Oysters on the Half Shell

Oysters On The Half Shell

My hub and I were in California recently where fresh oysters are abundant. Now, my hub absolutely LOVES raw oysters, so whenever he spots them on a menu, of course, he orders at least a half dozen or so (or several dozen) of these rock like mollusks.  Tomorrow being Valentine's day and all, I thought I'd show you how to put together your own platter of this aphrodisiac goodness. 

O.K., I still don't understand how or why these are aphrodisiacs, but, whatever. 

Let's start with what to buy. There are many different types of oysters, each having their own particular flavor and degree of brininess, due to the region in which they were harvested. You need to try several different types to ascertain what you like. 

Anyway, the only place to buy oysters is either at a reputable fish market, or at a gourmet grocer, like Whole Foods, that has excellent quality control and sells a lot of seafood, therefore has a lot of turnover, meaning fresher seafood. You really need to be careful with any raw shellfish. It must be alive and eaten ASAP. 

I buy my oysters at Whole Foods, since it is the only place in Colorado Springs that fresh fish comes in every day. And, there's no fishmonger here. Or seafood market. We are land locked.

I chose 6 "Pacific" and 6 "Atlantic" oysters, as they were the largest ones in the case. And they were on sale. For .89 cents a piece. Awesome. I liked both. I did not, however, like the oysters from Cape Cod. Too briny. Weird.

As soon as you get home, fill a big bowl with ice. Put the oysters on a thin cotton towel, and place it on the ice. Put it in the fridge. You don't want the oysters to be submerged in water. Or covered up in a plastic bag. This will kill them. Keep them cold, dry, and breathing air.

Before you ever start cleaning and shucking, get a few things in order. Either make (from scratch) a delicious cocktail sauce, (recipe at end of post), or put out your fave pre-made in a pretty dish.

 Put a serving platter in the freezer to chill out. I used a heavy metal bowl that stays really cold after freezing.

Crushed ice is great for presentation, as it keeps the oysters from turning over and spilling out their precious liquor, and keeps them nice and cold. 

I didn't have any, so I loaded up the food processor with a bunch of ice cubes and buzzed them up. Bravo! perfect crushed ice. You could also use a heavy duty blender.

 Lay the crushed ice down in your serving platter.

Slice up a fresh lemon into wedges.

Cocktail sauce: done. Check.

Ice in platter. Check. 

Lemons sliced. Check.

Now it's time to tackle the star of the day.

Give the oysters a good scrub under cold water. (They're really dirty). I didn't have a wire brush, so I used my mushroom brush. It worked just fine. Put them on a bed of ice to keep them cold.

Equipment you need: An oyster knife. I got this one, an OXO, at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $8.00, and used a 20% off coupon, so it was a steal. What's great about this knife is the size of the handle. It's big and offers a great, non-slip grip. Don't go off and use a regular knife or a screwdriver, unless you want to support your local E.R. and hand surgeon. Add a thick kitchen towel and you're ready to roll.

As there are plentiful sites that teach you how to shuck an oyster, I won't go into that here. Here's a tutorial link from another blogger that's really helpful:

http://www.undercovergourmet.ca/2010/04/how-to-shuck-an-oyster/

O.K. Oysters are shucked! Here's the deal: Eat them within 20 minutes of shucking to avoid poisoning peril. (Remember the trip to the E.R.? Don't want that.)

Serve these beauties with a crisp glass of champagne for the start to a beautiful Valentine's day.

These oysters are HUGE! Much better and meatier than any we've gotten in a restaurant.

Zesty Cocktail Sauce:

It's so easy to make your own cocktail sauce, just the way you like it.  All you need is some ketchup, horseradish, hot sauce, worcestershire, and fresh lemon.
Put 1 cup Ketchup in a bowl.
Add 1 Tablespoon horseradish, or more, or less, depending on how hot you like it. I use about 4 Tbls, because I like it SPICY!
  Use this:

NOT THIS! One is horseradish, the other is horseradish sauce. Sauce is for beefy goodness. Not Oyster goodness. Luv ya, Ed, but this is not where you belong.

  

Add about 1 tablespoon each hot sauce and worcestershire sauce, and the juice of 1/2  a lemon. Season with Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Stir it up. Taste and adjust. 
Sauce done.


Ingredients:
Oysters
Ice
Cocktail Sauce
1 cup Ketchup
1 Tablespoon horseradish
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce