Oysters

[Bitser]

So I swallowed 'em whole, after about 2 or 3 I thought of them swimming around in my tummy.

Never ate another oyster for about 26 years.

That is an upsetting thought. But when the hinge is cracked and the adductor muscles cut, it kills the oyster. Alas! For the oyster, anyhow.

We love seafood and live way inland (Wyoming). So I keep an eye on the seafood case at the market for nice oysters and mussels. We also get community-supported fishery shares from Alaska.

https://sitkasalmonshares.com/

Costs more than the market, but supports small-boat fishermen. Plus you know you aren't buying fish mislabeled as to species, or pirated by the wide-ranging Chinese and Spanish fleets.

 

[Just Cooking]

My preference is a very light grill or deep fried.

Living in MO now, I don't get to enjoy fresh oysters. (or any other seafood)

Ross

 

[taxlady]

That is an upsetting thought. But when the hinge is cracked and the adductor muscles cut, it kills the oyster. Alas! For the oyster, anyhow.

We love seafood and live way inland (Wyoming). So I keep an eye on the seafood case at the market for nice oysters and mussels. We also get community-supported fishery shares from Alaska.

https://sitkasalmonshares.com/

Costs more than the market, but supports small-boat fishermen. Plus you know you aren't buying fish mislabeled as to species, or pirated by the wide-ranging Chinese and Spanish fleets.

That is a cool way to buy seafood. I get most of my fish from small companies and co-ops with sustainable fishing practices, for similar reasons. Living on the Island of Montreal, I think I'm too far from the ocean to consider fresh fish fresh enough. Frozen tends to be fresher here. Some of the stuff I get is from British Columbia and some is from Nova Scotia.

 

[dragnlaw]

I know that the mussels are shipped overnight from when they are harvested. So they arrive the next day in Montreal.

Here, another 6/8 hours down the road - I check the date on those bags for sure! So far, so good though.

There are a couple of fish mongers within reasonable distance for me, just haven't gotten around to getting to them.

Taxy, you might want to check out the guy in Vaudreuil/Dorion, I found him a little bit more expensive - but ohhh so fresh. I'll send you his name if you want.

LOL - of course, you might want to wait for those bridges to be repaired before traveling west off of the island! Heard it was a nightmare!

 

[CraigC]

Living on Cape Cod, there are oysters everywhere. There's a commercial oyster bed very near our house. Pleasant Bay oysters. We kayak over there from time to time. The oyster guys go out every day in their boat, even in the winter when its very cold.

That said, I can eat dozens and dozens of raw oysters at a time. I chew and love them. Cooked oysters not so much.

Me and a Canadian buddy, ACME Oyster House in NOLA, nuff said.

 

[jennyema]

My sister in law and I were "cut off" at a bar in Brookline. Not because of alcohol, but because of over consumption of their dollar oyster night.

 

[dragnlaw]

jennyma, have a good friend who was also cut off from an "all you can eat bowls of mussels" LOL

 

[taxlady]

I know that the mussels are shipped overnight from when they are harvested. So they arrive the next day in Montreal.

Here, another 6/8 hours down the road - I check the date on those bags for sure! So far, so good though.

There are a couple of fish mongers within reasonable distance for me, just haven't gotten around to getting to them.

Taxy, you might want to check out the guy in Vaudreuil/Dorion, I found him a little bit more expensive - but ohhh so fresh. I'll send you his name if you want.

LOL - of course, you might want to wait for those bridges to be repaired before traveling west off of the island! Heard it was a nightmare!

Well, at least the Ile-aux-Tourtes Bridge is partially open, but I hear it's still causing traffic headaches.

You don't seem to understand how fresh I want my fresh fish. Mussels are kept live, aren't they? If so, that doesn't count as not fresh enough. I lived in Copenhagen. I bought my fish from a fish monger who also supplied most of the restos. The store opened at 4 or 5 in the morning. They had fish that were fresh off the boats. If I got to that fish monger store after about 11 AM, all that was left was smoked fish and canned and pickled fish. There wouldn't be more until the next morning.

If the fish is that fresh, or close, and in Montreal, then the rush transport would add too much to the price for my taste. But, I can get frozen fish that was frozen on the boat or very shortly after docking. That's good enough for me and it gets delivered with my weekly produce basket from Lufa Farms.

 

[Bitser]

Got out my R. Murphy Maine oyster knife. We had Pacific osyters and boiled corn with bread and butter. Mud House New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Restaurants flip the oysters so the smooth side is on top, but I like both sides.

If the oysters are decent, from cold water, I prefer them fresh and natural. Chesapeake or southern US oysters are sometimes better fried, with some seasoning. Willapa Bay oysters from southern Washington are likewise, big and bland.

This is a great little book, with recipes and some brilliant observations.

 

[pictonguy]

My favorite way is with a compound butter, just barely cooked/grilled, and I mean just barely, like they do in NOLA. We had these within last couple of weeks.

Ok medtran, fill me in. I like this idea. How much butter and is it compound butter used that way or it it melted then applied . Also could you let me know your favorite combos of flavorings for your butters, thanks in advance.

 

[boom]

I love them on the half shell but my mind starts to worry at about the fifth one. Can’t be helped since I watched this tragic documentary about that virus.

Never had an issue, but to be safe I grill most of them. Like this.

 

[medtran49]

I've been wanting to make these again and serve over rice pilaf to catch the extra butter and oyster juice. We were talking about getting a bag of oysters and/or clams next time we go to the restaurant supply place, as well as some stone crab claws since they are in season now.

Acme Chargrilled Oysters | Louisiana Kitchen & Culture

louisiana.kitchenandculture.com

I only make half the butter recipe for 2 dozen oysters. Had a huge amount leftover the first time I made it.

 

[Badjak]

I've only ever eaten oysters raw....
I would never have thought of grilling them

 

[dragnlaw]

I've always said that cooked oysters seem to turn me off, but medtran! that list of ingredients might make me change my mind!

 

[caseydog]

I've only ever eaten oysters raw....
I would never have thought of grilling them

I love grilled oysters -- with lots of garlic butter.

CD

 

[Badjak]

Aything tastes great with garlic butter......

 

[boom]

Me. I do Chinese black bean and garlic.

 

[medtran49]

I've always said that cooked oysters seem to turn me off, but medtran! that list of ingredients might make me change my mind!

They are  barely cooked, just enough to warm and plump, so they are basically raw.

 

[dragnlaw]

My father, a Maritimer, loved his shellfish and fish. I think one of the things that put me off of cooked oysters were cans of smoked oysters, along with canned smelts, sardines, etc. Used to make me gag.