Rosie Makes Fried Oysters.

 

  The Hawthornes love their oysters.  And we eat 'em every which way.  Raw, steamed, dipped in melted butter and lemon juice, on the half shell with oh-so-many different toppings, and ... FRIED.

 

 Here's our goal.

Here are the step-by-steps:

 

 Lightly batter.                                                                  

   

 

Don't crowd the pan.  Leave space.

Golden brown.  Should only take a minute.

 

 Drain on rack.

 

 

Serve with your own cole slaw, cocktail sauce, tartar sauce.

Suggestions below.

 

Today, it's fried oysters with a cranberry and apple cole slaw that's perfectly sweet and tangy.  And I have two dipping sauces - Rosie's special tartar sauce and her go-to cocktail sauce.

Everything's on the fly today.  I don't measure anything.  I just throw stuff together and it works, but I wrote down approximations of everything right after I put it all together and this should work for you.  This isn't a science or chemistry, like baking a cake.  This is in-the-ballpark cooking.  Don't sweat it.  Taste test and adjust for yourself.

For the cole slaw:

3-4 cups finely chopped cabbage 

1/4 cup grated carrot

1/4 cup finely chopped bell pepper (I used an orange one to match the carrots.)

1/2 apple, small dice

handful or so of dried cranberries

Mix all together.

Dressing:

1/3 - 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 TB tsp sugar

1 TB cider vinegar 

2 TB buttermilk

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Pour over cole slaw mix and toss to coat evenly.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Stir well before serving.

Rosie's Tartar Sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 TB sour cream

2 tsp Lea & Perrins

2 tsp lemon juice

1 TB dill salad cubes

2-3 TB sweet relish

1 tsp Gray Poupon Dijon mustard (Do not substitute a generic brand.)

Mix all ingredients.

Add a few shakes of Sriracha sauce for pops of flavor.

Rosie's Cocktail Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup 

2 TB horseradish

1 TB Lea & Perrins

1 TB lemon juice

Sorta/kinda mix together, but not so that it's thoroughly blended.  I like to have what I call "pockets of flavor."

Now, as to the cole slaw, the tartar sauce, and the cocktail sauce ...  taste test.  My measurements are not etched in stone.  Add more or less of whatever ingredients.  Adapt it to your tastes.  Make it yours.

For the oysters:

Breading mixture: 

1 cup flour

1 cup corn starch

1/4 cup cornmeal  Or, you could just use panko.  But I'm always up for something different.

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

about 1/4 sleeve of Saltine crackers,  crushed

Mix all ingredients.  Toss in oysters and shake to coat.

 

Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet (mine was 12-inch diameter) to 350° - 375°.  Place breaded oysters in hot oil ONE AT A TIME being careful not to crowd the skillet.  You don't want the temperature of the oil to drastically reduce.  This is where greasy fried food comes from.  You want to maintain the temperature of the oil and give what you're frying plenty of breathing/frying space.  I fried 6-8 oysters at a time.  At maybe 45 seconds, start turning the oysters over.  This should take about 30 seconds, by which time the oysters are ready to come out of the oil.  They should be a lovely golden brown.  Place on a rack to drain.

Rosie Note:  Get an instant read laser thermometer.  It takes all the guesswork out of frying. Make it easy on yourself.

Serve oysters with the cole slaw and the two dipping sauces.

Enjoy.

 

 

Love At First Bite.

 

 

 For those of you who are inclined to celebrate Valentine's Day,  I have a special treat for you.  I’m making my version of Pop Tarts©, in the form of Rosie’s Valentine Pop Hearts.  I have a heart-shaped pastry crust enclosing a double filling of a sweetened, vanilla-laced cream cheese spread and strawcherry jam with a citrus kick.  I also made chocolate-covered strawberries to go along with the pastries and used bittersweet chocolate, white chocolate, and caramel for drizzling, along with toasted coconut for sprinkling over my Pop-Hearts.

 

Start with some pie dough.  I use the refrigerated roll-up dough that comes two to a box.  It's in the dairy section.  Of course, you can make your own dough, but I was in a hurry.  Roll the dough out and cut it into little hearts, 3-4 inches across the top.  You'll need two cutouts for each heart.  I'm using two fillings for my hearts.  The first is a sweetened, vanilla-laced cream cheese and the second is a strawcherry jam-like filling with a citrus kick.  I made plenty of the strawcherry filling because I can use it on a lot of stuff besides these hearts. For example, top some bagels with it, use it on toast, spoon over pancakes, swirl it into ice cream, top cheesecake with it, etc. 

 I always like little extra touches, so I melted both dark and white chocolates to drizzle over top of the Pop Hearts and also to coat strawberries with.  And I made some caramel to pour over the hearts, along with some toasted coconut for good measure.

 

 

      Remove pie dough from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature while you prepare the fillings.

   Strawcherry Filling

1 pint strawberries, chopped

1 pint cherries, pitted  (The easiest way to pit cherries is to slip a straw over the stem and push down.  Pit and stem removed!)

¼ cup sugar

1 TB cornstarch mixed with 2 TB water

 Purée the fruit in a processor then pour into a small pan.  Bring to a simmer, then stir in the sugar and cook until dissolved.  Pour in the cornstarch slurry, stir, and cook about 5 minutes, until mixture is thickened.  Let cool a bit.

 Cream Cheese Filling

 4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 TB brown sugar

½ tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients.

  Make the Pop Hearts:

Using a template, cut heart shapes out of the pie dough.  When you get down to scraps, just ball them up and roll them out and continue cutting.  For each Pop Heart, you’ll need two heart-shaped pieces.  Any extra pieces, brush with an egg wash and sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar, turbinado sugar, or sprinkles and bake along with the filled hearts.

 Place bottom heart on baking sheet covered in parchment paper and smear some of the cream cheese mixture on it.  Spoon the strawcherry over the cream cheese.  Next, I grated a bit of orange and lemon zest over the jam.  Brush a little water around the edges of the bottom pastry, then top with a pastry heart.  Use a fork to press around the edges to seal.  I used a small, sharp knife to cut a heart-shaped vent in the top.  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  Bake at 375° for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

    For decorations, I melted bittersweet chocolate bits and white chocolate bits, separately, in a double boiler, being careful not to get any moisture in the chocolate. Even a drop of water in the chocolate will make it seize up.  Stir until smooth.  Dip whole strawberries into the chocolates, turning to coat.  Place on wax paper to set.  Using fork tines, dip into a contrasting chocolate and zigzag over the coated strawberries.  Drizzle the melted chocolates over the baked hearts.

 

   If you like, you can go with a caramel topping and toasted coconut.

 

 For the coconut, I simply poured a couple handfuls of sweetened coconut flakes into a skillet over medium low heat, added a handful of brown sugar, and stirred until the sugar was melted and the coconut was golden.

 For the caramel sauce: 

 1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt butter.  Add sugar and cream, cooking over medium low heat and stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil for about 3 minutes, stirring.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Let cool at bit, then drizzle over hearts.  Sprinkle coconut over top.

   

For the step-by-steps, here ya go:

 

To pit cherries, use a straw.

Just push it through.

 

 

 

Coarse purée the strawberries and cherries in your processor.

 

Small saucepan.

Add sugar.

Cook.

 

 Cornstarch slurry.

 

Cook, stirring, until thickened.

 

What you don't use in filling, save for bagels, toast, cheesecake, ice cream...  

 You name it.

Roll out the pie dough.

Using a template, cut out your hearts.

Scrape up the leftovers.

Ball it up and roll it back out.

Place hearts on parchment paper on baking sheet.

Melt white and bittersweet chocolates in double boiler.  Stir until smooth.

Schmear a little cream cheese mixture on top of each heart.

Then plop the strawcherry mixture on.

Top with another heart pastry, wet the edges, and fork it to seal.

Cut a little heart vent out.

Brush with egg wash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little sprinkling of turbinado sugar.

Dip strawberries in chocolate, then drizzle a contrasting chocolate over top.

Drizzle chocolates over baked hearts.

For the coconut, just add to dry pan along with some brown sugar.

Cook, stirring, until golden brown.

Enjoy.

Rosie Make Oyster And Shrimp Bisque/Chowder.

 It’s been cold here on the Outer Banks lately and I’m having a hard time warming up.  Today, I put a dent in the nip with an oyster and shrimp bisque/chowder that really hit the spot.

What is a bisque, you ask?  A bisque is a French style seafood soup traditionally made with a stock from crustacean shells and a good amount of cream and a thickening agent of some sort.  Generally, it’s very creamy and smooth.

A chowder is typically chunky, with bits of potato and meats in it.

I’m combining the two.  I’m making a seafood soup with shrimp and oysters.  I’m using the shrimp shells to make shrimp stock and I’m using the oyster liqueur - both for my broth ...  to make it seafoody.  I’m adding cream to it …  to make it creamy.  I’m adding sherry to it … to make it alkie.  And I’m using potatoes in there … to make it potatoey, and to thicken it up naturally with the potato starch.  I’m combining the best of both worlds.

This concoction is perfect for the weather we’ve been having.  I like to get warmed up from the inside out and this bisque/chowder just hit all my culinary happy spots.

I served it with saltines, for a bit of crunch.  Lacking them, you could use oyster crackers, croutons, or toast.  I just like something with texture to contrast with the creaminess of the soup.

 

ROSIE NOTE:  With soup "recipes," you don't really need to worry about exact amounts here.  A handful of vegetables here, a cup or two of liquid there, it's not going to make much difference. 

I started with the shrimp stock.  I thawed out a bag of shrimp (maybe 12 oz.) and shelled and de-tracted the shrimp.  Yes. I say de-tract, not de-vein, since that black line running down the back of the shrimp is the digestive tract, not a vein.  Save the shells; they’re going into the stock.

Medium size stock pan.  Put in about a tablespoon each oil and butter.  Medium heat.  When the butter melts and sizzles, throw in a handful of coarsely chopped carrots, celery, and onion (I don’t even bother to remove the skin from the onion.), and the shrimp shells.  Add in a teaspoon of kosher salt and a tablespoon of whole peppercorns.  Stir and cook until the shells turn pink.  Then pour in about 5-6 cups water.  Reduce heat to low.  And keep at bare simmer for about 30 minutes.

While the stock was stocking, I started on the rest of my soup.  I diced 2 potatoes and chopped 1 onion.  Added it to 1 TB each butter and oil in another pot.  Stirred around a bit - maybe 3-4 minutes, then added about 1-2 cups water, just to cover.  Cook on low until potato is tender.

Now to add a thickener.  Generally, I use a roux to thicken a soup.  A roux is equal parts butter (or oil) and flour, which you cook, stirring, until you cook the raw out of the flour and it gets a nice nutty flavor.  You can cook to different degrees of color (light tan to brown) depending on your final product.  After cooking the roux, you slowly add your liquid, stirring, until you have the consistency you want.  

That said, I’m not making a roux this time to thicken.  I’m using what’s called beurre manié, or kneaded butter.  The reason for this is because I’ve already got a liquid that my potatoes have been cooking in.  I’m not exactly starting from scratch, so I have to add the thickener to the liquid that’s already there.  For the beurre manié, I knead together equal parts of softened butter and flour - maybe 3 TB each, fully mixing them together with my fingers. Then I drop that little dough ball into the liquid, stirring, and let it work its magic.  The soup will thicken quite nicely and smoothly.  If you just add flour to the liquid, it would clump and form doughy lumps.  Since the butter coats the flour in the beurre manié, it’s incorporated smoothly into your soup.  Cook the liquid (low heat) until it gets quite thick.

  By this time, your shrimp stock should be ready.  Strain the liquid and discard the shells, celery, carrots, and onion.  Slowly add about a cup of the stock, stirring, into the thickened potato soup mixture.  Next you want to add the cream.  I used 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream.  Then I added a good shot of sherry.  Taste test!  Adjust seasonings.  Perhaps more kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, or more sherry.  If you like the consistency, fine.  If you want thicker, add in a tablespoon at a time of beurre manié, cooking and stirring.  It’s up to you.  If you want it thinner, add more stock or milk/cream.

At low heat and bare simmer, I added in my shrimp and oysters with their liqueur.  At least a dozen each.  Shrimp will be ready in about a minute or two, depending on size.  Oysters are already ready.

Ladle into bowls.  Crack some pepper on top.  Give it some sliced green onions.  Maybe a few shakes of Tabasco.  Oyster crackers or saltines.

And that, my friend, will warm your innards.

Now for the step-by-steps:

For the shrimp stock:  Oil and butter into stock pot.  Heat until butter bubbles.  Add in onion, carrots, celery.

Add in shrimp shells.

Stir and cook until shells turn pink.

Add in water.

Let it barely simmer. About 30 minutes.

While the stock is stocking, start on the potatoes.

Melt butter in pot.  Add diced potatoes and onions.

Cook medium high a few minutes, then add water to cover.

Potatoes cooking on left.  Shrimp stock on right.

Stock is ready to strain.

Beurre manié is ready to add to the potato pot.

Drop it in.

Heat and stir until thickened.

Really thickened.

Add in a cup or so of shrimp stock.

Oysters and their liqueur on left.  Cup of cream on right.

Add in the cream.

If you want it thicker, you can always add more beurre manié.

I always like a good splash of sherry.

Drop in shrimp.  However many you want.  I had at least a dozen.  Cook a minute or so.

Then I added in the oysters and their liqueur.

Just heat through.

And it’s ready!

 

Enjoy.