A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
Below, oysters a la Mom, a post I've put up the day before Thanksgiving for the past two years--which is to say, since we founded the happy state of Ricochet.
And if you've got a favorite recipe of your own, post away. (That means I expect to hear about your turkey gumbo, Dave Carter.)
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
ALICE ROBINSON'S SCALLOPED OYSTERS
At any Thanksgiving dinner table, in my experience, no more than half those present will truly like oysters. Coupled with this recipe, that strange constant is very good news for those of us who do. At least my mother, my brother, and I always thought so. Year after year, we got this simple but delicious oyster dish almost entirely to ourselves.
INGREDIENTS
One pint of oysters
One-and-a-half cups of cracker crumbs (Saltines, if you have any in the cupboard)
Half a cup of butter
A third of a cup of cream
One teaspoon of salt
A quarter teaspoon of pepper
Two tablespoons of parsley
DIRECTIONS
Drain the oysters, saving about a third of the oyster juice. Add the oyster juice to the cream. (My sister-in-law, the authority on this recipe now that my mother is gone, tells me that she sometimes adds a little extra oyster juice.)
Grease a baking dish. Layer half the cracker crumbs on the bottom of the dish and half the oysters on top of the cracker crumbs. Mash the butter with a fork, then sprinkle half over the oysters. Layer the remaining crackers and oysters into the dish. Sprinkle them with the rest of the butter. Pour the mixture of oyster juice and cream on top, doing your best to cover the oysters, crackers, and butter completely, then dust the mixture of oyster juice and cream with the salt, pepper, and parsley.
Place the dish in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes. (My sister-in-law starts checking on the dish after 20 minutes, but she’s convinced the temperature in her oven runs high.) Serve hot for Thanksgiving dinner, then refrigerate the leftovers. And if you can say which tastes better—the the hot, fresh dish on Thanksgiving Day, or the cold leftovers the day after—be sure to let me know. In our family we’ve never been able to decide.
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Comments:
Oct '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
The side dish is great. For a year round treat, have a Hangtown Fry. Good for any hour of the day.
Jul '12
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
Peter,
This is my first Thanksgiving here and I will pass this on to the higher authority, who loves oysters. It even sounds good to me!
DVJ
Jun '12
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
Thanks for the yummy recipe.
Sep '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
That's exactly how I make them too, Peter. They are a side dish here because I need to have the stuffing of my childhood and youth, but my husband was raised on oyster dressing, and I think it's in our pre-nup that I have to make that every Thanksgiving. When he was a kid (in the late 30's, early 40's) his mom would always send him to the fishmarket for the oysters because the market owner would supply them at half price if my then-kid husband would eat one raw in front of the owner. And not only did his family then get them at little cost, the guy also gave my Mister a nickle every time, for his courage. A nickle! That bought a fair amount of candy and happiness back then.
Oct '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
I'm about to put together a couple of marinades tonight for tomorrow's deep-fried turkey. This year I'm cooking 2 14-pounders (in addition to the main turkey).
Peter, maybe what we really need to do is a Ricochet cookbook. Do we have a resident chef who can take on that project? We have plenty of fine editors-and plenty of members with great recipes.
Aug '12
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
There will be no holding back on the heavy whipping cream over here. From the crème brûlée to the chocolate cream pies to the mashed potatoes...
Oct '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
How things have changed, we used to drive up along the Hood Canal and buy large burlap sacks of fresh oysters for 5 bucks. We shucked 'em on the spot. Then again, that was a time all current "Cultured" folk today would consider an age of Stone Knives and Bearskins. Looking back, there was some pride in that.
Aug '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
Do oysters think it's perverted to be scalloped?
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
Never had turkey gumbo,..but I did have some squirrel gumbo once. The key, as I remember, was making sure to get all the buckshot out of the squirrel.
Every Thanksgiving, Grandma Carter made an ice sculpture too. I'm pretty sure it wasn't her intention, but what it was, was an ice sculpture just the same. She would put a can of cranberry sauce in the freezer over night. The result was a chunk of pink ice in the shape of a can, sitting pretty as you please in the middle of the table. I think she meant for us to eat it,...but we couldn't bring ourselves to carve out a single bite. We told her it was just too, ummmm, attractive. So she'd try again next year.
One year, my Dad took the can out of the freezer in the middle of the night. The next morning, there it was, back in the freezer. Grandma was pretty well set in her ways and as determined an artist as ever graced the planet.
Edited on November 22, 2012 at 5:00pmNov '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
This recipe is way too complicated. Oysters need to be raw, for fried, or stewed. Raw speaks for itself. Fried is beyond this post. That leaves stewed oysters.
Chop up 5 or 6 slices of hickory cured bacon. Fry it at low to medium heat. When the bacon turns translucent, pour in a quart of fresh, recently opened oysters.
Simmer at low-medium heat until the edges start to curl.
Serves about 4.
May '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
Peter, Peter, Peter:
Keep promoting this abomination as "food", let alone a Thanksgiving tradition, and we're gonna break your Ricochet sword over one knee, cut the epaulets and gold buttons off your Ricochet uniform, and cast you out of the Ricochet fort forever.
Sep '11
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
Mmmmm!
Dec '10
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
I honestly can't decide what was best, amongst the foods. I have tried resampling, to clarify ranking on foods. The single best and easiest item was Evan Williams Egg Nog, with the green label on the bottle. No resampling there; leftovers are not recommended.
Two half glasses seems to be the limit, as it is both very rich and potent, but you have to get it now. It only appears in stores for a few weeks and, when it's gone, it's gone.
Feb '12
Re: A Ricochet Thanksgiving: Mom's Scalloped Oysters
I've only been in the Deep South for 2/3 of my life (moved up from Florida), so I'm not purebred. Therefore I had to modify the standard pecan pie recipe. Mine is more pecan-y.
(Makes 2 pies)
Mix that, then add
Put thawed pie crusts into two pie plates. Divide 4 cups of pecans into the two pie crusts. For those who like chocolate pecan pie, add 3/4 cup of chocolate chips to one of the pies.
Pour the "goo" equally over the two pies. Pop them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 47-50 minutes. Tops of pies should darken but not get too dark.
Once cooled, the pies require a little muscle to slice up. But they're crunchy and nutty instead of gooey.