Oysters Rockefeller

My husband is currently in Virginia Beach, VA, and he recently paid a visit to the Seaside Raw Bar. It's a little whole in the wall, yet their menu is respectable and the food delicious--the cocktail choices are not bad either. Matt had the oysters rockerfeller for the first time and, as he told me, "they were out of this world." Small oysters, such as P.E.I. oysters is a good choice for the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup firmly packed watercress sprigs (2 oz before discarding coarse stems), finely chopped
• 1 1/3 cups firmly packed baby spinach (1 1/3 oz), finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped scallion greens
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons minced celery
• 3 tablespoons coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a day-old baguette)
• 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon Pernod or other anise-flavored liquor
• Pinch of cayenne
• 3 bacon slices
• About 10 cups kosher salt for baking and serving (3 lb)
• 20 small oysters on the half shell, oysters picked over for shell fragments and shells scrubbed well

DIRECTIONS

PreparationToss together watercress, spinach, scallion greens, parsley, celery, and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon 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 Pernod, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste, then transfer mixture to a bowl and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 hour.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450°F.

While watercress 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 watercress mixture evenly over oysters, then top with bacon and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons bread crumbs. 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 5 cups), on a platter.

Recipe courtesy of Epicurious.

Food Diary: New Jersey and Philadelphia

I don't know who coined the word, "foodie," but whoever did was genius. The first time I heard that term used in a sentence, I was intrigued. I wondered, am I a foodie?

I remembered when I was about 8 or 9 years old and my Pop's and Elaine had us look at the humongous Sears catalog and circle the toys or clothes we wanted for Christmas. And I always, always circled the Easy Bake Oven and I never got one. Come to think of it, I don't think any of us ever got anything we circled from that damn catalog. Was I a foodie then? I remember I would dream of getting that Easy Bake Oven and make the chocolate cake that the girl made in the commercial (if you're as old as me, you know what I'm talking about). Of course, my second pick from the catalog was the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine. And I never got that one either!

Fast forward to the late 90's when I moved to Boston and that is when I heard the word, foodie. Someone mentioned it to me because I was describing how incredible the sweet potatoes fries at Bartley's Burger Cottage were. Then I went on to describe the steak salad at the now defunct Grafton Street Cafe on Mass Ave. Perhaps, yes, I think I was, and am, a foodie. But I realized that I really was one when my friends from college and I formed a cooking club, and the rest, as they say, is history.

So why am I telling you this? Just last week I traveled over 3000 miles to be with my husband (in New Jersey, no less!) and what did we do? We found remote wineries in New Jersey...YES, New Jersey, and bought more wine than we needed; we drove to Hershey, PA to get our chocolate fix, then moseyed on over to Philadelphia just to have a Philly steak cheese at Pat's, the Kind of Steaks; and we found probably one of the best Italian restaurants in Freehold, NJ...the town The Boss is from. So, yes, I totally I am a foodie (and so is my husband), and I think many of us are in one way or another, although not many are as crazy as us and drive to Philly just to eat and authentic cheese steak wit cheese whiz...but then again, if you're reading this, you probably are. Happy eating!

Remembering Ireland

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was in Ireland with my husband and parents. It was definitely a journey I’ll never forget. Every year when St. Patrick’s Day comes around, I get very nostalgic for the beautiful Irish landscapes, the incredible Irish people and excellent Irish cuisine. Oh, and I don’t want to forget the excellent Guinness Beer—another Irish import—and whiskey.

I think my sister-in-law and I may do something special for St. Patrick’s Day today. We’ve both been craving corned beef and potatoes…and don’t forget Irish coffees! Or we may go to a party…but believe me, whatever we do will not compare to actually being in Ireland. It is truly one majestic gem.

One of my favourite things about our trip to Ireland was all the incredible food we had. I don’t think we ever had anything bad there. In recent years, fish is becoming very popular in Ireland and all their smoked fishes are excellent. But what can I say about the traditional Irish breakfast…probably the best breakfast in the world. I think every morning we had a fried egg, rashers, sausages, boxty and white or black pudding.

I was incredibly surprised when we made our way to Galway and I had what had to be the best mussels ever. If you ever find yourself in Galway, you must go to the Druid Lane restaurant and try their fresh Galway Bay Mussels. Un-freaking-believable.

And, of course, no trip to Ireland is complete without making a pilgrimage to the Guinness brewery in Dublin. As you all know, I’m not a beer drinker, but I have to say that the Guinness I had in Ireland was probably the best ever! So, whatever you decide to do for St. Patrick’s Day, just be safe, keep it authentic and for crissakes don’t order any Irish car bombs—that’s the most anti-Irish drink ever!