398737 Sat May 05 17:48:59 -0700 2007 22 31 Home Cooking 0 2544974 Just picked up a couple cans on a whim. Last time I ate was when my parents were driving me to college in the back of their closed-top pick-up truck. It was a six hour drive at least and my sister and I packed ourselves a picnic of smoked oysters, cream cheese, crackers and lumpfish roe and various sweets. We ate the smoked oysters on crackers with cream cheese in the baking heat, ducking low when the highway patrol drove by. Classic food memory. But thinking about expanding my repertore and wondering what other ways they might taste good. Was thinking on pumpernickle with cream cheese and dill and a squeeze of lemon. Make sense? Any other ideas? Sat May 05 17:48:59 -0700 2007 78552 bite bite 1 2545076 Same ingredients but a different presentation: Drain canned oysters, mince in small food processor. Mix with 8 oz. Philadelphia whipped cream cheese, two splashes Worcestershire sauce, into dip for nice crackers. Garnish dip with cornishons, capers. Sat May 05 18:54:16 -0700 2007 2544974 57170 Veggo 2 2545234 Mmm. That sounds pretty tasty. Thanks. Sat May 05 20:18:28 -0700 2007 2545076 78552 bite bite 1 2545293 Capers, Sour Cream, Lemon on toast points. YUMM Sat May 05 20:51:58 -0700 2007 2544974 69079 starlady 2 2545323 Cream of asparagus soup, I sink 3-4 of them in there, adding cream fraiche to the top. Love those things! Sat May 05 21:17:08 -0700 2007 2545293 50431 chef chicklet 1 2545368 we like them on pizza Sat May 05 21:52:45 -0700 2007 2544974 17714 alex8alot 1 2545386 A dinner guest brought a great appetizer the other night: button mushrooms stuffed with smoked oysters. She said the oyster sits in a sauce of mayonnaise, wasabi, worcestershire and the whole thing is broiled. I don't know the proportions, but they were gobbled up. Sat May 05 22:10:44 -0700 2007 2544974 62352 bodacious 2 2545411 Wow that sounds good. Sat May 05 22:43:23 -0700 2007 2545386 78552 bite bite 2 2546392 I recently tried this on for size: I reduced 1 cup of heavy cream by half over medium-high heat, stirring all the while. Then I stemmed 16 medium mushrooms, minced the stems in a mini-processor and tossed them with a few teaspoons of fresh lemon juice. I stirred that into the reduced cream wtih a few dashes of Tabasco and a half-teaspoon of curry powder. I stirred that over medium heat for 5 minutes to reduce it further. Off heat, I stirred in drained smoked oysters from a 4-ounce can. I buttered a gratin and moistened the bottom wtih a few tablespoons of dry sherry. I arranged the mushrooms in a single layer, cap sides down, then put an oyster (or two) and some cream sauce in each cap, then covered the mushrooms with grated smoked cheddar cheese. I baked the gratin at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. REALLY delicious! Sun May 06 13:05:42 -0700 2007 2545386 13568 Tom Steele 3 2547268 Impressive. Would never have thought of reducing heavy cream -- partially for fear of it getting those little cooked milk chunks in it. Sun May 06 20:37:13 -0700 2007 2546392 78552 bite bite 3 2549509 Someone showed me a somewhat simpler version of this many years ago. You just chop cleaned mushroom stems and smoked oysters together with some minced onion and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Salt to taste, stir in some cracker crumbs (I like Ritz, but saltines are fine) and enough sour cream to bind it. Stuff the caps you got the stems from (good idea to have them all more or less the same size) and lay stuffed side up in a shallow baking dish. Drizzle a little oil or melted butter over all and bake as above until the caps are cooked - that's the only really important thing, as you pretty much can't overcook the stuffing. Mon May 07 15:35:48 -0700 2007 2546392 11478 Will Owen 4 2549526 Thx. Any advice on best way to cook the caps (have never made before) -- temp/time approx's? Also, do you think if it would work if left the oysters whole. Wondering is texture might get odd when cooked -- but intrigued bt the whole oyster thing as suggested up in bodacious's post... Mon May 07 15:41:22 -0700 2007 2549509 78552 bite bite 4 2549881 Will, this flavor combination sounds good- I'm magneting the recipe to the fridge. Mon May 07 17:28:10 -0700 2007 2549509 57170 Veggo 1 2545487 I like them on saltine crackers with hot sauce or pickled jalapenos. Sun May 06 00:02:40 -0700 2007 2544974 11204 srr 2 2546321 Mmm, jalapenos. I hadn't thought of that. The spice could be a really nice compliment. Sun May 06 12:33:38 -0700 2007 2545487 78552 bite bite 1 2545554 sandwich with lettuce and mayo Sun May 06 02:10:05 -0700 2007 2544974 15802 pepper_mil 1 2549530 My favorite at-the-drawing-board lunch back in my working days was a can of smoked oysters, a half-pint tub of cottage cheese and a box of Ritz crackers. I'd scoop up the cottage cheese on a cracker, top it with an oyster and pop it. I liked the cottage cheese with chives they used to make, which I have not seen in eons, or if I were sufficiently ambitious I'd pick up some green onions and mince one or two (with my X-Acto knife!) and stir that in ("OK, Will, that mechanical looks nice and clean, but why does it smell like onions?"). Mon May 07 15:42:58 -0700 2007 2544974 11478 Will Owen 1 2549970 I'd eat them exactly as you did on yuor way to college, but I don't have a pick-up truck, closed top or otherwise. Mon May 07 17:50:01 -0700 2007 2544974 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 2550191 Will be pretty hard to beat -- but looking forward to trying some of the suggestions. Mon May 07 19:13:16 -0700 2007 2549970 78552 bite bite 1 2845477 Here's one I came up with back in the 90's. I was in the Navy and was actually trying to come up with something gross, and though I succeeded pretty well in it looking foul, it tasted wonderful! I still make it for occasional casual gatherings. I call it "Oystaguac." (Patent pending...lol) Anyway it was origionally just a very ripe California avacado mashed up and mixed with the oysters, but I have made a few improvements I like to think. I now use 2 small California avacados (they have a stonger flavor than the large Florida species and tend to be softer and easier to work with as well.) Then I just add (to taste) red onion, garlic powder, kosher salt, fresh bround black pepper, and fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice for flavor and also to keep avacado from browning. Mix that all together well, then add as much or as little sour cream as you like, but enough to make it creamy. I also add a bottled green taco sauce that I like, but use whatever salsa you prefer. Fresh or pickled jalapeno work well for spice too. Finally and gently mix in the drained oysters to minimize breaking the oysters. It's goes great on tortilla chips and crackers. Hope you enjoy it! Tue Aug 14 14:15:07 -0700 2007 2544974 119197 MRWilder 1 2845516 I put them in scrambled eggs, sprinkle bacon bits on top and surround with avocado slices. My version of "Handtown Fry"... Tue Aug 14 14:24:46 -0700 2007 2544974 13118 Gail 2 2845905 That sounds good too Gail. I just finshed cutting and cooking from a small whole bacon. It is vey good to put in things like beans and the like instead of salt pork or ham hock, etc, but is pretty good alone too, if you like somthing closer to pork rinds. It renders down to a very nicely flavored grease that I use religously. I used it just now in a recipe for cauliflower I'm toying with. By the way....it's "HangTown Fry" named after 'Frisco back in the wild west. Among other names, 'Frisco was known too as Hang Town by some because being the largest town around, that's where a judge and the law was too. Most of the "lawful" hangings took place there hence the name. As to the dish....A guy found a good deal of gold one day and came to town and ordered the most expensive thing on the menu at a local hotel, so the chef used fresh oysters from the bay there among other ingredients. Tue Aug 14 16:20:35 -0700 2007 2845516 119197 MRWilder 3 2845977 Hey, I know all that Gold Rush stuff, I'm a native Cali girl. Remember Herb Caen's book, "Don't Call if Frisco". Frankly, I try to stay away from too much bacon, but it's hard. Tue Aug 14 16:43:57 -0700 2007 2845905 13118 Gail