Does anyone have the secret recipe for the oysters rockefeller they serve at Antoine's in New Orleans? It's been a secret forever and I can't find a suitable substitute any where!

Having serious cravings for it and not planning on going to New Orleans anytime soon.

HELLO THE CAMPFIRE:
I think that I hae tht Recipe, but it will take a few days to find it. Basicaly it is spinach with parason cheese, garlic and wooster sauce. Maybe some bread or cracker crumbs, baked in a hot oven until the gills turn up. If you have access to an old Herter's Bullcook Book, I am pretty sure they have the recipe and the history (sort of) behind it. It is one of my favorites and I don' eat it any where but N.O.LA. because I have had so many bad copies.
Good luck\
Judge Sharpe

Judge:

Thanks for the reply. If you do find the recipe, please send it along! I've tried a number of recipes that I've found online, but none of them came close to the original. Also, at other restaurants, it is basically creamed spinache on oysters.

Oysters a la Rockefeller at Antoine's is pure heaven!

577NE,i live in NO,somewhere have receipe,can get Galatoires if not. do you live where you can get fresh oysters? thats a huge part of it. a few Sazeracs before helps a lot also. can get loading data for that too.BEST,kim

577NE, Antoines Restaurant Cookbook by Roy Guste&Jr. "Huitres a la Rockefeller" whole menu is in there w. receipes. no food secrets in this city. if i have a copy ill scan it to you.bon appetit! kim

Kim:

I live outside of Wash DC. We can get fresh oysters - usually from Long Island - here at the gourmet stores.

I've tried a number of recipes for the Rockefeller sauce, but none come close to what they serve at Antoine's.

I thought that oyster's rockefeller was one recipe that they left out of their cookbook?

Kim:

If I lived in NO, I would be 1000 lbs. I can hear myself getting fatter just thinking about cafe du mond, po-boys, commander's palace's bread pudding, bananas foster....

577NE,dont have antoines cookbook,do have Times-Picayune& it has OR,infamousHerterbullcook recipes also has antoines&galatoires recipes. scanner is fried,e-m me your address & ill copy these to you& any others u want.Kimroux7@wmconnect.com

Kim:

Email sent. A hearty THANK YOU!

Can you post the recipe here when you get it? I've been to Antoines a couple of times and their food is great, especially the Oyster R. Thanks

cjw:

It would be my pleasure. I have to agree with you on the Oysters Rockefeller. No one comes close to it. I have to admit it sure ain't pretty to look at, but my god is it in a league of its own!

Did you ever they their Baked Alaska?

No, 577NitroExpress, I've never had Baked Alaska. I imagine their's is the best also? When we have a "special" dessert at home it's usually Bananas Foster.

Antoine's Oysters Rockefeller - Original

OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER
3 doz shelled raw oysters in their liquor
1/2 tsp salt
1 lemon, juiced

SAUCE
1/2 stick butter
4 tablespoon flour
2 bunches parsley, all stems removed, finely minced
2 bunches green onions, finely minced
8 ribs celery, all strings removed, finely minced
4 tablespoon tomato paste
1-1.2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 cup bread crumbs

6 small ovenproof baking dishes

Prepare the oysters:
Poach the oysters in their own liquor with the 1/2 teaspoon salt and the juice from 1 lemon for 1 minute or just until their edges barely begin to curl. Do not boil. Strain the oysters, reserving 1 cup of their liquid, and set aside.

Make the Rockefeller Sauce:
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes without coloring. Blend in the 1 cup reserved oyster poaching liquid. Blend in the minced parsley, green onion and celery. Add the tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper and cayenne. Simmer very, very slowly for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add the bread crumbs and adjust seasonings according to taste.

Assemble the dish:
Arrange the oysters in individual oven proof dishes, 6 oysters per serving, and spoon over the Rockefeller Sauce. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 12 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and beginning to brown. Serves 6.


NOTE:
It is the utmost importance if you want the sauce to turn out correctly that must insure that you scrape all the strings from the celery stalks. If you don't, you will never get the proper texture. There will always be stringy bits in the sauce no matter how finely you chop. Remove all stems from the parsley or you will get a bitterness that you will not be able to eliminate. When I say to simmer very, very slowly, I mean it. Some of the best chefs in New Orleans scorch this sauce regularly because it takes a long time on a low fire with regular stirring and a good cover on the pot. Don't let it blop and bubble. Don't try to rush it. Absolutely all of the raw green taste of the vegetables needs to be cooked out in order for the sauce to acquire the rich and marvelous taste for which it is so justly famous. This is one of the reasons that this sauce is so difficult to prepare properly.

Lynn:

Thank you so much. I know the rockefeller sauce has been kept a secret for a long time. Have you tried this particular recipe? Is it close to the original?

(I always thought that an anise flavor liquor such as pernod was an ingredient?)

quote:

Prepare the oysters:
Poach the oysters in their own liquor with the 1/2 teaspoon salt and the juice from 1 lemon for 1 minute or just until their edges barely begin to curl. Do not boil. Strain the oysters, reserving 1 cup of their liquid, and set aside.

Lynn: Do you add any water to this step, or is it only the oyster liquor, salt and lemon juice?

577NE,i believe OR@antoines has some garlic&some kind of licorice,Pernod,Herbsaint,etc now. still working on it. BEST,kim

quote:

Originally posted by 577NitroExpress:

quote:

Prepare the oysters:
Poach the oysters in their own liquor with the 1/2 teaspoon salt and the juice from 1 lemon for 1 minute or just until their edges barely begin to curl. Do not boil. Strain the oysters, reserving 1 cup of their liquid, and set aside.

Lynn: Do you add any water to this step, or is it only the oyster liquor, salt and lemon juice?

To answer your question, yes I tried it and it was fantastic, and no I did not add any water at all. It is actually the recipe given to a New York Times Gastronomic Reviewer (food critic) and is the reported to be the original recipe. The original had no liquer in it and no spinach which is sometimes also reported to be in the recipe. Though there are those who do use a Pernod or other anise-flavored liqueur and swear that it was present in the original recipe.

Lynn

Kim:

Your copies came today. Thank you VERY much!

577NE, try them all,let me know which is best.well try it down here.BEST,kim

Twist my arm ;-)

I had some great Oyster's Rockefeller at Peg Leg Pete's down on the gulf in Pensacola, FL over the weekend. They were fantastic, but I don't know the recipe.

We're heading to N.O. LA tomorrow for the weekend. I'll keep this place in mind and see what they have down there.

Email sent for the recipe copy as well Kim. Thanks.

BEN,call me b4 u leave or when u get here,this is a crazy weekend here,BEST.kim 504-888-1008

It's pretty hard to go to almost any restaurant in New Orleans and get a bad meal. The whole society revolves around alcohol and food. Personally, I think Galatoire's is way better than Antoine's but "chac un a son gout".

NY, LA. and San Francisco are the other 3 big US cities that have great food, but they require a bit more diligence. I'd kill for some of the dim sum I've had in LA right now.

We just returned from a few days of family surf fishing in Grand Isle, which is the end of the road about 3 hours or so from NO, for those who don't know the area. Fishing was poor, but the fresh shrimp and oysters that we had were wonderful. I've eaten oysters all my life, could easily buy a Cadillac or two (don't want to think about it) with what I've spent on them, and in my experience summer oysters from the Gulf are usually of poorer quality, but I ran into this lady oyster seller in Grand Isle who told me that now was the best time for HER oysters. I didn't believe it, but bought a half gallon of fresh shucked to try them (didn't have the set up or time to crack them ourselves) and by God she was right. They were firm and fairly salty. Brought a gallon (about 200) back with us. That was 3 days ago, they're nearly all gone. Our kid's ages 11,10, and 6 came in from fishing in Grand Isle and had a choice of bacon and eggs or raw oysters for breakfast. They all chose oysters. Must be genetic.

Just remember that Texas oyster are the best!

http://www.texasoysters.org/about.html

quote:

Just remember that Texas oyster are the best

Not in my experience, which is not very limited. Certainly they can be very good if all the oyster gods smile on the harvester, but "the best", naaah, not even close. Nor are any other Gulf of Mexico oysters "the best". It takes cold and clear water to create what most people consider to be "the best". Hard to say, but I'd say that for my tastes some of the best I ever had were Belons in Paris, but it could have been the atmosphere (that is the girl) adding to the flavor. Small, salty, incredibly flavorful. Some of the W Coast oysters, including imported Belons, are extremely good as well.

Hello the CAmpfire:
I am glad the the recipe got posted.
It seems that there are no real oyster eaters on the forum. If there were you would know that the best come from Indian Pass in Panama City Fla. followed closely by Appalacola Bay oysters. The famed Bon Secure oysters from Mobile Bay are about dead due to polution and the storms last year. DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT TRY TO MAKE OYSTER ROCKEFELLERS WITHOUT GULF COAST OYSTERS, if you do you might have to put an anise flavor to make them tast right.
If you have a chance, go to the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station where you can sample more than a hundred kinds of fresh oysters.
But none will be as good a ones right out of the water, on the dock with a Jax or a Pearl Pop with the foam on top ( or another beer now that Pearl is gone). Late night, good friends, maybe some blue crabs, mullet jumping, a gater sounding off. Why live anywhere else. Just to make a living I guess.
Judge Sharpe

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:

quote:

Just remember that Texas oyster are the best

Not in my experience, which is not very limited. Certainly they can be very good if all the oyster gods smile on the harvester, but "the best", naaah, not even close. Nor are any other Gulf of Mexico oysters "the best". It takes cold and clear water to create what most people consider to be "the best". Hard to say, but I'd say that for my tastes some of the best I ever had were Belons in Paris, but it could have been the atmosphere (that is the girl) adding to the flavor. Small, salty, incredibly flavorful. Some of the W Coast oysters, including imported Belons, are extremely good as well.

The oysters there come from Cancale on the Brittany coast. One can go there,sit at small bar and have 24 for the price of 6 in Paris. The local wine is great,bread still warm,and the fresh butter to die for. Got there at 1400
passing through. Spent the night. You can see Mont-St-Michle from the bar. The tides clean the oysters 5-6 tines per day.

Now there's a man who knows what good oyster eating is all about.

if i was supposed to send any of y'all copies of O/R,please be patient.KATRINA has moved me 200 miles N. dont know if copies or books survived. BIG MESS!!whenever i get back& come up for air,ill try to get them out. thanks.kim

Kim,

Good luck and hope all is well!!!!

Once worked at a fancy seafood restuarant during highschool,and remember tasting oysters Rockefeller.That was something super delicious.They were oysters with a red powdered topping if I remember correctly.