• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 233 0

even layer of the salt on a baking pan. Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of the spinach mixture onto each oyster, followed by a spoonful of the garlic bread crumbs. Nestle the oysters in the salt to steady them. Bake for 15 minutes or until the bread crumbs brown. Serve with lemon wedges and Tabasco sauce.

Raw Oysters with

Bloody Mary Cocktail Sauce

15 minutes

You can’t argue with tradition, but you can update it. The cocktail sauce is also great with cold poached shrimp.

Makes 24 pieces * Makes 3 cups sauce

Cocktail Sauce

½ cup ketchup

1 ripe tomato, coarsely chopped

1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped

½ onion, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons grated fresh or prepared horseradish

Juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 shot pepper vodka

1 teaspoon celery seed

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

24 oysters

¼ cup chopped celery leaves, for garnish

¼ cup minced fresh chives, for garnish

Combine the cocktail sauceingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Shuck the oysters according to the sidebar. Spoon the cocktail sauce over the raw oysters on the half shell. Garnish with the chopped celery leaves and chives.

Raw Oysters

with Leek, Tomato, and

Bacon Vinaigrette

30 minutes

This vinaigrette is more like a chunky sauce, and is also great as a topping for bread toasts. Don’t refrigerate the vinaigrette—the fat from the bacon turns from liquid to solid.

Makes 24 pieces * Makes 2½ cups vinaigrette

2 tomatoes

4 bacon slices

2 leeks, white part only, trimmed, washed, and minced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Pinch of sugar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

24 oysters

Bring a small pot of lightly salted water to a boil. With a sharp paring knife, cut out the tough cores from each tomato. Make a small X in the bottom of each to make peeling easier. Drop the tomatoes in the boiling water and count to 20. Remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and run them under cool water. Peel off the skins with the paring knife. Cut the tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out the seeds. Dice the tomatoes and set aside.

Fry the bacon in a skillet over medium-low heat until crisp. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Sauté the leeks in the bacon fat until tender. Put the leeks into a bowl and fold in the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Shuck the oysters according to the sidebar. Spoon some of the vinaigrette onto each oyster, crumble the bacon on top, and serve.

Mixed drinks served in great-looking glasses can really help create a festive mood at a party, but providing a full bar can be tricky (and expensive) to pull off if you need to lay in a big variety of mixers and liqueurs.

Instead, I generally serve beer and wine, plus one special “cocktail of the evening” that fits well with the atmosphere I’m going for. I start by assessing my crowd and the mood for the event: Martinis might be appropriate for a quieter, more sophisticated event, while a mojito, woo woo, or sangría would get things going at a casual or outdoor affair. I like to mix up a big batch of my chosen cocktail in a large pitcher and let the guests serve themselves so no one gets stuck doing bartender duty all night.

Cuban Mojito

You can also make these in a pitcher and serve them as the evening’s party drink. They have the perfect balance of tart and sweet. Great in the summer.

Serves 2

1 lime, cut in wedges * ½ cup sugar * Handful fresh mint, plus more for garnish * ½ cup light rum * Soda water * 2 pieces fresh sugar-cane stalks (optional)

In a martini shaker or wide glass, combine the lime, sugar, and mint. Using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, smash and crush everything together to release the oils and juice from the lime rind and mint leaves. When you have some nice juice in there and the sugar begins to dissolve, add the rum and stir it around to combine. Fill 2 glasses with ice, divide the mixture between the glasses, and top off with some