Much Ado About Oysters

This weekend my friends and I rented a house in Sea Ranch, one of the most beautiful ocean side villages in Northern California. Scott, Jeffrey, Rob and I decided that we would drive up highway 1 and stop for oysters in Tomales Bay. Rob brought along cocktail sauce, Jeffrey brought lemons and they handed us 24 tiny oysters that we ate right at the picnic tables.  In addition to the tiny briny treats we also bought 50 larger oysters that we planned to use for oysters Sha-Lou-Mi.

What is Sha-Lou-Mi you ask… The name comes from my mother Sharon, my cousin Lou Lou and me, Michael.  Originally they were called Sha-Lou and were made up by my mother and my cousin back in the 70’s. Every year my family, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins included would spend Christmas at Seven Springs, a resort East of Pittsburgh.  The day after Christmas The Volpatts and Legnards (my cousins) would throw a big party for all of the residents that lived in the resort community.  My cousins are from Annapolis, MD and each year they would bring bushels of oysters for the party.  Half were shucked for eating raw and the other half were shucked for Oysters Sha-Lou.

Before our trip I called my mom for the recipe and this is what she said, “You know Michael, Lou Lou and I would throw in whatever cheese we had in the fridge, along with bacon, mayo, lemon and spinach. Then twe’d toss them under the broiler for a few minutes and in seconds they were gone. That is how good they are.” Lou Lou is one of my kitchen muses and as she watched over me this past weekend I could hear her telling me what would taste best about my version of Sha-Lou. This is pretty easy to make. The only tough part is shucking the oysters. Click here to learn how to shuck an oyster. For 24 Oysters: 1 cup of cooked spinach (you can use frozen, but make sure you squeeze out the water*) 2 cups of grated cheese (we used gruyere) 1 cup of cooked and chopped bacon 1 tbsp of brandy ½ cup of mayonnaise Freshly ground black pepper Mix all of the ingredients together, shuck the oysters and drain out the liquor (that is what we call the juice). Keeping the oyster meat in the cupped shell top each with about 1 tbsp and broil until gold and bubbly. *FoodNoteworthies To get the water out of spinach you can use cheesecloth and squeeze it out or you can place it into a pan and cook the water out. I always use this method. It is an easier and often cleaner way of coaxing the excess liquid.

Comments

[Courtney Benedict]

This is one my all time favorites! I can't wait to try and cook it - I never have.