Sunday lunch and one night during the week we eat with Mrs. Bryan. That means with there only being two of us, I only cook supper twice, maybe three times a week. (leftovers the other nights) That doesn't leave a whole lot of room for trying out new recipes. But lately I've been venturing out a bit, trying some new recipes, as well as learning to fix some of hubby's favorite foods. Foods that are not normal to me, but for someone who grew up near the coast, are perfectly average. Foods like oysters and shrimp.
I love shrimp. I'm not sure I ever had it until high school, and I've eaten it more since living in North Carolina than any other time. Lately Food Lion has been having it on sale, a BOGO deal with the MVP card. And then I did something I almost never do. I looked at the small, "fresh" seafood section. Oysters were on sale. I'm not crazy about oysters. I've tried them at restaurants every time Bobby has ordered them, and it's like eating fried mush with a fishy taste. Not quite my thing. They looked even stranger in the container. I looked at the price. I looked at the oysters. I thought about my husband. I thought about all the times I've bought a Dr.Pepper because it's my favorite drink even though he HATES Dr. Pepper. And the oysters went in the cart. And my fried oysters weren't bad. He was very pleasantly surprised.
This past week they had oysters on sale again. So I decided to be adventurous and take him up on his little joke of how we have all these cookbooks in the house and he never gets to try new foods, and we had oyster au gratin. :) It was edible. He was gracious. He said it was unusual and interesting. He won't ask for this recipe again, because oysters are so much better fried or in oyster stew. (Was that a hint?) But if you like oysters the way I like chicken, here's the recipe:
2pints of oysters (I used a 10oz container, and it was plenty)
3 T butter
1 c chopped mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, minced (I use the pre-minced jars of garlic from the grocery store and guessed at a tsp)
2 T plain flour
3/4 c of milk
1/4 c of dry white wine (or white grape juice)
2 T parsley (I omitted)
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 c bread crumbs
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1 T butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400. Rinse oysters and pat dry. In a large skillet, cook the oysters in 1T of the butter for 3-4 minutes or until the edges of the oysters curl. Remove. Drain. Place in small casserole dish.
For sauce, in the same skillet cook mushrooms and garlic in 2 T of butter till tender. Stir in flour, add milk. Cook and stir until bubbly and thick. Then add wine and Worcestershire sauce. (I added the juice, milk, and Worcestershire sauce all at one time and allowed to thicken). Spoon over oysters.
Mix crumbs, Parmesan cheese and melted butter. Pour over sauce. Bake for 10 minutes or until brown. Serves four.
We'll probably get six servings out of this as it's not something we want a lot of. Bobby's grade for this recipe? A B-. He said it was a little above average. My grade for this recipe? A C-. But keep in mind I'm not a fan of oysters.
I love shrimp. I'm not sure I ever had it until high school, and I've eaten it more since living in North Carolina than any other time. Lately Food Lion has been having it on sale, a BOGO deal with the MVP card. And then I did something I almost never do. I looked at the small, "fresh" seafood section. Oysters were on sale. I'm not crazy about oysters. I've tried them at restaurants every time Bobby has ordered them, and it's like eating fried mush with a fishy taste. Not quite my thing. They looked even stranger in the container. I looked at the price. I looked at the oysters. I thought about my husband. I thought about all the times I've bought a Dr.Pepper because it's my favorite drink even though he HATES Dr. Pepper. And the oysters went in the cart. And my fried oysters weren't bad. He was very pleasantly surprised.
This past week they had oysters on sale again. So I decided to be adventurous and take him up on his little joke of how we have all these cookbooks in the house and he never gets to try new foods, and we had oyster au gratin. :) It was edible. He was gracious. He said it was unusual and interesting. He won't ask for this recipe again, because oysters are so much better fried or in oyster stew. (Was that a hint?) But if you like oysters the way I like chicken, here's the recipe:
2pints of oysters (I used a 10oz container, and it was plenty)
3 T butter
1 c chopped mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, minced (I use the pre-minced jars of garlic from the grocery store and guessed at a tsp)
2 T plain flour
3/4 c of milk
1/4 c of dry white wine (or white grape juice)
2 T parsley (I omitted)
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 c bread crumbs
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1 T butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400. Rinse oysters and pat dry. In a large skillet, cook the oysters in 1T of the butter for 3-4 minutes or until the edges of the oysters curl. Remove. Drain. Place in small casserole dish.
For sauce, in the same skillet cook mushrooms and garlic in 2 T of butter till tender. Stir in flour, add milk. Cook and stir until bubbly and thick. Then add wine and Worcestershire sauce. (I added the juice, milk, and Worcestershire sauce all at one time and allowed to thicken). Spoon over oysters.
Mix crumbs, Parmesan cheese and melted butter. Pour over sauce. Bake for 10 minutes or until brown. Serves four.
We'll probably get six servings out of this as it's not something we want a lot of. Bobby's grade for this recipe? A B-. He said it was a little above average. My grade for this recipe? A C-. But keep in mind I'm not a fan of oysters.
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