Baked Oysters

Take nice large oysters in the shell. Wash and scrub the shells until free from sand. Now place them in a baking-pan, put in a very quick oven (400o Fahr.), and bake until they open their shells. Now remove the upper shells, put a small bit of butter on each oyster, sprinkle lightly with salt and cayenne, and serve in the under shells.

Scalloped Oysters

In a baking-dish put a layer of oysters, and cover them with a half-inch layer of stale bread crumbs; dot this over with bits of butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper; then add another layer of oysters, and so continue until the dish is full, always having the last layer crumbs, dotted with bits of butter. Moisten the whole with a half cupful of the oyster liquor and the same of milk. Bake in a rather quick oven for twenty minutes, or until a nice brown. Serve in the baking-dish.

At my lectures I have often prepared these in the same manner, using the oyster shells instead of the one large baking-pan, allowing three oysters to each shell, and I think the flavor is thereby greatly improved.

Oysters And Macaroni

Boil four ounces of macaroni, in plenty of boiling water, twenty minutes. Then cut it into pieces about one inch long. Put a layer of this in the bottom of a baking-dish, then a layer of oysters, sprinkle with salt and pepper and a few bits of butter, then another layer of macaroni, and so on until all is used, having the top layer macaroni; sprinkle the top lightly with grated cheese, and bake in a moderate oven twenty minutes. Serve in the dish in which they were baked.

Oyster Saute

25 nice fat oysters

1/4 pound of Irish breakfast bacon

Pepper and flour

Drain the oysters and dry them with a towel, then sprinkle with pepper, and roll them in flour. Put the bacon, cut into thin slices, in a frying-pan, and let all the fat try out of it; then remove the bacon and cover the bottom of the pan with oysters; as soon as crisp and brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Serve on squares of buttered toast.

These are delicious. If no Irish bacon is at hand, use the ordinary smoked pork.

Oyster Loaf

Cut a long loaf of bread into slices about two inches thick; a baker's long five-cent loaf will make six. Now trim off the crust, and make each piece square. Dig the crumb out of the centre of each piece, leaving sides and bottom like a box; that is, make a square box out of each slice of bread. Brush each box over with melted butter and put in a quick oven until a light brown. Fill with creamed oysters and serve.

Deviled Oysters

25 nice fat oysters 1/2 pint of cream

1 tablespoonful of butter

2 tablesooonfuls of flour

1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley Yolks of two eggs Salt and cavenne to taste

Drain the oysters and chop them middling fine and drain again. Put the milk on to boil. Rub the butter and flour together and stir into the milk when boiling; as soon as it thickens, take it from the fire and add all the other ingredients. Beat the yolks before adding them. Have the deep shells of the oysters washed perfectly clean, fill them with this mixture, sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs, put them in a baking-pan and brown in a quick oven for five minutes. Serve in the shells; garnish with parsley.

They may be cooked in clam or silver scallop shells, but are much better done in their own shells, as there is a flavor imparted by the heated shell which greatly enriches the mixture. A word of caution: avoid long cooking, as it makes them dry. If your oven will not brown them in five or six minutes, and you have no salamander, heat your fire shovel red hot. Take the shells from the oven, hold the shovel over them until they brown.

These may be prepared several hours before they are wanted, and placed in the oven and browned at serving time.