1 boston lettuce, wash, dried
1/2 lb fresh spinach, wash, dried
1 cup scallion, minced
2 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs, fine
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/4 cup celery, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup unsalted butter
2 tbsp pernod
1 tbsp anchovy paste
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
12 slices lean bacon
36 large oysters in shells
1 coarse salt for platters
1 lemon wedges
Directions
Shuck oysters, reserving liquor and bottom shells. Scrub and dry
shells. In a bowl, combine lettuce, spinach, scallion, 1/2 cup bread
crumbs, parsley, celery, and garlic. In a skillet, met butter over
moderate heat and cook the spinach mixture, stirring for 1-2 minutes,
or until greens are wilted. Stir in the Pernod, anchovy paste,
cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. Chill the mixture, covered,
for 1 hour. In another skillet, cook bacon over moderate heat until
crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain, and then crumble it.
Arrange one oyster in each of the reserved shells and moisten each
with some of the reserved liquor. Spread half the spinach mixture by
heaping tablespoons onto the oysters. Sprinkle bacon over each
oyster. Top the bacon with remaining spinach mixture and sprinkle
each with 1 Tbsp of remaining bread crumbs. Arrange oysters on an
oven proof platters filled with coarse salt. Bake in the middle of a
preheated 450øF oven for 18 minutes or until bread crumbs are well
browned. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon wedges and serve. a
1976 Gourmet Mag. favorite
Servings: 36 servings
Oysters Rockefeller - Gourmet Magazine Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Fish; Gourmet; Seafood
The History of Recipes
Written cooking instructions as an idea can be tracked way back into ancient history, in truth as far as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and potentially, even further back. In practice though, in the main part, these early records were just very simple pictorial instructions for food preparation.
In fact, the oldest recipe discovered, according to food historians are a few tablets in Sumerian which describe the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Progressing into The time of the roman empire 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a few scripts detailing recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. In his publication, he tells us how the meals were divided into starters, main meal and dessert, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Additionally, he recounts how the Roman chefs used many different spices and herbs, including some that we all recognise for example basil, mint and parsley. Later on, there were two recipe books dating from the 14th Century ; a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, they have no connection with the curry that is served today, but instead recipes for the types of food eaten by the rich. Later on in the 1400s, people returning from the crusades brought us many foods, spices and herbs from the holy lands, such as rosemary and coriander. The introduction of these new tastes was responsible for an explosion in publications on food, some of which are kept safe in private libraries. For the centuries that followed, the rich and powerful families of Wesstern Europe competed to serve up the best banquets, and consequentially cooks and their recipe collections could command a high salary. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 19th century that fine cookery and recipe publications reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to collating, testing, and recording recipes of the day. By the time we get to the 20th century, cookery publications are in great demand, due to better eduction, more free time and having more money to spend. The introduction of the TV brings us TV cookery programs and the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the internet revolution, allowing us all to search through thousands of recipes like those on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Oysters Rockefeller Gourmet Magazine recipe.
