Shuck you! Oysters at Home

Now that the World Cup Eating Challenge is over, I think it will be really fun to keep up food and cooking challenges. I do want to circle back and grab the countries I missed and several others that have great food but crappy soccer. However, after all the new things I tried over the last month, I was feeling a little empowered and wanted to try something that I love but is super expensive to eat out - Oysters.

It started while I was watching Chopped. I get a lot of ideas and kitchen drive from watching cooking challenges so I tend to keep them in the background while I cook. I was cutting up some fruit and I saw they got fresh oysters for the appetizer round. This is like Chopped gold. One chef freaked out because he didn't know how to shuck oysters but he figured it out and they all made awesome dishes. I started craving oysters so badly.

I love San Francisco, but despite being in an area surronded by oysters, they can cost $2-3 each at a restaurant. They are much cheaper at the store... but you have to shuck them yourself....

Challenge Accepted!!!

It took some googling and asking a friend but I figured out that you stick the knife into the muscle of the oyster (at the tip) and push and twist until it comes loose. Then you work the knife around to loosen the shell and pull it off. Some are trickier than others. Oysters are like the snowflakes of the sea - all of them are so different. Figuring out the best place to start was a new challenge for each one.

After opening about two it was time for a wine break. I was feeling like a red but I knew it wouldn't go well with the oysters. Ideally I would need an acidic white. I decided to find a compromise - my friend, William Allen of Two Shepherds' Trousseau Gris. Trousseau Gris is a "gray" grape. It's not really white and it's definitely not red. It can be pressed immediately to make a white wine but a lot of adventurous wine makers are treating it more like a red grape. This gives it a beautiful salmony orange color. As for the taste - it's completely unique. It has the crisp acidity of a great white while having savory elements found in reds. It's one of my favorite wines, but it's definitely hit or miss with the general public. I love seeing what people think about it when I pour it at tastings. 

Isn't this just the prettiest oyster shell you've ever seen?

The biggest oyster I've ever seen.

In the end, it turned out awesome! My hands might be a little tender. My kitchen smells like an ocean. I definitely broke one of the shells. All in all though, this was a great idea. I just got these at Safeway but I would love to go to an oyster shop and actually pick out some high quality oysters next time. Because there will definitely be a next time.

On another note though, a whole lemon was too much lemon but at least it made pretty pictures!

The wine paired perfectly. The lemon was more acidic than the wine so it brought out some of the creamier notes. This wine unexpectedly went through full maloactic fermentation so it was fun to pair it with something that brought that out. The wine is so amazing on its own though that mostly I was happy to have a few glasses when all the oysters were gone.

....because there was still this mess to deal with.