Saturday, December 19, 2020

The Hawthornes Love Their Ersters!

The Hawthornes love their ersters.
Raw, steamed, fried, grilled, broiled on the half shell -
you name it, we'll eat it.


We're already on our 3rd or 4th bushel
and I'm always coming up with new ways to prepare them.

Today, we're having broiled oysters on the half shell two ways.

Red and green, for Christmas.
The red ones are a tad hot - cayenne with a hint of sugar,
or you can tame them and use paprika instead.
The green ones are mild - spinach with some other stuff.


First for the green.
Chop a small onion
and a handful of spinach.


Sauté in butter
for a minute.


Add enough cream
to bind it together.
Heat through.

Ready to top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oysters. Check.
Spinach mix.  Check.
Ritz crumble/parsley. Check
Bacon. Check.









 

Spoon a little of the spinach mixture on top of each oyster. 
Add crumbled bacon.  If you don't have bacon, don't worry.  You won't really miss it.
But everything's better with bacon.
And you don't need a lot of topping.  Just a teaspoon.  You don't want to overpower the oyster.

Crumble some Ritz crackers over top.
I had some chopped parsley mixed in with the Ritz for extra flavor.

Add grated Mozzarella.










Then give
 each oyster
a pat of butter.










 

Ready to go under the broiler.
450° for about 5-6 minutes.
You want the Ritz slightly browned and the oysters still plump and juicy.


Like this.









 




















Now, for the red ones.









 

In a small dish, combine about 4 TB unsalted butter with a heaping teaspoon of paprika and a heaping half-teaspoon of sugar.  Nuke it until butter melts.  Spoon mixture over oysters.  Then grate some Parmesan cheese on top.  Under the broiler until cheese melts and butter is bubbly.

If you wanted a bit of bite to this, use cayenne instead of paprika.

Or for a different flavor profile, try smoked paprika instead of regular.

This is enough for 8 or so oysters.























 

Perfect!
Enjoy!


Friday, December 4, 2020

Rosie Makes A Broccoli And Apple Salad.

I'm a snacker and I like having munchable green vegetable salads on hand.
Today I have a delectable broccoli salad in the fridge that will keep me company for a day or two.






Not too long ago, I had some yummy green bean salads sustaining me.
Recipes HERE.

Now, I'm all into the broccoli.
This is a very simple salad, but the most important part is properly cooking the broccoli.
I like my broccoli crisp-tender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
A tablespoon of salt per quart.
Drop in the trimmed broccoli florets and pared stems.
And cook for 2-3 minutes, depending on the size of the florets.
As I said, I  like mine crisp-tender - al dente not al mushe.







 

Drain the broccoli in a colander, then immediately immerse in an ice-water bath.









This stops the cooking and sets the bright green color.

While the broccoli is chillin', make the dressing
and prepare the rest of the ingredients for the salad.











 

For the salad ingredients:
broccoli florets and stems, cooked, 2 cups worth
1 apple, cored, peeled, and diced and tossed in lemon juice (to prevent browning)
1/2 cup toasted pecans, in pieces
2 TB raisins
2 TB dried cranberries
cooked bacon, crumbled

For the dressing:
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 TB mayonnaise
1 TB cider vinegar
2 TB honey
pinch kosher salt (to taste)

Whisk all ingredients to combine.

Now, I used the Greek yogurt because I happened to have a quart of it in the fridge.  I'd already used some of the yogurt in another dish and had the better part of the quart left, so I'm trying to come up with uses for yogurt before it goes south on me. And why, oh why, don't they package plain yogurt in something less than a quart size?  

If you don't happen to have yogurt, you can always substitute.  Sour cream would work.  More mayo with vinegar and/or buttermilk would work.  There's always something.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pour the dressing over the salad mix and toss to coat.

This is perfect!


















Enjoy!