It's in the 70s today.
The sun is shining.
We have a bushel of oysters in the fridge.
Time to fire up the grill.
Rosie is doing oysters two ways today:
Oysters Hawthorne
and
Oysters a la Rosie.
Oysters Hawthorne on the left.
Plump, juicy, sweet, briny oysters
draped in a spinach mixture
and topped with Panko and Parmesan.
Oysters a la Rosie on the right.
Buttery sweet grilled oysters
with a sprinkling of Parmesan.
Before one gets to sit down to this,
one must shuck the oysters.
This means you get an anatomy lesson on the oyster.
The oyster is a mollusc.
It is an organism in the phylum Mollusca -
an invertebrate animal with soft, unsegmented body,
usually enclosed in a calcereous shell.
The oyster is composed of shells called valves,
hence this is a bivalve mollusc.
The shorter of the valves is called the right valve (top shell above);
the longer and more concave valve is called the left valve
(bottom shell above).
The oyster is more pointed at one end,
seen above on the right.
This is called the anterior end, or umbo,
and it is the oldest part of the oyster.
This is the end you attack
to open the oyster.
The posterior end on the left is
larger and curved.
To shuck an oyster,
I set it on a nice pillow of towel
and hold the oyster with one of those rubber jar-openers.
The oyster here is in the same position
as the oyster in the picture above this one;
that is, the posterior end is facing left,
the umbo is facing right,
the shorter right valve is on top,
and the curved, longer left valve is on the bottom.
Carefully insert the tip of the oyster knife
in the hinge between valves and twist.
The pressure will pop the oyster.
Move the knife around the upper edge of the right valve
until you get to the adductor muscle.
Slice through the adductor muscle
and you have shucked an oyster.
That's the adductor muscle in the shorter top shell,
called the right valve.
The adductor muscle is a prominent organ
situated in the posterior region of the oyster body.
Its function is to open and close the shells.
Relaxation of this muscle allows the shells to open.
The mantle is a thin layer of tissue
that lines the inner part of each valve.
It contains glands that extract elements
from the water and convert them to compounds
that make up each valve.
Calcium carbonate makes up about 98% of each valve.
The oyster is rotated so its anterior end is on the right.
Dorsal and ventral sides are determined by internal anatomy.
The dorsal side is on the top,
which is the location of the rectum and anus.
The ventral side of the oyster is on the bottom,
which is the location of the gills and mouth.
The gills are directly underneath the mantle on the ventral side.
The gills are the oyster's largest organ.
Along with the mantle,
it is the chief organ of respiration.
The gills create water currents, collect food particles,
and also serve during spawning by separating masses of eggs
into individual ova for more efficient fertilization.
Now, let's eat some oysters!
First, I'm preparing Oysters a la Rosie,
grilled, buttery oysters.
The topping:
heaping cup of grated Parmesan cheese
I use Il Villagio from the Teeter.
Until I find one I like better,
I'm sticking with this.
1 TB sugar
1 TB paprika
Mix all together.
Humor me.
You know I like my action shots.
I liked the pretty color of the paprika.
Action shot!
I have 2 dozen shucked oysters in the background,
the Parmesan mixture, and 1/2 stick melted butter.
Mr. Hawthorne placed the oysters on the grill
and spooned the melted butter on top of each oyster
and I followed behind, topping with the Parmesan mixture.
Close the grill for about 2 minutes,
or until the oysters juices start bubbling.
Perfect.
This is one of my favorite ways to eat oysters.
I love the buttery goodness
and the hint of sweet from the sugar
along with the warmth and smokiness of the paprika.
I just tip the posterior end in my mouth
and slurp all this down.
What?
You weren't paying attention to my anatomy lesson?
Feast on the oyster.
It's a thing of beauty.
On to Oysters Hawthorne,
a spinach preparation loosely based on Oysters Rockefeller.
Oysters Rockefeller was created at Antoine's,
the renowned New Orleans restaurant,
in 1899 by the proprietor, Jules Alciatore,
son of the founder (in 1840) of Antoine's, Antoine Alciatore.
Oysters Rockefeller were so named because of the extreme richness
of the sauce and because, at the time, John D. Rockefeller
was then the richest man in the world.
Jules developed this dish as a substitution for snails,
since the snails were in the face of a shortage,
and the oysters were locally available.
The original recipe is a secret
and though many restaurants claim to make Oysters Rockefeller,
Antoine's claims no one has been able to successfully duplicate the recipe.
Apparently, Jules Alciatore took the original recipe
with him to his grave and all we have now are assumptions
based on descriptions of the original dish.
The trademark green color of the original dish
is thought to be from spinach, although Antoine's chefs
have repeatedly denied the original used spinach.
Most recipes today recommend the addition of Pernod,
an anise-flavored liqueur;
however, Pernod hadn't been created yet.
It is very likely that the original 1899 recipe used absinthe,
for which Pernod was later substituted when absinthe was banned in 1915.
As for Pernod,
Henri-Louis Pernod opened his first absinthe distillery
in Switzerland in 1797.
In 1805, Maison Pernod Fils was founded
in eastern France by Henri-Louis.
In 1915, production and consumption of absinthe
was prohibited in France and Pernod Ricard,
now a world-wide conglomerate,
was created from Maison Pernod fils.
Pernod Ricard produces
Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis,
both anise-flavored liqueurs.
Since nobody really knows the original
Oysters Rockefeller recipe,
I'm making up my own.
Oysters Hawthorne.
I'm not particularly fond of anise-flavorings,
although I love basil and appreciate tarragon
in small doses,
so my recipe has no anise-flavoring.
It does have spinach and lots of other lovely flavors
which I'm about to share with you.
Oysters Hawthorne
2 dozen shucked oysters
1/2 bag fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5 TB butter, unsalted
2-3 TB fresh parsley, chopped
2-3 TB chopped leftover bacon and ham for breakfast
2 TB white wine
2 TB heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Chop the onion and celery.
Melt 3 TB butter over medium heat
and add in celery and onion.
Cook about a minute.
Add in chopped spinach.
Add in 2 more TB butter.
Cook another minute or two until spinach is wilted.
Add in white wine
and cook 2 minutes.
Stir.
Add in cream.
Stir to combine.
Keep warm.
Half a cup, probably more, grated Parmesan.
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
A couple tablespoons chopped parsley
and chopped bacon and ham.
First, I spooned the spinach mixture over the oysters.
I happen to like this picture.
The spinach mixture filled 2 dozen oysters.
Top with bacon and ham.
Duly topped.
Spinach sprinkle.
I think this is so pretty.
As much as I love a nekkid oyster,
I love a properly dressed oyster.
Combine the Parmesan and the Panko.
Sprinkle Parm & Panko over top
and pop under the broiler.
I can't stress the importance right now
of not moving away from your broiler.
To avoid "accidents."
I set my broiler temperature around 300-325 degrees
because I have a very hot broiler.
Your broiler temps may vary.
So pop the oysters in,
turn the light on,
pull up a stool,
and watch.
Three minutes usually.
But don't make the mistake of leaving the oysters
thinking you can go do the sinkful of dishes,
because you can't.
Perfection.
I don't care about Oysters Rockefeller,
since nobody knows exactly what it is.
I like Oysters Hawthorne.
I'm so glad I found that bottle of absinthe I'd stashed away.
Post Script:
The Ever Alert Marion sent me this:
Nice oyster post. But having sustained a number of oyster injuries (wasn’t it an oyster knife in your hand that sent you to the hospital?) Yes, Marion. Sadly it was. See here. I was wondering if you should point out that 1) oyster shells are razor razor razor sharp, 2) an oyster knife is not the same as any old knife, and 3) if you don’t have an oyster knife the old Julia Child church-key method works pretty well.
I believe you just pointed that out.
Thank you.
Well said, Marion.
Well said.
