Post Thanksgiving Oysters

After feasting for two days on turkey, stuffing, and all the trimmings, we decided on day 3 to get away to Pt. Reyes in Western Marin.

photo by Ellen Goldstein

Thanksgiving day was overcast and chilly, but two days later the weather was sunny and warm. I packed up some goat cheese and crackers plus food for our puppy Biscuit and we drove to Dan and Ellen's house in San Rafael. The four of us set out for Tomales Bay Oyster Company in Marshall, CA where we purchased 5 dozen medium size oysters. The picnic area was packed with people so we decided to take our BBQ to a nearby park.

We were thrilled to find an unoccupied barbeque. We fired up the grill and strolled down to the beach on the shore of Tomales Bay. After a few steps on the trail we spotted a much better site - a picnic table under some trees, on a small knoll overlooking the bay.

We moved to the new spot, let Biscuit off leash to romp in the sand, uncorked a nice bottle of Chardonnay and garnished the barbequed oysters with fresh squeezed lemon, a few drops of chipotle sauce and some cocktail sauce. HEAVEN!


Later in the afternoon the sun turned everything golden and shimmery; the water was sparkling and the surroundings aglow. It was jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

The next day, I prepared baked oysters with the few that survived our Walrus and the Carpenter-like assault.

I only had 6 oysters, so I used 1/3 of the ingredients here, but you'll want to make much more than 6, so here is a recipe using 2 dozen shucked oysters.

• 2 tb. butter
• 4 cloves garlic; finely chopped
• 2 tb fresh parsley; finely chopped
• 3 tb parmesan cheese; grated
• 2 tb butter; cut in pieces
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 24 shucked oysters

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a skillet, melt butter, add bread crumbs and garlic. Toss 2-3 minutes until golden. Stir in parsley and grated cheese. Put oysters on a baking sheet. Sprinkle mixture on oysters. Dot the top with butter.
Bake oysters in oven for 12 - 15 minutes until the tops are golden and the juices in the oyster shells are bubbling. Serve at once.

Monday night fish

Tonight I did something completely new for me - I fried fish. I bought some wild red snapper, cut it into pieces and marinated it in 1/4 bottle of beer (I drank the rest) mixed with one egg white. I then dipped the fish into a panko bread crumb mixture containing a little garlic powder, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and chopped parsley. Then fried it up in canola oil. Delicious, quick and inexpensive.

For a side dish, I decided to make a spinach and artichoke casserole. Since Thanksgiving is coming up in 3 days, I needed to make room in my fridge and freezer. I wanted to get rid of the package of frozen spinach from Trader Joe's, a package of sliced fresh mushrooms and the artichoke hearts. When I searched online for a spinach and artichoke casserole, all the recipes sounded so rich and heavy with lots of butter, cream cheese, sour cream and cheeses. Here's what I did:

• 1 small shallot, chopped
• 10 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. butter
• One egg
• frozen and fresh spinach
• 8 artichoke hearts
• juice of half a lemon
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a pie pan or square pirex dish.
Sautee the mushrooms and shallots in olive oil and butter. Pour boiling water over the frozen spinach and drain. Chop fresh spinach (note - this can be made with either fresh or frozen spinach, I just happened to have both) and add to the mixture. Beat one egg,mix with spinach, artichokes, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Put mixture into dish, and top with mixed bread crumbs and parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese browns a little.

My husband and daughter loved this dinner. It epitomized what I love to cook - healthy (spinach!), fast, relatively low fat and inexpensive.