John D. Rockefeller once told a fancy New Orleans chef that his oysters weren't
as good as the oysters cooked at the duck camp in White Lake. So the New Orleans
chef, not about to be outdone by a little cajun grandma, invented this dish.
(Not one word of the preceding introduction is true, because I just made it up.
But as Uncle Hub said in 'Secondhand Lions', "Sometimes the things that may or
may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most." I doubt
Uncle Hub was talking about cooking, but it is a great story, and you now stand
a reasonable chance of finding this recipe when you google "oysters rockefeller
secondhand lions".)
Moss Island Oyster Farm, has delicious oysters.
Most recipes for Oysters Rockefeller mention Pernod. A New Orleans chef
may have access to Pernod, but lesser mortals use fresh Tarragon, and it won't
drive you crazy.
The recipe:
2 dozen oysters
6 green onions
2 tablespoons parsley
10 tarragon leaves
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1.5 sticks of butter
salt
black pepper
Tabasco sauce
Finely chop up all of the herbs and mix them with the butter. Season with salt
and pepper, then add 1 drop of Tabasco for each oyster. Finally, mix in the
bread crumbs.
Preheat your oven to about 350 degrees.
Shuck the oysters, then arrange the lower shells onto a cookie sheet. Some
people set them in a bed of rock salt. Put an oyster back onto each shell, then
top with the green Rockefeller sauce.
Put the sheet of oysters in your hot oven, then switch the oven to broil. Take
the oysters out when the edges brown and curl.
Back to: http://richard.pellessier.com/recipes
Last Updated on 08/21/05
By Richard Pellessier