oyster stew

Wife brought home a sack of fresh oysters from Louisiana. Ate a bunch raw. Last night I opened them all and made a big pot of oyster stew. Cooking part was easy. Basically, boil the oysters in milk with some seasonings and a little flour for thickener. Opening was the hard part. Hands are still tired this morning. Using a screwdriver, have to get in a tiny spot at back and pry. Kinda hard work, wouldn't want to do that for a living. Jabbed my left hand four times when it slipped. Garbage can didn't smell so pretty this morning. Gotta take out. But, the stew was good.

Frank Fusco said:

...Garbage can didn't smell so pretty this morning. Gotta take out. But, the stew was good.

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My wife has a fit if I even open a tin of kippers in the house... let alone leave it in the trash.

Back in about 1970, when I was a wee junior high kid, my dad and a partner started a materials testing business (concrete, asphalt, soil, etc.) and for the grand opening party, they served oysters on the half shell. I ended up being one of the designated shuckers that night, and I think we went through three of four large burlap bags full of oysters. Like you, I walked away with sore, punctured hands from wielding a screwdriver that night.

LOML and Kirk's wife would probably get along. Mine can't stand seafood, and hates the smell of cooked or raw fish. If I eat fish, it's at a restaurant or it's cooked (and preferably eaten) outside. Oyster shells would never see the indoor trash cans at this house.

Sounds great Frank! You should pick up a shucking knife, it makes poppin' those little suckers a lot easier than using a screwdriver.

The other thing I like to do with oysters (I'm from New Orleans) is to bread them with corn meal and fry them. You can eat them that way with some hot cocktail sauce, or make a Po Boy sandwich with French bread - Ummm good!

Mike

I love fried oysters--fried the way Mike describes. I've eaten them on the half-shell, but as my dad likes to say - the only way to eat a raw oyster is to let it slide down your throat and clamp your hand over the other end!!!

I love oysters about any way you can eat them, but I guess my Favorite is the Oysters Bienneville,(sp?) we used to get at a Restaurant (that I can't remember the name of), across the street from the "Commercial Bar & Grill in New Orleans. The LOML's preference is RAW & doesn't have much will power about when to quit, UNLESS there are Boiled Crawfish to be had.

We once had a friend pick up 60 lbs of live crawfish in Louisiana for a Crawfish Boil Party we were going to do, but he came back three days early, so she cleaned her bath tub, ran a little water in it and put all the crawfish in it to keep them alive til I got home from a trip to Boil them at the party. (They really made a lot of "Clicking Noises" in there too, but they stayed alive and in good shape til Party Time).