Oysters Redneckefeller

[Gulf]

No Shells? No Problem

[JRPizza]

Joe, those oysters look awesome! What do you put on them - traditional Rockefeller toppings or is it a custom recipe?

[Gulf]

Thanks JR,

The original recipe for Oysterss Rockefeller is still a closely guarded secret. But, I guess you could truthfully say that my recipe is in the traditional style of all the reverse engineered copy cats . I've done it copying sevearal diferent recipes over the last few years. All good. The biggest difference in this one from "Rouses" is that I swapped out the spinach for collards left over from a previous cook. If I'm going to call it " redneckefeller", I should serve it with cornbread.. But, the traditional french bread sops up the juices better lol.

I've done this before using muffin pans, great taste but, the presentation doesn't look all that cool to me. They sell stainless steel oyster shells for folks wanting to do this with shucked oysters. But, they are mighty expensive. To get enough of them to serve 4 to 8 people would be a shock to the budget. They also have cast iron oyster pans. But, they are too expensive as well. The little cast iron corn pone pans are something that comes with just about every cast iron gift set. Most Southerners don't use them. (We make cornbread in cast iron skillets) You can find corn pone pans for cheap in flea markets and garage sales down here. I've collected 7 of them so far. 3 of them still need cleaning and curing. I will quit collecting when I get 10 or 12 of them.

[UtahBeehiver]

When I visited Joe a few years ago, he was going to make these for us, but the timing did not work out so we have a raincheck on them Those oysters are huge!

[Gulf]

Russell,

I think that I remember y’all eatng at Drago's in NOLA when you were down. I had just a few left over from last night. The oven was in use for heating a smoked ham at a lower temp than I wanted. I can't waste oysters, so I cooked them New Orleans grilled (Dragos) style. These are mighty fine too imo. I like cooking them indirect on the grill with a closed lid. Drago's swears by the wasted garlic butter that spills out on to the coals causing a flare up and a flash of steam from the butter. I do the same thing, pull the pan over to the hot side, and close the lid for about a minute to finish. It's every bit as good as Drago's imo. Also Dragos doesn't serve enough french bread with the oysters to sop up all of that juice left in the shell imo. I'm in to all kind of cooking with fire so y'all please bare with me if I stray form WFO cooking from time to time .

[david s]

About 40 years ago My wife and I, with our two young daughters about 4 and six at the time, arranged to be dropped off at an uninhabited island (Denman Is) in the Whitsundays for three days. We lived mostly on freshly harvested oysters cooked on the campfire until they popped open. They are still the best oysters I've ever eaten since.

Happy Christmas and New Tear to all,
Dave

[Gulf]

Dave,

That sounds like a very cool vacation. The oysters sound delicious! I had a roadside vender telling me about cooking them that way. I'm guessing that you had them on a grill grate of some type? On the gulf coast of the US (where I'm from) on the half shell, stewed, oyster dressing or battered and fried is the norm. On the half shell can be anything from baked, grilled, or raw. I've read where the east coast of the US prefers them steamed on flat metal over an open fire until they pop open. I still have few more ways yet to eat an oyster. But, I intend to try them all

[david s]

No, we had no cooking equipment, apart from a box of matches, just balanced them on the coals.

[Gulf]

That's way too cool!

[UtahBeehiver]

I am sure the girls have a fond recollection of that trip. Almost sounds like one of those TV reality shows like "Survivor".

[david s]

Actually the weather deteriorated on pick up day and the transfer from dingy to the yacht in a 1m swell was interesting.

[Gulf]

I would have got a kick out of a trip like that. But, I would have been all alone. My wife thinks that a camp ground with all the hookups and a travel trailer is primitive camping

[JRPizza]

The first time I had fresh oysters was soon after I moved from Southern California to Washington State. It was summer after high school and a friend had a rustic cabin on Shaw Island in the San Juans. They had a big pit in the ground with a steel mesh screen over it. A couple of the guys waded out in the bay and came back with 5 gallon buckets full of oysters and dumped them on the screen. I was told to get a stick, watch for one to pop open, slide it over to where I could grab it and dig in. Best oysters I ever had . Even found a few small natural pearls

[JRPizza]

Joe, I was showing the Wife your corn pone pans and she wanted me to ask how you served them - do you just place the pan on the table and have everyone dig in?

[Gulf]

JR,
Each person will normally get an entire pan to themselves. Of course a couple could share a pan if they wanted. 12 oysters with all the makings that goes on top plus the bread as a starter can leave little room for a steak to go with it. A typical serving for Oysters Rockefeller is 12 oysters. I like placing a couple of the largest oysters in slots as singles. That Makes it a dozen per pan and 24 is about the count in a pint of medium sized oysters. I haven't served guests using the corn pone pans as of yet. I have just recently gotten enough pans to do that. I have used shallow muffin pans in the past. (in the oven, not on the grill) They are easier to clean but, they just don't have quite the presentation.