So, Thanksgiving was, well, the fourth Thursday in November or something, like it is every year. And you may notice that it's now the third Thursday in January.
But I'm just now getting around to editing, categorizing, and even looking at the pictures from that time. And these come with RECIPES, so that's exciting, right?
Thanksgiving this year was a humdinger, with lovely folks from New York, Chicago, Baton Rouge, and Austin gathering in Mandeville. The prospect of feeding nine people at each meal was pretty daunting, but between all of us, we made it happen.
Sometimes with pyrotechnics.
There's a restaurant in New Orleans (well, Metairie, actually) called Drago's that is famous for their charbroiled oysters. We've been a couple of times, and they're delicious and much fun. And Husbear's family loves to recreate them during oyster season, when a box of 100 can easily be had for around $25.
When his brother Brandog fixes them, you know you're in for a pyrotechnic treat. He starts with about seventeen pounds of butter.
To this, you add a bunch of minced garlic. Grate giant handfuls of cheese, too - we use Parmesan. Oh, and shuck 100 oysters, which is easier said than done unless you've had a lot of practice. I tend to stay well away!
All this comes out to the grill.
The oysters go on the grill, on the half-shell - try to keep as much of the oyster liquor in there as you can.
And here's where the giant flames come in. Ladle your garlic butter over the oysters. If you do this sort of indiscriminately, this is what happens when the butter hits your hot hot coals:
You might not want to do this if you're an apartment-dweller. At the very least, don't set the grill up under the roof overhang, which you can see we almost did. Oops.
When (if?) the flames start to die down, sprinkle some of your cheese over the grilling oysters.
It does make for fun pictures, though.
As soon as the oysters start to curl up, get them OFF the grill. Overcooked, rubbery, chewy oysters are gross, even if they're bathed in butter and cheese!
This is what you'll end up with. Don't let them get cold.
If you need some actual amounts for this recipe, see here: Drago's Charbroiled Oyster Recipe.
This, plus a loaf of french bread, makes for a delicious yet completely unbalanced dinner.
Well, actually, we thought that cheeseballs would make a good addition while we waited like 10 minutes for the oysters to grill. And we'd brought the ingredients to make this recipe from the November 2008 Gourmet for Pecan and Goat-Cheese Marbles, including some awesome chevre from Pure Luck in Dripping Springs, just outside of Austin.
It's really easy, though a bit labor-intensive - the only cooking is the toasting of the pecans that go on the outside.
Start off with mixing minced rosemary, ground coriander, and a little black pepper into your goat cheese (amounts are in the recipe linked above). Because we're in the South and need all of our food to be a little spicy, Husbear added cayenne. And probably several other things, knowing him.
Then, you mush the herbs and spices into the cheese, and roll into tiny balls.
Yeah, that's more butter in the background, for toasting the pecans. After they're toasted, smash them up and roll the cheeseballs in them. Ta-da - delicious snack! We left out the spearing each one individually with a leaf of parsley crap, because that's just too precious.
And that's it - a relatively easy do-ahead party recipe, now that the party season's over. Oh well.
I look at this dinner, and I wonder how I gained four pounds over the holidays! Back to January's salads...
Girlie (having taken over the Kooking Korner once again)
