Dungeness Crab Dip

Dungeness Crab Dip

Dungeness crab is one of our favorite foods and a treasured food of the Pacific Northwest. In my humble opinion, it is the best crab - better even than the prized King crab. Dungeness is found along the west coast of the United States with peak seasons during both summer and winter. Its namesake is a small fishing village on the Olympic Peninsula and Strait of Juan de Fuca here in Washington (see this). If you ever make it out to Seattle, a trip to the Olympic Peninsula is a must, and a fun stop is Dungeness Spit and the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

Now, back to the food. Dungeness crab is mild flavored, both slightly sweet and rich, and lightly salty or briny. It is at its best in preparations that allow its mild flavors to shine. This dip recipe uses just enough goat cheese and whipped cream cheese to bind the dip together and offset the crab's salty-briny characteristics with added richness, while accenting the crab's mild sweetness with aromatics, citrus, and herbs. The end result is a dip that is crabby in all the best ways!

Servings: 6 as an appetizer

Time: 15 minutes (add 20 minutes or more if picking crab)

Ingredients:

• 1 Dungeness crab, cleaned and picked, about 8oz meat
• 4 oz mild goat cheese, softened
• ¼ to ⅓ cup whipped cream cheese
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp capers, rinsed, drained, and minced
• 1 Tbsp chive, minced, plus a pinch for garnish
• ½ tsp dried dill, or 1 Tbsp fresh dill minced
• 1 cornichon, minced
• ½ Tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• a couple dashes of hot sauce (e.g., Tapatío)

Directions:

1. If needed, clean the crab and then pick the meat from the legs and body of the crab. Double check for any shell pieces.
2. Prepare dry ingredients. Mince shallot, garlic, capers, chive, dill (if fresh), and cornichon. Grate lemon for zest.
3. Add goat cheese and whipped cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Mix well to combine and create a uniform mixture.
4. Add prepared dry ingredients, lemon juice, and hot sauce to the cheese mixture. Mix to incorporate.
5. Add crab to bowl and fold into the dip, preserving some larger chunks of crab.
6. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Depending on the saltiness of the crab itself, you may want to add a little bit of salt or some more capers or cornichon. Not enough herbal notes? Add more! Not enough acid? Add another small squeeze of lemon juice!
7. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with a little minced chive.
8. Serve with crostini, crackers, or even vegetables (radish, carrot, celery, snap peas).

Prepared Ingredients

Cheese and dry ingredients mixed and ready for crab!

Serve with crostini, crackers, or mixed vegetables.

Notes:

• I rarely measure out the ingredients for this recipe and instead taste and adjust as needed. If taking this approach, I suggest starting with a light touch on the dry ingredients - you can always taste and add more as needed.
• This dip can be repurposed to make delicious crab melts. Toast some bread, spread with dip, and top with sliced avocado. Or, spread dip atop sliced bread and top with some cheese before toasting in the oven or under the broiler until cheese is bubbly and warm.

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Grilled Tamarind Prawns

Grilled Tamarind Prawns with Nam Pla Prik

One of my all time favorite food experiences occurred during a trip to Thailand a few years back. We were staying on the island of Koh Samui and spending a day wandering along some of the beaches when we came across a small restaurant with incredible fresh seafood. The standout dish was tamarind prawns - large head on prawns with a delicious sweet-sour tamarind sauce and garnish of cilantro and fried shallot.

After our trip I searched long and hard for a "tamarind prawn" recipe in an attempt to recreate the dish at home. After a couple years of searching and experimentation I developed the following recipe for delicious Grilled Tamarind Prawns. The recipe below includes insights gathered from a few recipes I found scattered across the web. Which websites and what insights came from each has been lost to time, since I apparently never bookmarked any of them! In any case, these prawns definitely remind me of the ones we had in Thailand that day on the beach.

My version of Grilled Tamarind prawns marinates and glazes the prawns with a sweet-sour tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce based sauce, accented with a little garlic and a healthy punch of ginger. Cooked over very high heat, preferably on a charcoal grill, the prawns pick up smoky flavors before a sprinkling of cilantro and fried shallot and a squeeze of lime adds crunch and brightness. Serve the prawns with Nam Pla Prik on the side to counterbalance the sour-sweet glaze with the irresistible spicy-sour of the famous Thai condiment and you will have a showstopping appetizer that is hard to beat. These prawns are the "chicken wings of the sea" - tender, saucy, and just messy enough to require finger-licking!

For those who might be hesitant to work with head on prawns, here is some advice: buy the freshest you can from a reputable supplier. If you have access to fresh spot prawns, I highly recommend them for this dish. Despite the head being attached, you don't need to go all "Anthony Bourdain" on them and suck on it if you don't want to. If the prawn heads still have you avoiding this recipe, feel free to use shell on, headless large prawns.

Servings: 4 or more as an appetizer

Time: 60 minutes

Equipment:

• wood skewers (one per shrimp)
• 9"x13" or 8"x10" dish with sides for marinating prawns
• a very hot grill, preferably charcoal

Ingredients:

• 8 large fresh prawns with heads on (U-15 to U-12 size)
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup palm sugar, grated
• ¼ cup tamarind juice (2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate plus 2 Tbsp water)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, julienned thinly
• a pinch of white pepper
• 2 Tbsp cilantro, leaves and tender stems, rough chopped
• 2 Tbsp fried shallot
• 1 lime
• Nam Pla Prik
• 1 small shallot is about 1 Tbsp shallot. I minced the shallot.
• use at least 4 Thai chiles and as many as you like

Directions:

Prepare the prawns:

1. Devein each prawn using kitchen shears and the tip of a skewer. Using shears, make a cut along the back of the prawn from just below the head down to the tail to split the shell and expose the dark colored digestive tract of the prawn. Pull or scrape the tract out using a knife, scissor tip, or the tip of a skewer.
   
   
2. Skewer each prawn from tail to head with a single wood skewer. The skewer is inserted through the back of the tail until the tip is just into the head of the prawn. This prevents the prawn from curling during cooking. Place skewered prawns into the marinating dish.
   
   
3. If using headless prawns, the tip of the skewer should just stick out the head end of the prawn's body.

Prepare the marinade and glaze:

1. Mix the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Pour half of the marinade on the prawns and set the other half aside. Rotate the prawn skewers to coat each prawn with marinade. Marinate prawns for 30 to 60 minutes, rotating prawns to recoat a couple times.
   
   
2. Make the glaze. Add a little neutral oil to a small saucepot over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger then cook until fragrant, a minute or two. Add reserved half of marinade to pot along with a pinch of ground white pepper then simmer to create a sticky glaze. The glaze should be thickened but still easily pourable.

After prawns start marinating, prepare your grill:

1. Prepare a grill for very high heat cooking. On a charcoal grill this means that you should barely (or not) be able to hold your hand a few inches over the grate above the coals for one second.
   
   
2. Exactly when you start preheating your grill will depend on what type of grill you have! The marinating time does not need to be exact, but I recommend no more than 60 minutes if possible.

Grill and garnish:

1. Grill the prawns over direct, very high heat for 30 seconds per side until just done. The prawns should just be opaque, although this will be hard to see until they are peeled. I suggest cooking one or two at a time first until you are comfortable judging when they are perfectly cooked.
   
   
2. Transfer prawns to a serving platter and pour the glaze over top. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro, fried shallot, and lime wedges on the side. Serve with Nam Pla Prik as a dipping sauce.

Enjoy! (aka, how to eat):

1. For each prawn, wiggle the skewer while pulling the prawn to slide it off. Twist the head off the body to remove, and give it a suck if desired. You can also give the prawn legs a suck as they tend to trap the glaze and garnishes.
   
   
2. Peel the shell off the prawn body, give the meat a dip into the Nam Pla Prik, a swipe through the glaze on the plate, or both and enjoy!
   
   
3. Rinse (lick your fingers) and repeat!

Top row: tamarind glaze and Nam Pla Prik Bottom row: prawns on the grill

Notes:

• 1 to 2 prawns makes a great appetizer. 3 to 4 (or more...I ate all 8) is enough for an entrée portion. Perhaps serve with sticky rice and some of your other favorite Thai dishes. 
• This recipe can easily be doubled (or beyond). Simply skewer more prawns and make more marinade.
• Overcooked prawns are tough, chewy, and kind of rubbery, and must be avoided at all costs. Thus, to get both a little charred and smoky flavor without overcooking your grill needs to be very hot.

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Mussels with Fennel-Saffron Broth

Mussels with Fennel-Saffron Broth

The other week we received fennel in our bi-weekly CSA shipment from Helsing Junction Farms. Since we don't often cook with fennel, Erin scoured the web for an appealing dinner that used this perennial herb. The recipe she eventually settled on comes from one of Mark's favorite food websites (Serious Eats) and involves one of our favorite foods (mussels)!

Over the past handful of years we have eaten mussels in a variety of preparations both in Seattle and around the world. We've enjoyed delicious Penn Cove mussels at home here in Seattle, at restaurants in the city, and at the nearby Front Street Grill in Coupeville on Whidbey Island (seriously, look them up and visit if you have a chance!). We've savored traditional Moules Frites in Brussels. We (Mark) has enjoyed smoked green-lipped mussels in New Zealand while on vacation. However, at home, we almost always prepare them in the same way we prepare clams.

This fennel-saffron mussels recipe was a refreshing change to our usual preparation of clams and mussels. The broth is full-flavored and semi-rich without being too heavy so that you can eat large quantities of these mussels without feeling overwhelmed as you might by a cream-based broth. It also pleasantly incorporates the fennel flavors with a hint of spice and a touch of herb to create a dish that you won't be able to stop eating. In particular, this preparation mellows out the licorice/anise flavor of raw fennel to create an extremely well-balanced dish that you can keep on standby as an impressive main requiring relatively minimal effort.

Original recipe: J. Kenji López-Alt at Serious Eats

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2-4 ounces hard dry fennel salami, diced
• 1 small bulb fennel, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 4 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• pinch of saffron
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 (2-inch) piece orange zest, white pith removed
• ½ cup crushed tomatoes (optionally pureed)
• 2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de-bearded before cooking
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 loaf rustic bread, sliced, buttered or oiled, and well toasted

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium-high eat until hot. Add salami and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add fennel, onion, and garlic then reduce heat to medium, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Add saffron and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine, orange zest, and tomatoes, increase to high heat and bring to a boil.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Add mussels, stir, cover, and cook, shaking pan every 30-60 seconds. As soon as all mussels have opened, remove the mussels from the pot using tongs and transfer to a bowl then cover with a lid or a plate.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Remove the pot from heat and whisk in the parsley, butter, and lemon juice. Return the mussels to the pot stir to combine, then transfer to a warm serving bowl or serve directly into warmed bowls, ladling broth and vegetables from the pot over mussels. Serve with toasted bread.
   
   

   

   Mussels with Fennel-Saffron Broth
   
   

Notes:

• Make sure you thoroughly rinse and de-beard the mussels immediately before cooking. De-bearding the mussels will kill the mussels eventually and mussels should be alive when you cook them, so avoid doing this too far in advance. See this article on Serious Eats for more information.
• When de-bearding mussels, use half a piece of paper towel to grab and grip the beard. This makes it much easier to grasp the beard compared to using your bare hands, and if you are purchasing paper towels that can be composted then you can toss them into the compost when done.
• Go light on the pepper flakes the first time (no more than 1/8 teaspoon) to avoid an overly spicy dish. The flavors in the dish pair nicely with a bit of heat, so increase the amount of red pepper flakes to match your tastes, but note that a little goes a long way.
• The original recipe calls for pastis or Pernod instead of dry white wine. We are not huge fans of the licorice/anise flavors so we opted for a dry white wine. Dry vermouth should also work well as a substitute.
• Slice the bread about 1" thick and then toast or broil so the outer surface is well toasted while the inside is warm and soft.

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Enchiladas (chicken, shrimp, or vegetarian)

Enchiladas!

Enchiladas are an easy and delicious dinner that comes together quickly enough to enjoy on a weeknight. These particular enchiladas are filled with a mix of onion, pepper, corn, black beans, and an optional protein of your choice. The seasoning mix of cumin, marjoram, and chipotle powder provides notes of warm spice, herb, and smoked pepper to create a full-flavored filling that won't disappoint!

This recipe makes 6 enchiladas, but can easily be doubled to serve a larger group or to make extras for leftovers. Enchiladas make excellent leftovers for lunch or dinner. A typical serving is one enchilada, as these are fairly large, so a pan of 6 enchiladas is enough for three meals for the two of us.

Serves: 6

Time: about 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ red bell pepper, diced (about ½ cup)
• ½ medium yellow onion (about ½ cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 x 15 ounce can black beans, drained
• 1 x 4 ounce green chilis
• ½ pound chicken or shrimp, cooked and cut into ¼"-½" pieces (about 1 cup total)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp marjoram
• ½ tsp chipotle powder
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro (leaves and thin stems)
• 1 x 16-19 ounce can green enchilada sauce
• 8 ounce bag shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 6 tortillas

Directions

Sauté pepper, onion, and garlic (we added some hatch chili pepper this time)

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté onions, bell pepper, and garlic for 3-5 minutes, until fragrant and vegetables are beginning to soften.
2. Add corn, drained beans, and green chili and sauté for another 2 minutes.
   
   

   

   Enchilada filling, removed from heat and ready to stir in cilantro.

   
   
3. Add chicken or shrimp, cumin, marjoram, and chipotle powder, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for another minute or two until combined and warmed through. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
4. Grease a 9"x13" glass pan so enchiladas will not stick to pan.
   
   
   

   

   Filled, rolled, and topped enchiladas ready for the oven

   
   
5. Roll enchiladas: take a tortilla and spread a small sprinkle of cheese down the center then fill with one-sixth of the enchilada filling. Roll tortilla then place in greased pan seam side down. Repeat until pan is filled (a standard pan will fit six enchiladas perfectly).
6. Drizzle enchilada sauce over the enchiladas then top with remaining cheese (or as much as desired).
7. Bake enchiladas in a 350℉ oven for 20 minutes. Cheese should be fully melted and gooey. After baking, remove from oven and let sit to cool slightly before serving.
8. Serve with chopped cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, and hot sauce.

Notes

• We love garlic and typically use 4 or 5 cloves. This gives the dish a touch more garlic kick, but by no means makes it overpowering.
• Chili pepper and paprika can both be added to the dish if desired. Cayenne pepper could also be added to give the filling a bit more kick, but add sparingly at first!
• Try adding a little poblano or hatch chili pepper to the dish for an additional twist. We recommend keeping at least ¼ cup of regular bell pepper in the mix for its natural sweetness to balance the flavors of other chili peppers.

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Steamed Manila Clams

Steamers! A favorite of seafood lovers from around the country and the world, steamed clams can be found in many different forms. Popular variations range from a classic butter and garlic steamer to more exotic variations with chorizo or sausages, curries, or even beer broths. There are also regional variations, for example the steamers of the Northeast, commonly using "long-neck clams," are often simply prepared and served with butter for dipping. However they are prepared, steamed clams make an excellent, shareable meal that comes together surprisingly quickly.

The recipe in this post is the version that I (Mark) grew up eating with my family in the Pacific Northwest. I have heard rumors that it may have originated from a food magazine, the most likely suspect being Cooking Light, but I have never confirmed this. In any case, the recipe has surely undergone transformations over the more than twenty years, and this version is the closest to "ground truth" to the steamers I make today.

Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2 as a main course

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Manila clams
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• ⅓ cup grated carrot
• ¼ cup celery (about 1 stick), halved lengthwise and sliced thin
• ⅓ cup leek, white and light green parts, halved lengthwise, and sliced thin
• ½ lemon, sliced into 1/8" thick rings, seeded
• pinch of crushed red pepper (maybe 1/8 tsp)
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ⅓-½ cup dry white wine

Directions

Washed Manila clams

1. About 20 minutes prior to cooking, rinse clams well in cold water to remove dirt and sand, primarily from the exterior (see note below about buying clams), by covering with water and then agitating clams together with your hands. Remove clams to a colander by scooping the clams out of the water. Avoid pouring clams and water through the colander, which results in dirt and grit being poured over the clams. Repeat rinsing until clams stop shedding dirt and grit.
2. Heat butter and oil over medium heat in a stock pot.
   
   

   

   Sautéed garlic, carrot, celery, and leek 

   
   
3. Add garlic, carrot, celery, and leek. Sauté until fragrant and vegetables are softened, but not browning, about 3-5 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent browning.
   
   

   

   After adding lemon, thyme, red pepper, oregano, and wine

   
   
4. Gather lemon rings in one hand and squeeze juice into pot, then drop in squeezed rings. (The ideal squeeze is a "moderate" squeeze. You want some lemon juice, but you don't want to completely destroy the lemon rings). Add red pepper, thyme, oregano, and white wine. Stir well to incorporate.
   
   
   

   

   After adding clams and stirring

   
   
5. Immediately add clams, stir well to mix clams among vegetables, and cover pot with lid. Reduce heat to slightly below medium and steam for around 5 minutes.
6. After 5 minutes, open lid and stir clams well to bring the bottom clams to the top. If a clam is left on the bottom for the entire cook it will have a harder time opening due to the weight of clams above it. Stirring half way through helps all clams open more evenly in time.
7. Steam for about 3 more minutes. Clams should all be open. Discard stubborn clams that didn't open; these were most likely dead and should not be eaten.
   
   

   

   Steamed clams!

   
   
8. Serve clams in bowls, ladling steaming broth over clams in the bowl. Enjoy with good quality, medium-crusty bread.

Notes

• This is one of a small number of recipes I have encountered where every ingredient seems to make a difference. In particular, don't omit the celery! It seems like such a small quantity wouldn't matter, but the few times I didn't include it the final flavor seemed to be "missing something."
• 2 pounds of clams will feed two adults. The rule of thumb for Manila clams is 1 pound per person for a main course.
• The exact amounts of garlic, leek, carrot, and celery can all be adjusted. In fact, I don't think I have ever made this dish exactly the same twice! I eyeball all of the measurements, so consider these more like guidelines and make small adjustments as desired.
• Dry vermouth makes a great substitute for white wine. A standard in our house is Dolin Vermouth de Chambery Dry. In a pinch, water or vegetable stock would likely do the trick to (no promises on the final flavor though!).
• Leek can be substituted (wholly or partially) with shallot or yellow onion. Leek is our preferred flavor profile, although we occasionally use a little bit of shallot in addition to or instead of a small amount of the leek.
• Butter and oil ratio can be adjusted as desired, but total amount should be 3 Tbsp. We suggest at least ½ Tbsp of butter, and our preferred ratio is 2:1 as given in the recipe.
• When serving, you can pick out the lemon rings and thyme sprigs so the eaters don't need to worry about them. Alternatively, leave them in the bowls for a more "rustic" look.
• Buy clams from a responsible and sustainable seafood shop. Not only will the clams be higher quality, clams from reputable vendors tend to have less grit and sand in them due to proper storage. I prefer shops that keep the clams in properly setup water tanks, which allow the clams to filter out sand and grit prior to you buying them!
• For short term, same day storage, store clams in a bowl in the refrigerator, covered with a damp towel. Do not keep clams sealed in a plastic bag (as they often are packaged at the store) otherwise the clams will suffocate and die before cooking. Yes, clams are alive when you buy them!

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Oysters with Brown Sugar-Chipotle Butter

Oysters with Brown Sugar-Chipotle-Bourbon Butter

Oysters! Bourbon! Chipotle! Butter! Garlic! What's not to love?

The Pacific Northwest has a bounty of delicious seafood that is readily available. A perennial favorite among seafood lovers are the oysters found throughout the bays and tidal waters of the greater Puget Sound area. Oysters range from the small and delicate Olympias, to the plump Kumamoto, and the ruffle-shelled Pacific. For this recipe, search out medium or medium-small sized oysters such as smaller Pacific oysters, as the oysters release juice and shrink in size when grilled or broiled.

Fresh Pacific oysters from Johnson & Gunstone Shellfish

Over the past 6 months or so we have participated in a Community Supported Shellfish (CSS) program from Johnson & Gunstone Shellfish. Similar to a CSA (Community Support Agriculture), a CSS program provides regular deliveries of fresh shellfish to the subscriber directly from the producer. The particular CSS we belong to supplies fresh Manila clams (stay tuned for a recipe!) and premium Pacific oysters. Overall, we have been extremely pleased with the J&G CSS both in terms of price and, more importantly, quality.

Another favorite shellfish company of ours is Hama Hama, a 5th generation family-run oyster farm located on the waters of Hood Canal. The folks at Hama Hama not only produce exceptional oysters, they very well may have perfected the grilled oyster. Lucky for us, they also shared their outstanding recipe for grilled oysters, or "Grillers" as they are know at the Hama Hama Oyster Saloon, with Bon Appetit a few years back.

This post is our reproduction of Hama Hama Grillers using J&G Shellfish Pacific oysters. We typically broil the oysters in the oven by placing them on a baking sheet with small squares of foil under each oyster to hold them level.

These oysters make a fantastic appetizer or afternoon snack. Enjoy them with chunks of fresh bread for dipping in the grilling juices and brown sugar-chipotle-bourbon butter. We often have them as an appetizer before scarfing down a couple pounds of steamed clams; our typical J&G CSS order is a dozen Pacific oysters and two pounds Manila clams.

Ingredients

Ingredients!

• one dozen Pacific oysters (or other medium sized), freshly shucked, on the half shell, with liquor
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ of one canned chipotle chile in adobo, finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, or softened/melted in microwave
• 1 ½ teaspoons bourbon
• 1 ½ teaspoons light brown sugar
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Estimated time: 5 minutes prep, oyster shucking (time may vary), 10 minutes cooking plus cooling

1. Preheat the oven to 500° F. Before saucing the oysters, switch oven to broil (high) and let it preheat for a minute or two before broiling the oysters.
   
   

   

   Brown Sugar-Chipotle-Bourbon Butter
   

   
   
2. Mix garlic, chipotle chile, bourbon, and brown sugar in a small bowl until well mixed (smooth if butter is not melted). Season lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper.
   
   

   

   Oysters on foil cups

   
   
3. Shuck oysters and arrange on a baking sheet, using a small square of aluminum foil under each to create a "cup" that supports the oyster and holds it level.
4. Spoon about ½ teaspoon of the butter mixture onto each oyster.
5. Broil oysters until butter is melted, sugar begins to caramelize, and light charring appears on the lips of the shells, about 3 to 6 minutes.
   
   

   

   Broiled Oysters - hot!

   
   
6. Enjoy! Make sure to let the oysters cool first, as they liquid will be boiling hot when they come out of the oven. Fresh bread or baguette is a great addition for soaking up any remaining juices and sauce.

Notes

• Careful! Oysters and sauce will be boiling hot after cooking. Let cool slightly before enjoying.
• The original recipe calls for two dozen oysters. We enjoy our oysters generously sauced, so we often use most of a single batch of sauce for a single dozen oysters.
• Oysters release liquid during cooking so we usually pour off some of the oyster liquid as we shuck them.
• Finished oysters will have released liquid and shrunk in size, losing around a third or half of their body volume.
• Place a small square of foil beneath each oyster, place the oyster on top and hold level, then scrunch the foil up around the sides to create a "cup" of foil to support each oyster on the baking sheet. This keeps the oysters level while cooking to hold the juices and sauce in the oyster shell. 
• The oyster juices poured off during shucking could be saved to for another use (seafood broth? a soup?)

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