Oysters Rockefeller – Cleaning, Shucking and the Recipe

The Best Oysters are Rockefeller

Oysters Rockefeller are a great way to kick off any celebration. New Orleans Mardi Gras is certainly no exception. And as you may or may not know, the original recipe was developed in the French Quarter at local restaurant called Antoine’s back in the 1800’s. This recipe has since gone platinum. And you as you can see in the picture below, they are fairly inexpensive to buy and with this recipe, they certainly live up to their name, “Rockefeller”. I think I paid about 58 cents a piece is all and the results were spectacularly “Rich”.

What kind of Oysters do you have?

These are West Coast Oysters. You can tell they aren’t from the East Coast because of the Greenish color, instead of brown, and they’re a bit more long gated as well. They should always be scrubbed and rinsed before shucking. This will help eliminate any grime getting into the shell. Personally, I like to rinse them out after anyway. But some folks will freak out if you drain the “liquor” from the oyster before serving because there’s so much flavor there. But for Oysters Rockefeller, there is so much flavor added to it through out the recipe, in my opinion, it really doesn’t matter. The important thing is that no one breaks a tooth trying to eat them.

Shucking Oysters

I’ll show you, in the video below, how to properly shuck these things and lay them out on the half shell. There’s really nothing to it once you learn the tricks. But it’s important to lay them down on something that will keep them stable so they don’t teeter back and forth. Some people, restaurants included, press the round shell backs down into Rock salt, and that’s great for serving but I just use cup cake pans to keep them from moving and it works great for broiling.

Oysters Rockefeller

To make this recipe, you need a few key ingredients but the main thing is to make it green like money. As the story goes, when this recipe was created, someone in the restaurant exclaimed that these Oysters were as rich as Rockefeller. Others think it has to do with the color of money itself. Either way, the name stuck and now the world can enjoy them for any occasion.

If you’re interested in other Cajun recipes and food celebrated in New Orleans and at Mardi Gras, check out my Boudin, Crawfish Etouffee and my Jambalaya!

Oysters Rockefeller Ingredients:

1 doz Med/Lrg Oysters
2 cloves Garlic, ground
1 Green Onion, ground
1 sprig of Fresh Parsly
4 oz Baby Green Spinach
2 tbsp White wine, can sub ice water or white grape juice
1 stick of melted butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp Crab Boil or Crawfish Seasoning (Old Bay is fine)
1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp Basalmic Vinager
1/3 cup Fresh Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs, optional

Be sure to watch the full Oysters Rockefeller Video Tutorial so you can see, step by step, exactly how to make them from scratch.

Mussels in a Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

The Best Mussels

This Mussels recipe is one of my all time favorites. It’s a European style recipe that incorporates the presence of Italian, french and Spanish cooking. This is also how the Olive Garden serves their Mussels. So if you’ve ever seen or ordered them there, this is more or less what you’re getting from this recipe. The Mussels are covered and steamed with a small amount of boiling water, then drowned in a fresh Lemon Garlic Butter Broth that’s prepared in under a few minutes on the stove top. Not only is this marinade amazing over the top of these Mussels, it is fantastic for dipping bread. My wife and I made our entire lunch out of 2 lbs of Mussels and a Crunch Roll loaf of bread when I prepared this recipe.

How do Mussels taste?

As I just described, Mussels truly are amazing. They’re slightly on the milder side of Oysters but are very similar in texture. They tend to be a bit chewy if they’re over cooked or bought frozen. As always, it’s best to buy fresh. I’ve had both wild and farm raised Mussels and the only difference I’ve noticed is that farm raised shell fish tend to be cleaner. Nothing worse than biting into a gritting Oyster, Mussel or Clam for that matter. So don’t shy away from farm raised Mussels unless you’re paranoid. This recipe will really help bring out the natural flavors in this seafood. It’s very easy to prepare and it can literally be done in just a matter of minutes.

If you’re interested, you really should check out my Oysters Rockefeller recipe and my Steamed Little neck Clams. Also, be sure to check out my Tender Calamari Recipe down below and My Stuffed Clams.

Mussels Ingredients:

2 lbs Mussels
1/2 Green Onion, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 tsp Fresh Parsley, chopped
1/2 stick Butter
1/4 cup Sherry Wine
1/4 cup Broth, vegetable or Chicken
1/2 Lemon, squeezed
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper/Chili flakes

Be sure to watch the Mussels Video tutorial to learn exactly how to prepare these ingredients.

Mussels Recipes for Moules Marinieres

Mussels recipes for Moules Marinieres!

What ever the hell that means right?? Break it down, Mussels recipes for Moules Marinieres…Well I don’t know the proper translation in french but I do know in English it means fantastic! Butter, garlic, white wine…sounds like a party! Now if we can just figure out how to cook these damn Mussels we might even have something to snack on in the meantime.

Mussels recipes for Moules Marinieres made easy:

Well believe it or not, this Mussels Recipes for Moules Marinieres is quick and easy like anything else I’ve demonstrated, and quite honestly they even make you feel proud when your done. Just be sure that you don’t over cook the actual mussel when you steam them. The last thing you want in the world when you are making this recipe is to end up with a bunch of chewy tateless mussels with only a bad ass salsa to show for it. But don’t be scared, Jump right in, Mussels rock and you know it. Just watch the quick flick below and prove to your self you can do it!

In this Mussels Recipes for Moules Marinieres you will use:

1 cube butter
1 tbls chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. Anchovy paste
2 tbls scallions
1 tbls. green bell pepper(optional)
1/2 cup white wine
1 pinch parsley
1 pinch thyme
1/4 tsp. chili flakes

When you make the salsa start everything in this order; butter, then garlic, anchoy paste, scallions, bell pepper, white wine, parsely, thyme, and then chile flakes. After you’ve steam the Mussels the you give them a good toss in a large enough bowl to distribute the salsa evenly through the shells. You can then seperate your portions onto plates and serve your Mussels Recipes for Moules Marinieres.