Oysters a la Mom
Shall we have some fun with this holiday? Rob is the chef par excellence, but since he's still de-toxing after the NR cruise, I'll go first.
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. (Note that the photo isn't exactly this dish, just the closest thing to it that I could find on the Internet.)
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 Thanskgiving Day, or the cold leftovers the day after—be sure to let me know. In our family we’ve never been able to decide.
That's my favorite Thanksgiving recipe.
Yours?
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
If people don't like oysters, it strikes me that you could substitute a pint of mushrooms and it would be very good, as well.
May '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Sounds delicious, Peter. I'll bet the smell is incredible.
How about this for a modern classic from, of all places, Restaurant Daniel via the New York Times?
Normandy Cocktail
Ingredients
9 fresh cranberries
2 thin slices green apple
1 teaspoon packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup
1⁄4 cup good-quality Calvados
Ice cubes
Directions
Serves 1.
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Ottoman Umpire: Sounds delicious, Peter. I'll bet the smell is incredible.
How about this for a modern classic from, of all places, Restaurant Daniel via the New York Times?
Normandy Cocktail
Ottoman -- I'd never heard of Calvados before, but this cocktail sounds delicious. I think I'll try it this Thanksgiving.
Aug '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
PUMPKIN PIE
(Can be made diabetic-friendly and dairy-free)
1 15 oz can pumpkin (or 1&1/2 c baked squash or pumpkin)
2 eggs
8 oz sour cream (or Greek or plain yogurt, milk, or coconut milk)
1 c brown sugar (or 3/4 -1 c Splenda (sucralose), ¼ c molasses, & ½ tsp salt)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 rounded tsp cinnamon
1/2 rounded tsp ginger
1/2 (level) tsp mace or nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp cloves
a deep-dish pie crust of some kind
Preheat oven to 350 F, thoroughly mix all ingredients but eggs, taste
& adjust. Beat eggs separately, then add. Mix well. Pour into pie
crust and bake for 45 min to an hour.
Recipe easily doubled with a 29 oz can of pumpkin.
Heavily buttering a pie-pan and then coating it with flour or nut meal
makes an emergency crust.
Variations:
* Substitute maple syrup for part of the sugar, or add a little maple
flavoring.
* Add any of the following: 1-3 tsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp cocoa
extract, or 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (for people who like unusual
food).
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Ottoman Umpire: Sounds delicious, Peter. I'll bet the smell is incredible.
How about this for a modern classic from, of all places, Restaurant Daniel via the New York Times?
Normandy Cocktail
Ingredients
9 fresh cranberries
2 thin slices green apple
1 teaspoon packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup
1⁄4 cup good-quality Calvados
Ice cubes
Directions
Serves 1. · Nov 22 at 1:47pm
What, pray, can it possibly mean to "muddle" six cranberries? To turn them into liberals?
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Midget Faded Rattlesnake: PUMPKIN PIE
Thoroughly mix all ingredients but eggs, taste
& adjust. · Nov 22 at 2:10pm
"Taste & adjust." Marvelous. I like a recipe that leaves some room for artistry.
And I'm mightily intrigued by the addition of sour cream. Thanks, MFR.
Oct '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
My children's favorite recipe comes from one of my husband's employees and is not for those watching their waistlines.
Violet's Sweet Potato Casserole
3 cups mashed cooked sweet potato
one cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
topping:
one cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup melted butter
one cup chopped pecans
combine mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, 1/2 cup butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. spoon into baking dish. mix topping ingredients and spread over sweet potatoes. bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Oct '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
You could get fat just reading this list. I didn't know oysters had juice, and was wondering if they are a traditional Thanksgiving food?
Sep '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Mrs. Robinson, bring down this mall.
May '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
3 1/2 hrs leaf raking
1 cup tonic, 2 oz gin
Sit
Fill plate
Enjoy
May '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
I'll bite, Peter, but here's our Thanksgiving tribute to oysters:
Oyster Dressing (serves 4-6)
½ Cup (1 stick)
Butter
1 Cup
Finely Chopped Onion
1 Cup
Finely Chopped Celery
6 Cups
Seasoned bread crumbs or packaged stuffing mix
2 Whole
Eggs (beaten)
1 tsp
Poultry Seasoning
Salt & freshly ground pepper
2 Cups (1 pint)
Chopped raw oysters (liquid reserved)
½ Cup
Milk (or more)
Turkey Drippings
Directions: Preheat oven to 350° F. Generously butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside. Melt half a cup butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery and sauté until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Gently stir in seasoned bread cubes, blending well. Add eggs, poultry seasoning and S&P. Mix in oysters, reserved liquid and half cup of milk. Toss lightly, adding more milk if mixture is too dry.
Turn into prepared baking dish. Cover and bake, basting several times with turkey drippings, about 50-60 minutes (baste frequently during last 10 minutes to ensure crisp top.). Serve immediately.
May '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Yes, well, to quote myself rather infamously, 1/2 pound of butter and 1/3 cup of cream and two fistfuls of saltines could make rat turds taste delicious.
Aug '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Trace Urdan
Yes, well, to quote myself rather infamously, 1/2 pound of butter and 1/3 cup of cream and two fistfuls of saltines could make rat turds taste delicious.
But Trace, you're forgetting your Steyn:
"It’s a good basic axiom that if you take a quart of ice-cream and a quart of dog feces and mix ’em together the result will taste more like the latter than the former."
Unless rat turds and dog feces obey different gastronomic laws. Which they might... Rat turds are smaller, drier... and... I'll stop now...
Or I won't:
I bake my pies the evening before to save fuss. One year, Mom had so many goodies in the fridge that I thought I'd just stash the pies in the oven overnight, so they'd be safe from any beasties.
They weren't. Some small rodent infiltrated the oven, and decorated the pies with his footprints and, er, "presents".
Joy of Cooking does not recommend rodent presents as a pie topping -- not even with butter and cream.
May '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
Midget -- Thanks for that which will keep me smiling all day tomorrow!
Sep '10
Re: Oysters a la Mom
I made this dish with a quart of select and two cups of cream, I put the crackers in a Cuisinart and added a few ozs of asiago cheese...wow it was fantastic! Will make it again soon.