The Big Oktoberfest Oysteroast Cook...

This  morning's activity included a trip to the Fish Wharf...








I ended up with 2 bushels of Chesapeake Bay oysters,
A box of Sewensecott's (Hog Island Bay, seaside Eastern Shore VA) and
A box of Chincoteague's.



We'll probably eat the two boxes raw and throw the bushels on the grill.   The seaside Virginia oysters have such a nice sweet salty taste and it kind of gets lost when you cook them.

The bay oysters needed a quick rinse;



And here is what's on the menu -
Sewensecott's on the left, Chincoteague in the middle, Ches Bay on the right!



Dig in!!!

Hey SGH, the thread did not end!  I was hosting the party yesterday, slept a bit of it off and then cleaned up.  All good!  I do not have any good pictures of the cook, though.  I'll see if others took some. 

Details...

The Mojo Pork was a huge hit.  I only had one small container left, the rest was destroyed and everyone raved about it.  The thing about that recipe is it is a little different than the pulled pork most people have tried, and delicious, so folks really seem to enjoy it.  It's such a nice make-ahead dish.  I'll do it again for certain.

The Brats, I didn't even get to try one!  All gone.  Heard they were good.

Aaaaaannnnnnd the oysters.  Yum.
So, I have shuckers out and people open up as many raw as they want, the bulk of them go on the grill though.   I had a gas grill and a lump charcoal grill going last night so I could compare.  I was surprised how much better they taste off the lump.  They are good either way, but it is surprising that even a closed oyster somehow still absorbs some of the lump flavor.

With this many oysters I don't mess with cracking them and cooking them open face with toppings.  It'd be impossible to keep up with the demand.   I roast big piles and then transfer them with a shovel to the shucking table where we have a lot of different sauces (hot garlic butter being my favorite) and everybody dresses them how they like.  Most are eaten plain right out of the shell.

I'll see what we have for pics, but...the Oktoberfest Oyster Roast was a success.

AHHHHH, the BEER.  I almost forgot.

My friend came through with two nice ones...

A 1/6 keg of Sierra Nevada Harvest Single Hop IPA (Equinox Hops) and
A 1/2 keg of Hacker Pschorr Marzen.

Both great.  Do I really have to go to work tomorrow?

blind99 said:

Awesome party. I'm sure the raccoons will agree when they raid your garbage cans tonight!

Actually...my chocolate lab has the most fun with the shells.  She'll pick them out for days.  I think to her they are just little flavorful rocks!

We use the shells in the back where there is a storm run off that errodes a bit.  I dump the shells there and it slows down the errosion.  After a big storm I find oyster shells 200 yards downstream.  Someday someone is going to be scratching their heads...

Anyway, limestone.  Good for the soil.


SGH, as always I appreciate the enthusiasm!  This is our big party of the year and it's always a lot of fun.  Lot of work but in addition to a great night, it's fun to introduce folks to a food few get to enjoy with such gluttony!  These days oysters are usually served up fancy in bars for $2.50 a piece so folks don't get exposed to so many at one time where they can experiment and find out how they like them and how different locations produce such different tastes.  It's a blast!  Good times.