Oyster stew

I promise, after this one, the weird holiday recipes (dumplings, scalloped oysters) are over!  Then it's on to more crowd pleasers, rather than pleasers of just 3-4 people at our large holiday gatherings.  This is the first year I tried my hand at oyster stew...it's been offered at the Jamison family Christmas each year, and I believe the only ones that eat it are Gary and Marvin.  There are 25 people there and those are the only two that like it, so Cheryl makes it special for them each year.  Then I came along!  There is now a third oyster stew eater in the house, so I decided I better try to make it for Big Dan and Gary when we had our mini-Christmas at our house this year.

Cheryl gave me her recipe and it sounds easy enough. It seems as though its just milk, butter, and bugs (that's what Justin calls the swimming oysters).  I used canned oysters although Cheryl said she usually uses fresh, and I didn't taste a difference. I don't believe there's much difference in price, the place I went for groceries just didn't have fresh.

The only complaint I got was that it needed a little more butter (I tried to cut down on that without them knowing and got busted).  Also, I noticed that you can't just let the soup sit there and simmer on the stove because the oysters get too cooked and begin to fall apart, getting an even slimier texture....if you can imagine that. So serve it hot and when you're done, turn the heat off until you're ready to serve again. Reheating doesn't hurt it but overcooking does.

2 T flout

1.5 t salt

1 t Worcestershire sauce

dash bottled hot pepper sauce (I used Tobasco)

1 pint shucked oysters, undrained

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 quart milk, scalded

Blend flour, seasonings, and 2 T water in a 3 quart soup kettle. Add undrained oysters and butter. Simmer over very low heat 3-4 minutes till edges of oysters curl, stirring gently. Add hot milk; remove from heat and cover. Let stand 15 minutes. Reheat briefly, and serve piping hot and with oyster crackers....duh!

All in all, I think it turned out well for my first time and will keep this in my recipe box for special occasions when both dads are hankering for oysters!