Oysters In Clarified Butter.

Clarified butter.
 Oysters steamed just enough so they're easier to open.

I dipped the oyster into some of my Parmesan/Paprika/sugar mixture
 that I use on my grilled oysters.
 1 cup grated Parmesan
 3-4 TB Hot Hungarian Paprika
1 TB sugar

What is clarified butter, you ask?
Butter is made up of butterfat, milk solids, and water.
Clarified butter is the translucent golden butterfat
left over after the milk solids and water are removed.

All you do is gently melt unsalted butter over low heat.
 The foam on the surface is the butter's water content boiling off.
 The white residue is the milk solids separating out.

As the butter continues to simmer,
ladle the foam and milk solids from the surface.

Continue skimming.

In a few minutes,
you will have skimmed off most of the solids,
 leaving pure, yellow butterfat.
 Because clarified butter is pure butterfat,
it's great for sauteeing
because it has a higher smoke point than ordinary butter.
 Regular butter starts to smoke around 350 degrees,
 while clarified butter can be heated to 450 degrees.
 Clarified butter also works well in emulsified sauces
 like a Hollandaise or a Bernaise.
The water in regular butter tends to make the emulsion break,
and clarified butter, with the water removed,
 eliminates this problem.

One must wonder what Georgia O'Keefe
 might have drawn had she lived on the coast
 and not out in the dessert.
 Hmmmm.

Frank, on Everybody Loves Raymond,
contemplates Marie's sculpture.

Oh wait.
 Are those Lisa Rinna's lips?

Bushel #2 is gone.
 Come on, bushel #3!