If you are an oyster lover then this recipe is for you to enjoy.
Oysters, opened, ready for consumption, raw (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There many different varieties of oysters Eastern oysters, named after their place of origin Bluepoints, Lynnhaven, and Chincoteague, account for most of the American oyster supply. Western waters produce Pacific oysters which were originally eastern transplants, Olympia oysters, are a tiny native western species harvested commercially in Washington state. Most Pacific oysters are graded and marketed by size rather than by name.
24 oysters on the half shell
12 slices of bacon
½ cup butter
1/3 cup chopped green peppers
2 tablespoons chopped chives
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
juice of a lemon
Cook bacon slowly until transparent, then remove bacon and add green peppers, cook the green peppers until just tender and then add the remainder of the ingredients, minus the bacon.
Top each oyster with mixture plus ½ slice bacon and a few drops of lemon juice.
Bake at 450 degrease until bacon is crisp.
When the oysters are cooked, plate them so they will appear to be so good that you just can't wait to begin a wonderful experience, open a fine bottle of wine and now it’s time to enjoy them.
Oh, by the way, don't eat them alone food is always enjoyed more if you are enjoying it with someone else.
Many people have distaste for the word “gourmet” until they learn the actual meaning of it. A gourmet is simply a person with a detailed knowledge of the finest food and drink. The term originally came from the French word “groumet” which is a valet in charge of wine. Gourmet seafood, then, is the finest seafood. Sending gourmet seafood as a gift is a special and unique way of showing a person that you care for them.
Gourmet seafood can be a gift to customers, clients or employees. There are many companies that offer a pleasing and tasty selection. Careful attention should be paid in order to make the best choice for your important customer. Sending the gift of gourmet seafood is giving the gift of the prize of New England. Your employee or customer will be very pleased and delighted with the surprise of gourmet seafood arriving on their doorstep.
You should carefully consider which company you choose before placing an order of gourmet seafood. Some firms can be easily contacted about the details of your shipment and readily give information about when it will be arriving to your customers and employees. Many companies even offer discounts on a large order, for example, if your gourmet seafood order totals over $500.
The packages you can order include such favorites as Lobster Lover’s Feast or Surf and Turf. How about a Maine Lobster Party, or maybe just one or two live Maine lobsters? A hearty Shrimp and Steak Classic, rustic Australian Rock Lobsters or a Classic New England Clambake can also be ordered. Of course, the prices of these gourmet seafood packages depend on the quantity and the distance it’s being sent.
How to Order Your Gourmet Seafood
1. You should fill out a corporate gift order form and fax it in to the company. Or, if you prefer, the customer care line would be happy to take your order.
2. Make sure your billing address and the address your credit card company has on file are the same.
3. Make sure you place an order well in advance, at least 48 hours prior to when you need it to be shipped, in order to avoid any emergencies. If your gourmet seafood company cannot process your order, they should contact you immediately and provide you with other options. Always ask for a confirmation of the corrected order if this happens.
4. The gourmet seafood company will contact you just before they process the order to your credit card, in order to get your final confirmation.
5. If you receive a discount, the gourmet seafood company will deduct it from the total, usually before the shipping charges are added.
6. Many gourmet seafood companies will notify the recipient via email, so they’ll know when they should expect their package. They will also send you an email when the package has been successfully delivered.
Ingredients:- 1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water.
Mode:- Medium-sized lobsters are the best. Have ready a stewpan of boiling water, salted in the above proportion; put in the lobster, and keep it boiling quickly from 20 minutes to 3/4 hour, according to its size, and do not forget to skim well. If it boils too long, the meat becomes thready, and if not done enough, the spawn is not red: this must be obviated by great attention. Hub the shell over with a little butter or sweet oil, which wipe off again.
Time. Small lobster, 20 minutes to 1/2 hour; large ditto, 1/2 to 1/3 hour.
Lobster, Eggs, Celery, etc. (Boston Public Library) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hot lobster.
Ingredients:- 1 lobster, 2 oz. of butter, grated nutmeg; salt, pepper, and pounded mace, to taste; bread crumbs, 2 eggs.
Mode:- Pound the meat of the lobster to a smooth paste with the butter and seasoning, and add a few bread crumbs. Beat the eggs, and make the whole mixture into the form of a lobster; pound the spawn, and sprinkle over it. Bake 1/4 hour, and just before serving, lay over it the tail and body shell, with the small claws underneath, to resemble a lobster.
Time. 1/4 hour.
Lobster salad.
Ingredients:- 1 hen lobster, lettuces, endive, small salad (whatever is in season), a little chopped beetroot, 2 hard-boiled eggs, a few slices of cucumber. For dressing, equal quantities of oil and vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of made mustard, the yolks of 2 eggs; cayenne and salt to taste; 3 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce. These ingredients should be mixed perfectly smooth, and form a creamy-looking sauce.
Mode:- Wash the salad, and thoroughly dry it by shaking it in a cloth. Cut up the lettuces and endive, pour the dressing on them, and lightly throw in the small salad. Mix all well together with the pickings from the body of the lobster; pick the meat from the shell, cut it up into nice square pieces, put half in the salad, the other half reserve for garnishing. Separate the yolks from the whites of 2 hard-boiled eggs; chop the whites very fine, and rub the yolks through a sieve, and afterwards the coral from the inside. Arrange the salad lightly on a glass dish, and garnish, first with a row of sliced cucumber, then with the pieces of lobster, the yolks and whites of the eggs, coral, and beetroot placed alternately, and arranged in small separate bunches, so that the colours contrast nicely.
Note. A few crayfish make a pretty garnishing to lobster salad.
Lobster (a la mode francaise).
Ingredients:- 1 lobster, 4 tablespoonfuls of white stock, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, pounded mace, and cayenne to taste; bread crumbs.
Mode:- Pick the meat from the shell, and cut it up into small square pieces; put the stock, cream, and seasoning into a stewpan, add the lobster, and let it simmer gently for 6 minutes. Serve it in the shell, which must be nicely cleaned, and have a border of puff-paste; cover it with bread crumbs, place small pieces of butter over, and brown before the fire, or with a salamander.
Time. 1/4 hour.
Lobster curry (an Entree).
Ingredients:- 1 lobster, 2 onions, 1 oz. butter, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1/2 pint of medium stock, the juice of 1/2 lemon.
Mode:- Pick the meat from the shell, and cut it into nice square pieces; fry the onions of a pale brown in the butter, stir in the curry-powder and stock, and simmer till it thickens, when put in the lobster; stew the whole slowly for 1/2 hour, and stir occasionally; and just before sending to table, put in the lemon-juice. Serve boiled rice with it, the same as for other curries.
Time. Altogether, 3/4 hour.
Lobster cutlets (an Entree).
Ingredients:- 1 large hen lobster, 1 oz. fresh butter, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, pounded mace, grated nutmeg, cayenne and white pepper to taste, egg, and bread crumbs.
Mode:- Pick the meat from the shell, and pound it in a mortar with the butter, and gradually add the mace and seasoning, well mixing the ingredients; beat all to a smooth paste, and add a little of the spawn; divide the mixture into pieces of an equal size, and shape them like cutlets. They should not be very thick. Brush them over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs, and stick a short piece of the small claw in the top of each; fry them of a nice brown in boiling lard, and drain them before the fire, on a sieve reversed; arrange them nicely on a dish, and pour bechamel in the middle, but not over the cutlets.
Time. About 8 minutes after the cutlets are made.
Lobster patties (an Entree).
Ingredients:- Minced lobster, 4 tablespoonfuls of bechamel, 6 drops of anchovy sauce, lemon-juice, cayenne to taste.
Mode:- Line the patty-pans with puff-paste, and put into each a small piece of bread: cover with paste, brush over with egg, and bake of a light colour. Take as much lobster as is required, mince the meat very fine, and add the above ingredients; stir it over the fire for 6 minutes; remove the lids of the patty-cases, take out the bread, fill with the mixture, and replace the covers.
Potted lobster.
Ingredients:- 2 lobsters; seasoning to taste, of nutmeg, pounded mace, white pepper, and salt; 1/4 lb. of butter, 3 or 4 bay-leaves.
Mode:- Take out the meat carefully from the shell, but do not cut it up. Put some butter at the bottom of a dish, lay in the lobster as evenly as possible, with the bay-leaves and seasoning between. Cover with butter, and bake for 3/4 hour in a gentle oven. When done, drain the whole on a sieve, and lay the pieces in potting-jars, with the seasoning about them. When cold, pour over it clarified butter, and, if very highly seasoned, it will keep some time.
