What's for Apps? Oysters Rockefeller!

It was our friend Greg's birthday on Sunday, and to celebrate he brought over oysters to our place and made a batch of Oysters Rockefeller (I know...he was doing the cooking on his birthday!) and also steamed a couple of dozen.  It is oyster season, and we are spoiled living here at the beach, because we get great oysters from nearby Stump Sound.  I always think of oysters as kind of a pain to make, though, because of the shucking.  But once you get that down (and it is a bit of a process), they rest is easy!  Maybe you can sweet talk your local oyster seller to shuck 'em for you.  That would be the best!  But, regardless of how you get them shucked, try this recipe...it's really good!!  Enjoy!

Oysters Rockefeller
Adapted from Epicurious.com
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

• 2 cups firmly packed baby spinach, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons minced celery
• 1/4 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a day-old baguette)
• 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Pinch of cayenne
• 5 bacon slices
• 1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
• About 5-8 cups kosher or rock salt for baking and serving
• 20 oysters on the half shell, oysters picked over for shell fragments and shells scrubbed well

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss together spinach, garlic, scallion, parsley, celery, and 2 tablespoons bread crumbs in a bowl. 


Melt butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, then add watercress mixture and cook, stirring, until spinach is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste, then transfer mixture to a bowl and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 hour.

While spinach mixture chills, cook bacon in cleaned skillet over moderate heat, turning, until crisp, then drain on paper towels and finely crumble.

Spread 5 cups kosher salt in a large shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and nestle oysters (in shells) in it. Spoon spinach mixture evenly over oysters, then top with bacon and sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake oysters until edges of oysters begin to curl and bread crumbs are golden, about 10 minutes. Serve warm oysters in shells, nestled in kosher salt (about 3 cups), on a platter.  Enjoy!

What's for Apps? Greek Seven Layer Dip!

In our family, the day after Thanksgiving is usually just kind of a do-your-own-thing day when it comes to food.  There is a lot of leftover action and kind of constant grazing.  Although, after the gluttony of Thanksgiving Day, I was kind of wanting a snack that was healthy.  This is a take on the ever-loved Mexican Seven Layer Dip, but it hails from the Aegean, rather than the Gulf of Mexico. It is easy, REALLY good, and healthy. What more can you ask for?  Although beware, it is so good, you might just eat the whole thing yourself.  Take this to your next party and it'll have everyone screaming OPA!  Enjoy!

Greek Seven Layer Dip
Serves 4-6
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1 English cucumber (the long thin ones that come in plastic wrap)
1 5-oz container fat free Greek yogurt (I like Fage)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, pressed
salt and pepper to taste
1 10-oz container hummus (I LOVE the Sabra brand...I use either garlic or plain)
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
pita chips

To make tzadziki: cut cucumber in half.  Peel one half.  Grate the half over a doubled paper towel.  Squeeze out as much water as you can.  In a small bowl, add Greek yogurt.  Mix in grated cucumber, lemon juice, pressed garlic and salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate (you can do this ahead of time).

In a serving dish, add hummus and spread evenly on bottom.  Add tzadziki and spread evenly.  Cut the remaining half of the cucumber in a small dice and add on top.  Add diced tomato, onion and olives. Sprinkly feta over top and serve with pita chips.  Mmmmmm.

What's for Apps? Shrimp Summer Rolls!

Tonight we went to a cookout down on the Intracoastal at our friends Austin and Jenny's Club's dock. It was so fun and the breeze down on the water almost made us forget it was 100 degrees out!  I had to bring an app, and I wanted something that could be served at room temp and that was refreshing in the oppressive heat.  These came to mind.  I hadn't made them in a long time, but thought they were just the thing.  Now, these can be a little time consuming to do, but they are fun, and I suggest making them with a friend while drinking a glass (or two) of wine (advice I should have given myself before I started these). But in the end they are worth it because they are beautiful, delicious and seriously healthy.  Give them a try...they'll be the hit of the party!

Shrimp Summer Rolls
Makes 10 large rolls

• 1 lb 30 count shrimp
• 1/2 pkg vermicelli rice noodles (found in Asian aisle), soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and drained.
• 1 package Vietnamese rice paper (you can find these at the Asian market or sometimes in the Asian aisle of the supermarket--do NOT use egg roll wrappers...they are not the same thing!)
• 5 crab sticks, sliced in half lengthwise
• 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and julienned
• 1 handful pre-shredded carrots
• 1 pkg enoki mushrooms (optional)
• 1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
• 1 bunch mint, leaves stripped and roughly chopped.
• 1 bunch cilantro, leaves stripped
• sweet chili sauce (store bought--in the Asian aisle)
• ginger soy sauce (recipe below)

Fill medium pot with water, bring to a boil.  Salt water and add shrimp.  Cook for 2 minutes, or until pink and firm.  With a slotted spoon, remove shrimp into a colander and rinse.  Slice shrimp in half. Turn off heat on burner and add noodles.  Let soak 10 minutes until they become soft.  Drain and rinse.  Set aside.

Line up all ingredients.  Fill shallow plate with warm to hot water. Cover another plate with a damp paper towel.  Dip rice paper in warm water and let sit for 10-20 seconds.  Make sure all areas are under water.  When soft (don't let sit too long--you don't want it soggy) carefully pick up rice paper and place on damp paper towel (if it gets wrinkled, don't panic! Just carefully smooth it out).  In the center of the rice paper, put 5 shrimp across, uncut side down.  Then layer all ingredients on top.  Fold side closest to you up over ingredients.  Fold sides in (like a burrito) and then tightly roll up until fully sealed.  Repeat with remaining rice papers and ingredients.  Do not stack the rolls, as they are very sticky! Slice in half and serve with dipping sauces.  Enjoy!

Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce
Add 2 TBSP soy sauce and 2 TBSP reduced sodium soy sauce (or you can do all one or the other) to a small bowl.  Add 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil. Grate peeled ginger into the sauce (maybe 1/4 tsp).  Grate 1/2 clove garlic into the sauce.  Add 1/2 tsp sesame seeds. Whisk together and let sit to allow flavors to come together.

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What's for Apps? Lobster Roll Crostini!

We had a great July 4th weekend...lots of friends, fun, family and even more FOOD!  Yesterday we had a cookout with our Wilmington crew, and as usual, we had sooo much food.  Everything was delicious.  We had shrimp tempura rolls, sausage and cheese stuffed jalapenos, homemade pimento cheese, tomato and feta bruschetta and buffalo chicken dip.  And that was just the appetizers!  My addition to the spread was a "lobster roll" crostini.  I've been up to the Northeast and had their famous lobster rolls before...big pieces of lobster tossed with mayo and celery and spices, then put on a buttered roll.  I wanted to make an appetizer version of this so I thought crostini would be perfect.  I buttered and grilled the baguette slices, so they had a little bit of a smoky flavor.  It was really easy to make and they turned out great...I just wish I had made more!  But with all the other awesome food...we definitely did NOT go hungry.  Overall it was a great weekend and it made me even happier than usual to live in this great country.  Happy 4th everyone!

Lobster Roll Crostini
Makes ~20 Crostini

• 6 medium lobster tails
•  kosher salt
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped celery leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 baguette, sliced on the bias into 1/2" slices
• 1/4 stick butter, melted

In a large pot of boiling water, add the lobster tails and salt generously.  Cook for 8 minutes until they turn red and tails curl.  Remove from water and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine the mayo, celery, onion, celery leaves and celery salt.  Once lobster cools, remove meat from shells and coarsely chop.  Add to mayo mixture. Refrigerate for several hours.

Butter one side of baguette slices.  On low heat, place bread, butter side down and grill until golden (and grill marks appear on bread).  Flip and keep on heat briefly.  Remove to platter and top with lobster mixture.  Add more celery leaves for garnish, if desired.  Enjoy!

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