor. After the 6th or 7th sample, I even started to feel a little queasy. When I noticed that local oysters were under $7 a pound at our local Safeway, I figured I'd try to make an oyster stew that was both flavorful and not so heavy. To help accomplish that goal, I turned to one of my favorite ingredients: evaporated milk. I love it because, undiluted, it is super creamy and rich tasting but not heavy at all. In this case, I thinned it out with a bit of 2% milk and really liked the result. It didn't taste "canned" (the biggest fear I find people have about using evaporated milk) and it really let the oyster's flavor shine through. Some of the stews we tasted had bacon but I didn't really like the texture it had in the stew and it seemed to make the stew kind of oily. I liked the idea of a smoky flavor so I added some lean ham from one of those spiral sliced hams that are so readily available right now. It did exactly what I wanted: smoky flavor with no extra fat.

Seafood Gumbo

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter OR bacon fat
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 cubanelle peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 quarts seafood or chicken stock
4 andouille sausages, sliced into coins
1 lb okra, sliced into coins
1 lb peeled shrimp
1 lb catfish, cut into nuggets
1 lb shucked oysters (with liquid)


cooked white rice to serve
file powder, optional

Directions:
Over medium heat, cook the flour, spices and butter/bacon fat together, whisking pretty often until it turns brown but doesn't burn. Add the onions, garlic and peppers and saute until starting to soften. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the sausage and okra. Cook for 30 minutes. Add the shrimp and catfish. Cook until they are almost cooked through then add the oysters in their liquid. Cook until the oysters are cooked through. Serve over rice.

My thoughts:

I have to say, I make pretty good Cajun food. When my husband brought home a bunch of seafood with an eye on making gumbo, he suggested I make the roux and take a more supervisory role for the rest. Fine with me! I make my roux over a lower heat than I've seen called for in cookbooks which makes the process much less fraught but yields the same results in just slightly more time. I also like to add the spices to the flour which makes them nice and toasty tasting. Beyond that I don't get too fancy; cubanelle peppers instead of bell (bell peppers are so insipid) and a jalapeno thrown in for extra spice. Since it is a month with an "r" in it, local oysters were a natural fit as was my favorite catfish. Rounding it out is shrimp but I bet crawfish or even (for an extra luxe touch) chunks of lobster would be great. This is my favorite kind of gumbo, homey and comforting but the seafood makes it seem special. It is also surprisingly quick to make which makes it a great choice for a weekday meal.

Oyster (un)Stuffing

Ingredients:
25 slices torn sandwich bread
1 pint shucked oysters, drained (reserve liquid)
2 large onions, diced (about 1 lb)
1 bunch celery, diced (about 1 lb)
1 bunch parsley, minced
1/2 cup chicken or turkey stock
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon sea salt
zest of one lemon


Directions:
In a large pan, saute celery and onions in butter and olive oil over very low heat until the onions are translucent. Do not brown. Allow to cool slightly. Add to bread cubes in bowl and add spices, zest and parsley. Combine with egg, oysters and broth. Add oyster liquor to further moisten if necessary. Form medium-sized balls. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Place balls in the bottom of the roasting pan under the rack and around the turkey on the rack for the last 1/2 hour of roasting.



Yield: 8-10 servings

My thoughts:

I've always heard about oyster stuffing and its popularity, especially here in the mid-Atlantic but never actually had it until I made this. I grew up eating a more basic stuffing but as an adult I've branched out a bit while still making the stuffing into balls and arranging them around the turkey. It really is the best way to get the flavor of the turkey without compromising the cooking time or safety of the turkey. Anyway, I am not sure what traditional ingredients are in oyster stuffing besides oysters so I added my favorites, celery seed and lemon zest along with some basic seasonings. I loved it. The oysters added a great flavor and made the stuffing seem extra special and worth the effort. Not to mention it was a great excuse to buy some local, Chesapeake Bay oysters which I always appreciate.

Fried Oysters Three Ways

Ingredients:
16 oz shucked, raw oysters
2/3 cup Instant Blending Flour*
2/3 cup bread crumbs OR cornmeal OR panko
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon cayenne
chipotle hot sauce
salt
pepper

canola oil for frying

Directions:
Heat about 1/2 to 1 inch of oil in a large, shallow skillet, enough to cover the oysters. Meanwhile pour the egg, flour and breadcrumbs (or panko or cornmeal)into separate shallow bowls. Stir the the spices to the breadcrumbs or cornmeal or panko. Stir a few drops of hot sauce into the egg. Dredge each oyster in the flour, then in the egg then the bread crumbs (or cornmeal/panko). Drop the oysters into the hot oil, taking care that they do not overlap or they will stick together. Cook until golden on all sides, about 1 minute. They should float to the top when ready and not need to be flipped. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Serve hot with cocktail or tarter sauce or on a sandwich.





*I used Pillsbury Shake & Blend. Another similar product is Gold Medal Wondra Flour. It is found near regular flour or near gravy mixes. It is very fine and dissolves easily in water (or in this case, doesn't make the oysters too thick with flour). Use all purpose if you have to.

My thoughts:

Fried oysters are quite possibly my favorite food but I had never made them until Monday. Now I am wondering what took me so long! They were super quick to make (even when making them with three different coatings) and they came out really well. Better than when I have had them out actually. Not to mention much cheaper. In the past I stuck to the "only in months with R" rule but hey, these were on sale for only $8 lb so I couldn't resist. There isn't much oystering going in the the Bay* anymore so local oysters are hard to find even during peak months.

I put a call out to the Twitterverse asking about preferred ways of battering and about two-thirds of the respondents were in favor of cornmeal and the remaining responses were divided between traditional bread crumbs and panko. I decided to try them all to see which one I liked the most.

My findings:



Breadcrumbs: Matt and my top choice. They browned evenly and had the perfect amount of breading. Lots of clear, fresh oyster flavor. The only drawback to the breadcrumbs is that when the oyster was was allowed to cool completely it was slightly less crispy than the other cornmeal or panko battered ones. I didn't find this to be much a problem because no one wants to eat cold fried oysters anyway. They were all best fresh from the oil.

Panko: (pictured at the top of the post) The panko covered ones darkened more quickly than the other two but stayed crispy (even when cold) and allowed for a lot of oyster flavor to shine through. It dropped to second place because was difficult to coat the irregularly shaped oysters evenly with the panko. Some panko fell off during the frying. I didn't have this problem when I've fried other seafood using the same technique so I think it is something to do with the dampness of the oysters and their shape. Skipping the initial flour step didn't remedy the situation either. Panko might work better if you used very large, uniform oysters.



Cornmeal: A lot of people were quite adamant about cornmeal being the only acceptable coating for oysters but it was our distinct third favorite. It stayed crisp but the corn flavor was so strong it was hard to tell we were eating an oyster. Still tasty but when I am eating an oyster, I want to know I am eating an oyster!


*If you are interested in learning more about Chesapeake Bay oystering and oyster pirates(!) here's a great 1888 article from the NY Times archives.