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!


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