LECTURE ELEVENTH.
OYSTERS.
We begin our lecture this morning with roast oysters, Mobile style. All oysters, when cooked in any way, should be first put in a colander and the juice allowed to drain off, then strain the juice. Always take each oyster in the hand and carefully remove all fragments of shell from the gills. The shells of oysters are dangerous to swallow, and serious illness is often the result. Hold the oyster by the hard part, removing pieces of shell with the finger. Then wipe the oyster with a wet towel. Keep the most perfect specimens for broiling, as the more imperfect ones will do sufficiently well for soups or stews. For roasting oysters in the Mobile style, have as many deep oyster shells as you intend to have oysters, scrubbed very clean; put the shells in a dripping pan and place them in the oven, until they become so hot as to melt butter when put into them. When quite hot take the shells out of the oven and put a small piece of butter and a very little pepper in each shell. If the oysters are large lay one in each shell, if they are small put two or three in each shell and put them back in the oven directly. By the time the edges of the oysters curl they will be done. Oysters when heated through are done. Do not put any salt on them. Serve them on the shells. As they are served in Mobile, a large shell is used, laid on a small charcoal furnace, putting the shell on top of the furnace to get very hot; the furnace is brought to the table and the oysters opened and dropped into the hot shell and turned once. The regulation way of roasting oysters is to thoroughly wash the outside of the shell and lay them on the fire with the large end down. As soon as the oysters open serve them.
To use the liquor, take a pint of the oyster liquor after it has been strained; sift a heaping cupful of flour; mix with it a level teaspoonful of salt and a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. Have the griddle as hot as you would for pancakes. Very quickly stir into the flour enough of the oyster liquor to make a batter, and fry just as any pancake; serve hot with butter.
Next take a recipe for oyster fritters. Have the frying kettle half full of fat, as you would for doughnuts. Strain the oysters and remove all bits of shell. In the meantime the lard should be heating on the back of the stove. Cut the oysters slightly. For a pint of oysters use a pint of flour, sifted, and mixed with a level teaspoonful of salt. Put the flour in a mixing bowl with the yolk of one egg, a tablespoonful of salad oil, and a pinch of pepper. Use enough of the oyster liquor to make a batter thick enough to drop from the spoon. Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth. Mix the oysters and the white of egg lightly with the batter, and as soon as it is mixed drop by the large spoonful into the hot lard. As soon as brown take the fritters out and lay them for a moment on brown paper to drain the grease off. In order to keep them hot while you are frying the rest lay the paper on a dripping pan and set it in the oven.
Take next a recipe for oyster soup, thickened with cracker dust. For a quart of oysters, remove all bits of shell, as usual, and mix the oyster liquor with enough to make a quart. Take one tablespoonful of butter, a very little white pepper, if you have it, two tablespoonfuls of cracker dust finely powdered. As I told you the other day, the cracker dust which you buy at the cracker factories is the nicest. Stir all together over the fire, and when it comes to a boil put in the oysters, with a level teaspoonful of salt. Stir till the edges of the oysters curl; then serve. To thicken with flour, stir one tablespoonful of flour and one of butter together over the fire. Season with pepper, and put in one quart of liquor and milk.
For plain broiled oysters, prepare the oysters as above directed and lay them on a towel. Take a double-wire broiler and butter it thickly, taking care to have the fire hot. Season the oysters lightly with pepper and but very little, if any, salt. Put the oysters between the broiler, and broil them; serve them on toast.
For breaded oysters, prepare as before, and dip the oysters in melted butter seasoned with pepper and salt, and roll them in cracker crumbs. Put them on the gridiron and broil them until they are light brown.