Archive for the Category » Oysters «

Oysters Rockefeller Turnovers

30
Dec 2014
Oysters are extremely delicious this time of year–especially those sweet, lightly briny Louisiana Gulf Oysters. If you’re looking for something impressive and easy to pull together this New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, try these turnovers. They’re perfectly portioned riffs on the classic Oysters Rockefeller less the time and mess associated with shucking your own. These turnovers can be pulled together quickly with a pint of shucked oysters and a package of frozen puff pastry. They can also be assembled ahead of time and baked just before serving. Oh, and they reheat nicely too. [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Christmas, Cocktails, Finger Food Fridays, New Orleans Classics, Oysters, Seafood, Snacks  Tags: , , ,  3 Comments

Grilled Oysters with Bacon and Jalapeños

25
Nov 2014
The Louisiana oyster season just recently began and already I've had more luscious Louisiana bivalves than I did during the entire season last year. That's a wonderful thing. My mass consumption has been due in large part to a mini sack the hubby and I had shipped up a couple of weeks back. Those 100 or so plump and briny beauties made for a pretty serious R&D session in my kitchen. Over the course of two days, I researched and developed fun new flavor combinations for slurping and shooting raw oysters and created several exciting new [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Oysters, Pork, Seafood  Tags: ,  Comments off

Oysters Rockefeller

05
Aug 2013
Oysters Rockefeller is one of those legendary New Orleans French-Creole dishes that has wowed locals and visitors alike since 1899. The dish was created back then by chef and restaurateur Jules Alciatore of Antoine’s Restaurant to replace and somewhat mimic the restaurant’s popular Escargots a la Bourguignonne due to a shortage of French snails. The dish was named after the affluent John D. Rockefeller because of its profoundly rich sauce. Although Antoine’s has never divulged its secret recipe, fifth-generation proprietor Roy Guste, Jr. devised a variation of the same to include in his cookbook, The 100 [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Christmas, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Oysters, Seafood, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving  Tags: , , ,  3 Comments

Finger Food Friday: Fried Oysters

15
Mar 2013
In New Orleans, dining out on Friday nights during Lent at any restaurant that serves seafood is, for lack of a better term, a sport.  That’s because the crowds are large, the waits are long and the weather is oftentimes questionable (a big issue when you’re forced to wait out in a shell parking lot).  A finely tuned playbook, complete with the abilities, expectations and limitations of each person in your party, is a must.  So are sandwich bags full of Cheerios (if you have little ones), cell phones with fun games (if you have middle ones) and a padded [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Oysters, Poor Boys, Seafood  Tags: , , ,  2 Comments

Seafood Manicotti

21
Feb 2013
For those of you who have bid “farewell to the flesh” for the next 40 days (or at least for the remaining Fridays between now and Easter Sunday), this dish is for you. It is my annual creation added to an ever-growing list of meatless meals I prepare during the Season of Lent. Abstaining from meat has never been a huge lesson in self-denial for me or my family. In New Orleans, where fresh seafood is abundant, it would be a stretch to consider codfish balls, fried shrimp poor boys, all-you-can-eat fried catfish, seafood gumbo, crawfish etouffee, boiled crawfish and, [ ... ]
Category: Crab, Crawfish, Main Dishes, Oysters, Pasta, Roux, Sauces, Seafood, Shrimp  Comments off

Chargrilled Oysters

22
Jan 2013
It’s been said by the master of chargrilled oysters himself, Mr. Tommy Cvitanovich of Drago’s Seafood Restaurant in Metairie, that this is the simplest dish to cook at home but the most difficult to duplicate.  Well, from an ingredient standpoint I get that since Drago’s has never published its exact recipe (although there are apparently some very close versions floating around). And that’s understood. But I have to say, once you nail down the cooking method I think it’s pretty darn easy to recreate those sizzling-hot, sexy restaurant oysters at home. Here’s how I make them. I start [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, New Orleans Classics, Oysters, Sauces, Seafood  Tags: , , ,  3 Comments