Christmas Oyster Stew Food

OYSTER STEW CHRISTMAS EVE RECIPE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until it begins to foam.
• Cook and stir the celery, onion, and red bell pepper in the hot butter until soft, about 10 minutes.
• Stir the half-and-half and parsley through the vegetable mixture; season with salt and black pepper.
• Continue cooking until the mixture just begins to boil; add the oysters and any liquid from the can to the stew along with Louisiana-style hot sauce. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the oysters begin to curl, 10 to 15 minutes more.
• Remove the saucepan from heat and allow the stew to sit 5 minutes before serving.

OYSTER STEW

Steps:

• Melt butter in 1 1/2-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in oysters. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until edges curl.
• Heat milk and half-and-half in 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat until hot. Stir in salt, pepper and oyster mixture; heat until hot. Garnish with parsley and bell pepper.

CHRISTMAS OYSTER STEW

Steps:

• Melt 2 sticks of butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the celery and shallots and saute until the shallots are translucent.
• Pour half-and-half into a large pot over medium-high heat. Mix in 2 sticks of butter, celery, and shallot mixture. Stir continuously. When the mixture is almost boiling, pour the oysters and their liquid into the pot. Season with salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Stir continuously until the oysters curl at the ends. When the oysters curl the stew is finished cooking; turn off the heat and serve.
• Add celery salt and paprika to each bowl along with a 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoon square of butter from the remaining sticks.

CHRISTMAS POTATO-OYSTER STEW (CHOWDER)

Steps:

• Drain oysters, reserving liquid. Cut through oysters 6 to 8 times. Set aside. Place potato in a medium saucepan; add water and salt. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving liquid.
• Saute onion and celery in butter in a 3-quart saucepan until tender. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Gradually add reserved potato liquid and half-and-half; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is slightly thickened.
• Stir in cubed potato, oysters, reserved oyster liquid, garlic powder, pepper and parsley. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of oysters curl. Garnish, if desired.

CHRISTMAS EVE OYSTER STEW

Steps:

• Add milk, butter and oysters with their juice to a double boiler or a large pot that fits inside of another pot. Fill the bottom pot as full of water as you can without it running over.
• Add a little celery salt, salt and pepper and then heat on low. Cook very slowy so the milk won't boil (I start at 1 pm. for dinner at 6 pm). Every now and then stir. After a few hours, do a taste test to adjust seasonings.
• Serve with oyster crackers.