Oysters Two Ways: Raw on Half Shell & Baked with Parmesan

It's oyster day at my house. Vancouver Island oysters were on sale at the market so I bought a dozen. When bought at the grocery store or fish market, oysters are incredibly affordable - usually ranging from $0.50 to $1.00 each; Much cheaper than restaurant oysters which are often marked up 300-500%!

I'm going to share my two favourite ways to enjoy oysters. The first is raw, on the half shell with a few flavourful accompaniments. The second is baked in the oven, topped with breadcrumbs, herbs and cheese.

First thing first though... you have to open your oysters. As I said last time I shucked oysters at home, I'm no expert. A proper oyster knife is key. For other tips, I suggest you take a few minutes searching the internet for a good tutorial.


Jill's Favourite Way to Eat Oysters on the Half Shell:

6 fresh oysters (any size), shucked & on the half shell
3 lemon wedges
Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons prepared horseradish (I prefer fresh grated but it's not easy to find!)

Arrange oysters on an ice-covered plate. Squeeze lemon over each oyster. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce to each and top with a 1/2 teaspoon of horseradish.

Enjoy!


Baked Parmesan Oysters:

2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
pinch each salt & pepper
1 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped fine
6 fresh oysters (any size), shucked & on the half shell
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 lemon wedges (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 357 degrees F.

2. In a small bowl, mix together bred crumbs, salt & pepper and parsley.

3. Arrange oysters on a baking sheet. To ensure oysters stay upright, pour 1 cup of course salt on the baking sheet and nest oysters into the salt (this is also a great presentation technique!). On each oyster, sprinkle 1/2 clove of minced garlic and 1/2 tablespoon of the breadcrumb mixture. Drizzle melted butter over each oyster and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned and cheese melted. Serve immediately. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the oysters if you desire.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.

Oysters on the Half Shell with Pickled Shallot Vinegar

It's week four of my online cooking class, Surf & Turf at Cheeseslave. This week, Ann Marie taught us how to pick fresh seafood and we learned several recipes for uncooked seafood dishes, like ceviche and sashimi. She also showed us a great way to shuck raw oysters.


Oysters are extremely good for our health and are listed in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. According to author Johnny Bowden, a 1 cup serving of oysters supplies more than 100 percent of the recommended daily value of Zinc. Zinc is important to healthy immune function and fertility, among other things. Oysters are also a mood elevator as they are rich in the amino acid tyrosine, which the brain converts to dopamine. Before dealing with raw oysters at home, make sure you read up about how to buy and store fresh shellfish. Raw oysters are safe to eat, if handled properly.


A few weeks ago, I ordered an oyster knife online from Golda's Kitchen, in anticipation of this lesson. Yesterday I picked up 8 small fresh oysters from the market and today I got down to business! I was pretty apprehensive about the process. Not sure if any of you have seen Bob Blumer's Glutton For Punishment? He participated in an "Oyster Shuck Off" in one episode. Let's just say there was a lot of blood. As it turns out, oyster shucking is not that hard, or that dangerous! Actually, it's incredibly easy. I made it through my eight in under 10 minutes, and had only minor difficulties with two of them. But... this post isn't about how to shuck oysters. I am certainly no expert. There are loads of videos on YouTube that can help you out. All I can tell you is to make sure you have a proper oyster knife, a sturdy wooden cutting board, a clean dish towel and a steady hand! And DON'T STRESS! And if someone tells you a butter knife will work just fine to shuck an oyster, DO NOT BELIEVE IT. You need an oyster knife. You can pick one up at most any kitchen supply or speciality shop for about $10.

OXO Good Grips Oyster Knife
I love topping my raw oysters with a squeeze of fresh lemon, a dash of Tabasco, a little bit of grated fresh horseradish or pickled shallot vinegar - but not all together! I made the Pickled Shallots during week three of the Preserve the Bounty Challenge. French Food at Home does a pickled shallot on fresh oysters. My favourite seafood restaurant, Rodney's Oyster House also serves their fresh oysters on the half shell with a pickled shallot vinegar. It's delicious! Pickled shallots are also a great condiment for many other things, like salads, sandwiches, antipasti platters, meat and poultry!



Pickled Shallot Vinegar

2 large shallots
1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 sprig fresh thyme

1. Peel shallots and slice thinly.

2. In a medium saucepan, mix together vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring often to dissolve sugar. Add shallots and stir.

3. Bring to a simmer and cook for one minute. Add thyme sprig. Remove from heat and let cool at room temperature.

4. Transfer mixture to a glass canning jar. Cover and refrigerate for at least one week before using. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two months.

Alternatively - if you want to heat process your canned shallots for shelf stable storage, complete the directions up to step 3, but do not let the mixture cool. Pack shallots into cleaned and sanitized jars with a small sprig of thyme. Fill with hot vinegar mixture to 1/2 inch below the rim. Cap your jars and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Shrimp & Scallop Spinach Salad with Mango Dressing

This is my absolute favourite salad, barely beating out my second favourite salad.

Another dish inspired by the Island flavours of Hawaii and renowned Island chef, Mr. Sam Choy. Fresh, crisp, bright, delicious - the perfect summer salad.

Serves 2 Main Dish Salads
To serve as an appetizer salad, reduce the amount of seafood to 2-3 of each piece per person.

Shrimp & Scallop Spinach Salad:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste
10 sea scallops
10 large prawns, peeled & de-veined, tail on
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
1 small red onion, sliced very thin
1/2 fresh mango, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 avocado, peeled and sliced thin
Mango Dressing (see below)

1. Heat olive oil over high heat and sauté garlic for 30 seconds. Add prawns to pan. Sear 1 minute each side. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Pat scallops dry with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Add to hot pan and sear for one minute on each side, until lightly brown in colour. Remove from pan and set aside with prawns.

3. Place spinach and onion in a large bowl and toss together. Divide spinach/onion mix between two plates.

4. Arrange the seafood, alternating scallops and prawns, around the outer edge of each plate.

5. Fan a few mango and avocado slices on top and across the middle of each plate.

6. Drizzle Mango Dressing over top of everything.

Mango Dressing:

Yields 1/2 cup dressing

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 fresh mango, peeled & pitted, puréed in blender (for 1/2 cup purée)
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp sucanat
1/2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup macadamia nut or avocado oil

1. Combine all ingredients except oil. Whisk until well blended and sucanat is completely dissolved.

2. Gradually add oil while continuing to whisk. Pour into a container with tight fitting lid and refrigerate at least 20 minuets prior to using. Remove from fridge and shake well to mix. Drizzle over salad.

Clams Provencales

While in North Carolina, we had a huge seafood feast one night of blue crab, jumbo shrimp, fresh tuna and clams. I had the task of preparing the clams. Initially I thought we would have mussels as well so I planned to make my Moules Provencales. Unfortunately mussels aren't in season in the area we were visiting so we only had clams. I figured, why not use the Moules Provencales recipe on the clams?!

Clams Provencales turned out very well! The only difference in the recipe is that clams take longer to cook than mussels. They need 8-10 minutes of steaming before they open up. Some took even longer.

If you would like to make Clams or Mussels Provencales, check my post here!

Moules Provencales (Mussels Steamed in White Wine)

Mussels were on sale at the market today and I have been wanting to try making them at home for a long, long time so I decided to go for it. When I got home I did some extensive 'net research to ensure I prepared the mussels in the healthiest and most sanitary way possible. One of the things I came across was this hilarious YouTube video of a French Chef preparing "Moules Provencales". I based this recipe on his tutorial and it turned out great.

The video is here.

extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced (THE MORE THE BETTER!)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup white wine
1 to 1.5kg (3 lb) live mussels, washed and beards removed
2-4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, or 1 fresh tomato, seeded and diced
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper

1. Here is a great article on picking, storing and preparing mussels. If you are not already familiar with mussels, make sure you read up before you begin.

2. Keep mussels refrigerated until ready to use. When ready to cook, pick through your mussels to ensure all are tightly closed. If any are open, follow Chef Jean Pierre's instructions in the video above and lightly tap on the shells and set aside for a few minutes. I found almost all of mine closed after this "tapping" process. Out of the whole batch, I only had to throw out three, two of which had broken shells. The rest were perfectly fine after a bit of tapping and resting - as Chef Jean Pierre said, they really were just sleeping with their mouths open. :)

3. Place mussels in a colander and rinse under cold water. Remove beards (if they are present - mine didn't have beards) and scrub off any barnacles or grit. Mine were "cultivated", or "rope grown" so the shells were very smooth and clean. Wild mussels will likely need a bit of gentle scrubbing.

4. While mussels are resting in the colander, heat olive oil in a saute pan (with a lid) over medium heat. Add onions and sweat for a minute or two then add garlic. Stir until onions turn transcendent.

5. Pour in wine and lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Now, as Chef Jean Pierre said, CRANK UP THE HEAT and pour in the mussels. Immediately put the lid on the pan and gently shake the pan a bit. Watch the clock. Two minutes was the perfect amount of time for my mussels, which is just about when the steam started to come out of the pan.

6. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove mussels from the pan and place into a covered serving dish. Gently sort through mussels and discard any that did not open (they only need to open 1 cm, minimum).

7. Strain cooking juices into a bowl. Take the strained liquid and pour back into the saute pan. Discard the onion/garlic mixture. If a few onions sneak into the juices, that's a-okay.

8. Turn the heat to medium and simmer the wine for minute. Add the butter and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Let reduce for about 5 minutes. Add parsley, sea salt and cracked pepper and stir together.

9. Pour liquid over the mussels. Serve with crusty bread for dipping into the juice!

A+ - This is definitely a fave. I shared the dish with my mom for dinner. Between the mussels and half a baguette, it was all the food we needed.