Creative Oyster Recipes

Oysters are rumored to be aphrodisiacs, so any oyster dish adds spice and conversation to a party or gathering. Instead of making one of the classic oyster dishes such as oysters rockfeller or bacon and oyster appetizers, try one of these more creative oyster recipes.

When purchasing live oysters, you'll want to only buy oysters that are tightly closed and intact. Do not buy any oysters with cracked shells. Always scrub fresh oysters with a stiff brush under cold running water before cooking. It's best to buy oysters the day you plan to prepare them, but they can be kept on ice in the refrigerator for two days. The best live oysters are available in months that have the letter "r" in them-essentially autumn and winter months.

You can also buy prepackaged oysters. If you do so, make sure the liquid the oysters are packed in is clear. Oyster aficionados will tell you it's best to buy prepackaged oysters in the spring and summer when the fresh oysters are not as good.

Oysters With Raspberry Granite

Ingredients You Will Need:
4 dozen live oysters in shells
½ cup fresh raspberries
¾ cup red wine vinegar
�" cup shallots, sliced
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch salt

You will need to make the raspberry granite the day before so it will have time to freeze completely, so allow yourself adequate time.

Puree raspberries in a food processor. Strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove the majority of the seeds.

Combine the remaining raspberry puree with the red wine vinegar, shallots, salt and pepper and mix well. Place raspberry mixture in the freezer and allow to freeze for at least eight hours, stirring once or twice during the freezing process.

Just before guests arrive, pry open the raw, live oysters with a knife and run the knife along the shells, loosening the meat from the shell. Replace the meat in each shell and arrange the oysters (on the half shell) on a bed of ice. Spoon frozen raspberry granite onto each oyster just before serving.

If you are opposed to eating raw oysters, you can first steam and chill the oysters just before guests arrive. Top chilled, barely cooked oysters with granite right before serving.

Oysters on Toast

Ingredients You Will Need:
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup minced onion
¼ cup minced red bell pepper
¼ cup minced mushrooms
½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup white wine
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 pint shucked oysters, in liquid
8 slices of good bread, cut into triangles and toasted just before serving
½ cup flaked parmesan cheese

In a skillet, melt butter and sauté onion, pepper and mushrooms over medium heat until onion is soft. Add salt, wine, cream, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce and cook on medium heat for two minutes. Add in oysters and cook until oysters are cooked through, about six to eight minutes.

Toast the bread triangles. Immediately top toast triangles with oyster mixture.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve at once.