Today was the bestest, ever.
As part of the Outer Banks Restaurant Association's
Taste of the Beach,
Lucky 12 Tavern
presented
"All About Oysters."
Mr. Hawthorne and I showed up at 3:00 ready to feast on oysters.
We had SO MUCH fun.
I'm really going to have to re-email Mr. Sproul, the president of the DCRA, and tell him how much I've enjoyed everything. He was nice enough, if you recall, to call me after my first email
in which I might have bitched a tiny bit, because of certain disappointments I'd experienced,
and offered me tickets to the main event tomorrow night at
Kelly's Restaurant.
Anyways, back to Lucky 12 Tavern.
Mr. H. and I have been there a few times already and have enjoyed very good meals.
So I signed us up for the "All About Oysters" presentation.
We didn't know what to expect, but were quite surprised and happy.
The owner, Mark, invited everyone into his kitchen, where we stayed the entire time, taking turns shucking oysters, eating oysters, learning about oysters, and watching Mark and his partner, BJ, prepare oysters, and did I mention eating oysters?
And eating oysters.
And eating oysters.
No fillers.
No cole slaw.
No french fries.
Just oysters.
Oysters, oysters, oysters.
Mark and BJ started out by shucking oysters and offering them to us.
They had oysters from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and oysters from Texas, which were huge.
Naturally, I had situated myself directly in front of the shuckers, so I was rewarded with the first succulent oysters proffered to me.
A lot of the people there experienced their first raw oyster today.
Oyster virgins.
Oh. Oh. Oh. That first silky, salty ... oyster.
Oh ... the juices.
I own that oyster.
Sliding, sexily, down my throat.
Sensuous.
Oh my.
Oooh...Oooh...Ooooh....
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, sorry.
I'm back now.
It was divine.
So divine, in fact, that I forgot to shoot pictures, even though my camera was right in my pocket.
I could have kicked myself.
But damn, I was having too much fun and enjoying the oysters too much.
It wasn't until Mark had fried about 4 batches of oysters, and one sad little oyster was left on the plate, that I slapped myself and got my camera out.
And, yes, I ate that last little oyster.
I don't have a problem with cleaning a plate.
Mark dropped freshly shucked oysters into a simple mixture of flour, Kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper, then put the floured oysters into fry baskets,
and lowered them into the peanut oil, for about a minute.
He had a ketchup/horseradish sauce he'd made very similar to how I make mine.
He added lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and the extra ingredients of red-wine vinegar and Dijon mustard.
He made a special bowl for me with extra horseradish, since I like to clean out my sinuses.
I like this guy.
And he made a kick-ass remoulade sauce, much better than mine.
Yes, I said better than mine.
Here's the recipe:
celery
yellow onion
white vinegar
capers
garlic
Process all.
Transfer to bowl and combine the rest:
Mayo
coarse ground mustard
Kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
cayenne
cumin
coriander
Whisk until well incorporated.
(You want the amounts? E-me.)
Delicious.
Here's the box of Virginia oysters.
And here are the shucked raw oysters.
And here's BJ ladeling melted butter onto the grilling oysters.
Now, you know me and my action shots.
Oh, I love fire flareups.
I just love those flare-ups.
Ooh, BJ, that's a good one.
Ooh, I love a good flame.
These were the best grilled oysters I've ever had.
The grilled taste and the mixture added on top was divine.
Here's the kitchen at Lucky 12 Tavern.
That's BJ on the right, tending the grilled oysters, and Mark, the owner, in the back, taking care of steamed oysters.
Oh, and the tall blond in front looks like a young, beautiful
Sissy Spacek.
Mr. Hawthorne made a point to tell her that.
Except he couldn't remember Sissy Spacek's name.
So Tall Blonde corrected him, giggling, and Mr. H. said, "Oh, then people must've told you that before." And Tall Blonde giggles again, "Yeah, I get told that and also Rebecca DeMornay."
Bitch.
And yes, I mean that in the nicest way possible, dear.
Oh, and Bastard!
And yes, you AH, you know exactly how I meant that.
Mark and BJ.
Mark taking care of the steamed oysters.
I have to say, the two hours I spent here were terrific.
Freshly shucked oysters with little crabbies in them, fun people, gracious hosts, delicious food, the best grilled oysters, excellent remoulade sauce.
This was a winner.
Taste of the Beach,
Lucky 12 Tavern
presented
"All About Oysters."
Mr. Hawthorne and I showed up at 3:00 ready to feast on oysters.
We had SO MUCH fun.
I'm really going to have to re-email Mr. Sproul, the president of the DCRA, and tell him how much I've enjoyed everything. He was nice enough, if you recall, to call me after my first email
in which I might have bitched a tiny bit, because of certain disappointments I'd experienced,
and offered me tickets to the main event tomorrow night at
Kelly's Restaurant.
Anyways, back to Lucky 12 Tavern.
Mr. H. and I have been there a few times already and have enjoyed very good meals.
So I signed us up for the "All About Oysters" presentation.
We didn't know what to expect, but were quite surprised and happy.
The owner, Mark, invited everyone into his kitchen, where we stayed the entire time, taking turns shucking oysters, eating oysters, learning about oysters, and watching Mark and his partner, BJ, prepare oysters, and did I mention eating oysters?
And eating oysters.
And eating oysters.
No fillers.
No cole slaw.
No french fries.
Just oysters.
Oysters, oysters, oysters.
Mark and BJ started out by shucking oysters and offering them to us.
They had oysters from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and oysters from Texas, which were huge.
Naturally, I had situated myself directly in front of the shuckers, so I was rewarded with the first succulent oysters proffered to me.
A lot of the people there experienced their first raw oyster today.
Oyster virgins.
Oh. Oh. Oh. That first silky, salty ... oyster.
Oh ... the juices.
I own that oyster.
Sliding, sexily, down my throat.
Sensuous.
Oh my.
Oooh...Oooh...Ooooh....
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, sorry.
I'm back now.
It was divine.
So divine, in fact, that I forgot to shoot pictures, even though my camera was right in my pocket.
I could have kicked myself.
But damn, I was having too much fun and enjoying the oysters too much.
And, yes, I ate that last little oyster.
I don't have a problem with cleaning a plate.
Mark dropped freshly shucked oysters into a simple mixture of flour, Kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper, then put the floured oysters into fry baskets,
and lowered them into the peanut oil, for about a minute.
He had a ketchup/horseradish sauce he'd made very similar to how I make mine.
He added lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and the extra ingredients of red-wine vinegar and Dijon mustard.
He made a special bowl for me with extra horseradish, since I like to clean out my sinuses.
I like this guy.
And he made a kick-ass remoulade sauce, much better than mine.
Yes, I said better than mine.
Here's the recipe:
celery
yellow onion
white vinegar
capers
garlic
Process all.
Transfer to bowl and combine the rest:
Mayo
coarse ground mustard
Kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
cayenne
cumin
coriander
Whisk until well incorporated.
(You want the amounts? E-me.)
Delicious.
Here's the box of Virginia oysters.
And here are the shucked raw oysters.
And here's BJ ladeling melted butter onto the grilling oysters.
Now, you know me and my action shots.
Oh, I love fire flareups.
I just love those flare-ups.
Ooh, BJ, that's a good one.
Ooh, I love a good flame.
After grilling the oysters with butter on them for a bit, BJ adds a mixture of Parmesan cheese, paprika, and sugar.
These were the best grilled oysters I've ever had.The grilled taste and the mixture added on top was divine.
Here's the kitchen at Lucky 12 Tavern.
That's BJ on the right, tending the grilled oysters, and Mark, the owner, in the back, taking care of steamed oysters.
Oh, and the tall blond in front looks like a young, beautiful
Sissy Spacek.
Mr. Hawthorne made a point to tell her that.
Except he couldn't remember Sissy Spacek's name.
So Tall Blonde corrected him, giggling, and Mr. H. said, "Oh, then people must've told you that before." And Tall Blonde giggles again, "Yeah, I get told that and also Rebecca DeMornay."
And yes, I mean that in the nicest way possible, dear.
Oh, and Bastard!
And yes, you AH, you know exactly how I meant that.
Mark and BJ.
Mark taking care of the steamed oysters.
I have to say, the two hours I spent here were terrific.
Freshly shucked oysters with little crabbies in them, fun people, gracious hosts, delicious food, the best grilled oysters, excellent remoulade sauce.
This was a winner.
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