Rockin’ Oysters Rockefeller!

There’s a slight twist to this incarnation of the famed Oysters Rockefeller that turns this classic, traditional appetizer into the type of crowd-pleasing crowd pleaser that guests look forward to whenever they return!

You might think that a dish like Oysters Rockefeller is something that’s only reserved for big holidays like Thanksgiving and New Year’s, but wait...think of this as a special dish to serve any time you have an occasion or party thats the perfect match to serve to serve them.

Oysters Rockefeller evolved from a recipe that began in 1899 at Antoine’s, one of the country’s and the world’s oldest family-run restaurants, and soon became one of the most sought-after recipes across the globe. Since then it’s been imitated, duplicated, and replicated in a variety of ways switching the ingredients used to make up the delicious delicacy. The original version of oysters rockefeller was claimed to have been made with watercress instead of spinach as a key ingredient that’s used more often today for example.

The dish got its name from the fact the green color in the oysters very closely matched the color of money, plus the richness of the oysters gave one exuberant customer such a delight by taste that they exclaimed, “Why, this is as rich as Rockefeller!” No other seafood dish has been as highly acclaimed and given so much of the seafood spotlight like Oysters Rockefeller. So here for your dining please is the one and only (with a taste that rocks!) Oysters Rockefeller, from our friends at All Recipes.com:

Prep Time: 30 min. Cook Time: 30 min. Ready In: 1 Hour Yield: 16 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

  • 48 fresh, unopened oysters
  • 1 ½ cups beer
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Seasoned salt to taste
  • 7 black peppercorns
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
  • 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
  • 8 ounces fontina cheese, shredded
  • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons fine bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS:

Clean oysters, and place in a large stockpot. Pour in beer and enough water to cover oysters; add 2 cloves garlic, seasoned salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, drain, and cool.

Once oysters are cooled, break off and discard the top shell. Arrange the oysters on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in butter until soft. Reduce heat to low, and stir in spinach, Monterey Jack, fontina, and mozzarella. Cook until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Stir in the milk, and season with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over each oyster, just filling the shell. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Bake until golden and bubbly, approximately 8 to 10 minutes.

No matter how they’re prepared, Oysters Rockefeller has always been symbolic of a food dish that represents wealth and good living—not to mention good eating on a grand scale! As one of New Orleans’ greatest legacies to the culinary world, it’s been holding sway at the top of the food chart for more than a century.

With its mixture of finely chopped greens and copious butter, the rich aroma alone is enough to send you over the edge (in a good way!). Just the feeling that you’re indulging in one of the food world’s great dining stars will give you goosebumps! Over the course of the century, oysters rockefeller has filled as many as three and-a-half million orders, and there’s no sight of it ending yet.

You can definitely do them up the way you like, adding toppings like bacon, shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese, toasted bread crumbs, and butter, butter, and more butter! And when you consider that oysters are found all over the world, depending on their edibility, what a truly exotic taste delicacy we have the chance to experience as we travel.

As far back as 1850, just about every major town in the North American continent had an oyster bar, where you could try oysters prepared any number of ways. There were oyster bars, oyster cellars, oyster parlors, and oyster saloons. The great irony of this all was that oysters and bars were companions of each other, and it wasn’t any big wonder back then because oysters had a reputation for being cheap food(!) that could be paired with beers and liquors. So, the next time you get a craving for oysters, think of the many millions, and millions, and millions of oysters that have graced the tables (and tummies) of people far and wide.