Thursday, March 15, 2007

Jake Slagle's Oysters Argentine

This recipe is my own creation, though it has little that I'm aware of to do with oysters in Argentina. For that matter, my "oyster, recipe, Argentina" searches on the web turned up nothing---save for Rocky Mountain Oysters, which is a culinary term for the testicles of a variety of mammals.

My plan had been to "invent" a kind of "oyster pinchot," pinchot being to Portugal what tapa is to Spain. It seemed to me that to broil a bit chorizo, pimiento, and a few other ingedients atop some oysters on the half shell would do the trick. Mrs. Yi had informed me that Shoppers Food Warehouse in Carney had a quite a selection of different kinds of chorizo, so I went there. The three choices were Spanish, Mexican, and Argentine. My choice was all about how the recipe came to be so-named.

Here it is, and it's a winner:

JAKE SLAGLE'S OYSTERS ARGENTINE

One dozen fresh shucked oysters on the half-shell with a bit of their liquor
1/4 pound chorizo, torn apart as much as possible
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons chopped pimientos
3/4 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
Rock salt--- this is important.

Line a metal pan with aluminum foil, layer it with at least a half inch of rock salt and place in a pre-heated broiler for ten minutes. Meanwhile, combine the chorizo, green pepper, pimiento, paprika, and cilantro, then place in equal amounts atop each oyster. Remove pan from broiler. place oysters atop the hot rock salt, and return to broiler for five minutes. Remove pan from broiler and quickly remove the oysters from the hot rock salt to avoid overcooking.

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