Sunday, January 2, 2011

Stewed

Every year Rocky orders a gallon of raw oysters. They come in right before Christmas. He gets so stoked. All  his hot sauces come out and are on the ready for when the bounty arrives. I, on the other hand, just.can't.go.there. I love a fair amount of sushi and sashimi but the oysters just gross me out. More for Rocky makes a happy Rocky.

We decided this year to make oyster stew in lieu of our traditional smoked ribs on New Years Day. Resolution you smell??? No, more like a true lifestyle change. Rocky is on the verge of having to take cholesteral meds and he not happy about it. Sadly for him it's genetic but he is going to do his darnest to try to lower his stats by making better food choices (we are heavy on the cheese and red meat) and adding more cardio (he does exercize regularly but he's going to work on that heart rate a bit more).

So ... back to the oysters. We've made several versions of oyster stew over the years (most including heavy cream and/or condensed milk) but none really stood out as a winnner. That all changed when I found this recipe.

Oh my.

It was good.

Very good.

We ended up modifying the recipe a bit due to the oysters being left on the counter for about 6 hours (that darn eggnog again) after some late night snacking ... good thing we keep our house like an icebox - ahem.

Here are our 'tweeks':

- we boiled the oysters in their 'liquor' and about 3/4 C of red wine - when they started to curl we drained them
- I didn't really measure the potato/onion/garlic - we like alot so I'd say it was about a large potato and a half, 2 medium onions and 4 large heads of garlic-ish
- 4 C of chicken broth
- a big handfull of parlsey
- at least 1 C of the crushed crackers (I used whole wheat - which were still junk - 1st ingredient 'enriched flour' - what a crock - how can they say they are 'whole wheat' - arg)
- I only had 1 C of corn and the 8oz of the clam juice - if I had more I would have added it but it was fine without the extra

Rocky thinks this is the best oyster stew he has ever had.

Ever.

He's a hard one to please when it comes to them there oysters.

I ate mine sans oysters. It was delicious. I'd say we have a new New Years Day meal ... and seein' as we are alive and kicking, I'd say those oysters did not get the best of us ~wink wink~. We'll just make sure that we clean up after ourselves Rocky the next time - we don't want to push our luck!

Speaking of stews ... don't forget Turn the page ... Tuesday on the 4th - what books have you been stewing over?

4 comments:

~ The Jolly Bee ~ said...

First off....I'm ready for TTPT.

Secondly....I've been on a low cholesterol diet for almost a year now. It takes some getting used to, but I feel much better. When I went to my mom's over Christmas, it was butter-overload. That woman can cook! But, I really think I felt fat bubbles in my arteries. It's good to be back to the diet again.

Your recipe sounds delicious -- and I'm glad those oysters were okay to eat. Stay away from that eggnog -- I'm telling you!

:: Andrea :: said...

sounds yummy!

Ally Jay said...

Sounds delicious. I wasn't a fan of Oysters myself until recently.

Unknown said...

I would like to try some of your oyester stew.
I've been stewing over a comercial driving book. Several of us at work are going to try to get our CDL's so we can drive a van full of residents around.
I've got lots of more interesting books to read!