Rainy Day Baked Oysters

On Sunday Ryan and I were super excited about heading out to Hog Island for oysters with some friends. It's always so much fun to get together over the barbecue with friends and eat the freshest, most delicious oysters the churning waters of the Pacific can provide fresh out of the shell. Unfortunately for us, the weather didn't cooperate and we found our party rained out. We were so excited about the oysters though that we decided we weren't going to let a little rain stand in our way. We bundled up, headed down to the Ferry Building and got a dozen fresh oysters (for $1 each) from Ferry Plaza Seafood. While we were there we also grabbed some great produce from the Farm Fresh to You booth, which was especially fun since so much of it is the same produce we get in our boxes.

Shucking and baking oysters is hard work, but they're so delicious it's totally worth it. We're used to the oysters popping open a little on the barbecue which makes them easier to shuck, and raw those suckers really had a good hold on their shells. I've included a picture of Ryan working on one. It's a good thing he's so strong because it took me about 30 seconds before I gave up and handed the task over to him.

Left: Raw oysters.
Right: The finished product!










Italian Style Baked Oysters
12 oysters, scrubbed and shucked
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp chopped green onion
2 tbsp chopped baby spinach
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup italian style bread crumbs
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 stick butter melted
juice of 1 lemon
rock salt

Combine all the dry ingredients (basil through bacon) in a small bowl and set aside. Fill a 9x12 Pyrex baking dish 1" deep with rock salt and nestle the raw oysters into the salt bed. Cover each oyster with the dry ingredients. Melt the butter in the microwave, add the lemon juice and stir. Pour 1/12 of the butter mixture over each oyster. Bake for 10 minutes in a 450 degree oven. Yum!

To complete our feast we cut up some broccoli, brussel sprouts, crusty bread and a red and green apple and dipped them in a deliciously easy pre-made cheese fondue from Trader Joes. It was too much food, but it sure was tasty!