Shuckin' on the Sea Shore

Something I didn't mention the other day when I wrote about our neighborhood fish fry was that Dar and I went together with another couple, Tim & Giselle (also from Wisconsin) to buy and prepare oysters as our contribution to the feast. This involved procuring a 105 lb. bag of raw oysters in the shell for $30 from a local fish monger. Then, on Sunday, the day before the event, we had a shuckin' party where we used various implements to pry open the shells and harvest the oysters inside. This is not an easy job, especially when we didn't have the proper implement known as a shuckin' knife -- something we will have next time. It took a couple hours for us to work through the whole 105 lbs. with two of us prying open the shells and the other two separating oysters from shells. When finished we had about a gallon -- maybe 5 or 6 lbs. of oysters -- and 100 lbs of empty shells. It was an experience, one more thing I can cross of my "bucket list".

We did hold back about 20 un-shucked oysters and experimented with preparing them on a grill. The shells pop open by themselves when put on the coals. After a few minutes of cooking we opened the shells enough to top each oyster with various contiments... parmesan cheese, garlic powder, cajun seasonings, tobasco sauce.... and then reclosed for a few more minutes to allow the heat to meld condiments and oyster together. Then simply open and eat... fantastico!

For the fish fry the oysters were breaded and deep fried. And they were a hit among those that partake in this delicacy. But we only went through about half of them on Monday, so the rest were done up and consumed at happy hour last night, Wednesday.

Wondering what all this fried food is doing to my weight...
Thom