Oysters Casino is a New Orleans variation on the older recipe, Clams Casino. Popular in Italian restaurants, they are best enjoyed with friends and a bottle of good wine.
Oysters Casino with Bacon
Oysters Casino is a New Orleans variation on the older traditional recipe, Clams Casino.
Clams Casino seems to have originated in Rhode Island in the United States where the littlenecks or cherrystone clams are plentiful and delicious. According to legend, the recipe for Clams Casino was originally developed in 1917 in the Little Casino in Narragansett, Rhode Island (thus the name), by a maître d’hôtel for a woman of means wanting something special for her guests. Clams Casino remains a very popular dish in Rhode Island, “appearing on almost every menu”.
The dish has spread throughout the United States and is especially popular with Italian-Americans, having “a permanent spot on just about every trattoria menu” in Little Italy, Manhattan.
You can use any of your favorite oysters for this dish. There many different varieties of eastern oysters. Most are named for their place of origin — Bluepoints, Lynnhavens, and Chincoteagues, for example. Western waters produce Pacific oysters, which were originally eastern transplants. Most Pacific oysters are graded and marketed by size rather than by name.
Oysters Casino with Bacon Recipe
Oysters Casino is a New Orleans variation on the older recipe, Clams Casino. Popular in Italian restaurants, they are best enjoyed with a bottle of good wine.
Prep Time30 mins
Active Time12 mins
Total Time42 mins
Materials
- 6 slices Bacon chopped
- 1/2 cup 1 stick Butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup minced Shallots
- 1/4 cup finely chopped Red Bell Pepper
- 1/4 cup finely chopped Celery
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- Large pinch Cayenne Pepper
- Rock Salt to plate
- 2 dozen small, 3 to 4 inches long Oysters on the Half Shell
- Minced fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Cook bacon until almost crisp.
- Place on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb grease. Set aside.
- Place butter, shallots, bell pepper, celery, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Using a fork, mash and mix until well combined.
- Spread 1/4 - 1/2-inch rock salt on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Place in hot oven and bake for 8 minutes.
- Carefully remove cooking sheet from oven and place oysters on the half shell firmly in the hot rock salt.
- Place about 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture onto each oyster.
- Top with with bacon.
- Place cooking sheet back in oven and bake oysters until bubbly, about 12 minutes. Do not overcook.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately on same sheet, still in the salt.
Notes
This recipe for oysters casino is from "The Hog Island Oyster Cookbook" by Jairemarie Pomo.
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Recipe is traditional. This recipe for Oysters Casino adapted from The Hog Island Oyster Cookbook by Jairemarie Pomo. Additional Information Courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission
