" No variety here, But you, most noble guests, whose gracious looks Must make a dish or two become a feast".

He was a bold man that first ate an oyster. - Swift.

Oysters

Put into the blazer twenty-five to fifty choice oysters. As soon as they are hot and look plump, add salt, pepper and butter. Serve on buttered toast or crackers. Add two tablespoonfuls of cream or half a tablespoonful of lemon juice before serving, if desired.

Oysters, No. 2

Ingredients

1 pint of solid oysters. 4 tablespoonfuls of butter. 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice.

1 scant teaspoonful of salt. A few grains of cayenne. Beaten yolks of 2 eggs.

Method

Put the oysters into the blazer. When they look plump and the edges curl, put the blazer into the hot-water pan and add the seasonings. Add a few spoonfuls of the liquor from the pan to the yolks of the eggs, and, after mixing well, pour into the chafing-dish. Stir constantly until the liquor thickens, then serve on thin slices of buttered toast or on thin crackers.

Oysters A La D'Uxelles

Ingredients

I pint of parboiled and drained oysters. I pint of oyster liquor or chicken stock. 4 tablespoonfuls of butter. 4 tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms.

4 tablespoonfuls of flour. A few drops of onion juice. A few grains of cayenne. 1 teaspoonful of salt. 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice. Yolks of 2 eggs.

Method

Let the oysters be parboiled and drained beforehand. (To parboil, heat quickly to the boiling-point in their own liquor.) Melt the butter in the blazer, add the flour, salt and pepper, and cook till frothy; add the oyster liquor or chicken stock and cook until the boiling-point is reached. Now add the oysters, and, as soon as they are heated thoroughly, put the blazer into the bath and add the beaten yolks, the onion and lemon juice and the mushrooms. As soon as the eggs thicken the sauce a little, serve on toast or crackers. If uncooked mushrooms are used, cook them in the butter two or three minutes before the flour and seasonings are added.

Curried Oysters

Ingredients

1 pint of oysters (parboiled and drained).

1/2 a cup of cream.

2 tablespoonfuls of butter, 1 tablespoonful of flour. 1/2 a cup of oyster liquor.

A teaspoonful of curry powder. 1/2 a teaspoonful of chopped onion. 1 teaspoonful of salt, 1 saltspoonful of pepper.

Method

Cook the onion and butter in the blazer a few moments. Mix the flour and curry powder and stir into the butter. When frothy add the oyster liquor. As soon as the sauce boils up once, add the salt, pepper and cream, and, in a moment, the oysters. When the oysters are thoroughly heated, serve on buttered toast or crackers.

Curried Oysters, No. 2

Ingredients

1 quart of oysters. 1/4 a cup of butter. One small mild onion. 1 tablespoonful of curry powder.

1/4 a cup of flour. 1 cup of oyster liquor. 1 cup of white stock. 1/2 a cup of thick tomato pulp.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

Bring the oysters to the boiling-point in their own liquor, skim, drain, and set aside. Heat the butter in the blazer, sauté in it the onion cut in slices, stir in the flour and curry powder mixed with the salt and pepper, and, when frothy, add the oyster liquor, stock and tomato pulp (a pint of pulp reduced by slow cooking to half a cup). When the sauce boils, add the oysters; and when hot serve on buttered toast or fried bread.