Friday, January 2, 2009

9 October 2008: Oysters!





At the North Berkeley farmers' market, we're blessed not only with Hudson Fish Company, but also with Hog Island Oysters. This was our first time having oysters, and we've become hooked.

If you're afraid of shucking oysters (get a good shucking knife, have someone explain how to do it, and hold the oyster in a folded kitchen towel), you can try, as we did, to broil the oysters open. Place the oysters round-side-down in a single layer on a cookie sheet directly under the broiler. After a few minutes, the water inside each oyster should evaporate, killing the oyster and forcing open the shell. With a sharp knife, finish prying open the shells, cutting the muscles. Be sure to save the juice in the shells: it's the best part. Pour a sauce of butter, garlic, and white wine over the oysters, and serve the broiled oysters on the half-shell.

Here we have the oysters paired with a leek-and-mushroom risotto and steamed silver chard. The whole meal ended with chocolate mint cookies, made by my boyfriend.

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