Beauties of La Mer

In honor of Valentines Day, I thought I'd include a recipe for oysters.  Long considered an aphrodisiac, these little morsels are high in minerals, low in calories, and really not very expensive.  I bought 18 large Pacific oysters for $8.79 from my local fishmonger today.  If you have never prepared oysters yourself, they will take a little bit of practice, but you will find the effort well worth it.

How to Shuck Oysters

To begin, it is imperative that you obtain an oyster knife.  An oyster knife is a small blade, shaped like an arrow head, with a shield close to the handle to protect your hand (kind of like a fencer's sword) Last year, I tried shucking oysters with a flat screwdriver because I lacked an oyster knife.  Eventually, I was able to open the oysters, but it took all of my strength banging them against the counter, shell shards flying all over the kitchen, I'm really surprised I didn't slice open or puncture my hand with that screwdriver.  What was I thinking?  Tonight, I used a true oyster knife and was able to shuck twice as many oysters in half the time with hardly any shell shards outside of the towel I was using to protect my hand.

After you obtain your oyster knife and have purchased your oysters, you are ready to start shucking.  Gently clean each oyster with a scrubbing brush under cool water.  Place a folded up tea towel in your left hand and place the oyster in your left hand on top of the tea towel with the point of the oyster facing you.  In the point of the oyster, you will see a small place where the two halves of the shell are slightly separated (it is not big at all).  This is the hinge of the shell.  With the oyster knife in your right hand, place the point of the knife in this hinge.  FIRMLY press the knife into this space, wiggling back and forth, up and down until you break the hinge.  After you break the hinge, the two halves of the oyster will separate slightly, but there is still a strong muscle holding the halves together.  Take your knife and work it around the oyster until you cut through the muscle.  Once you cut through, the two halves will separate.  Now, you will only need to keep one half of the shell (the one that is most bowl like).  Separate the oyster from the shell on both halves and place them into that shell.  Pour the oyster liquor into a small saucepan and place the oyster shell onto a prepared cookie sheet that has a thick layer of salt on it to prevent the oyster shells from rolling.  Continue shucking all of the oysters, plan on 6 per person.  When you are finished shucking, here is a simple way to prepare them if you're at all squeamish about slurping them down raw.

Broiled Oysters with Lemon Zest by Joie de vivre

Serves 3

Ingredients:

18 oysters on the half shell (6 per person)

The oyster liquor from the oysters

1/4 cup white wine

sliver of butter

lemon zest from 1 lemon

Directions:

1.  Place the oyster liquor, white wine and butter in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then strain into a large measuring cup with a pouring spout.

2.  Pour a small amount of liquid into each oyster shell.

3.  Broil the oysters for 3-4 minutes.

4.  Sprinkle a little lemon zest over each oyster.

5.  Eat immediately with fresh bread.  Yum!

Staying resolute

Part of my New Year's resolution was to entertain more.  Well, here it is February and I finally entertained my first guests of the New Year yesterday.  It took me a while, but I had so much fun that I'm going to be doing it more frequently.  Getting over that first hurdle is always the hardest. 

My skills were challenged yesterday as I was cooking not only for people I had never before cooked for, but for a vegetarian.  It being Sunday, my plan was to make a soup that I could put in the crock pot before church.  I knew that my Red Lentil and Carrot Soup with Coconut would impress, but as luck would have it, I could not find red lentils at any of my usual sources.  What's a girl to do who's pressed for time and who is having her first guests of the New Year over?  Improvise, of course!

I adapted the red lentil soup recipe to use something I could readily find, split peas, and the rest is soup history.  This soup was flavorful, delicious, had a wonderful texture and was warming and filling.  I'm sending this over to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her weekly Souper Sunday event.  Enjoy!

Split Pea Soup with Carrots and Coconut by Joie de vivre

Ingredients:

2 cups dried split peas

1 Tbls. vegetable oil

2 large onions, chopped

5 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. tumeric

2 tsp. cumin seeds

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

8 cups vegetable stock

1 14 oz. can coconut milk

1/8 tsp. chili pepper

Directions:

1.  In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to brown.  

2. Add the minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds, until fragrant.  Add the tumeric and cumin seeds and cook, stirring, for an additional 30 seconds.

3.  Add the vegetable stock and the salt and pepper.  Stir in the split peas.

4.  Transfer the entire mixture to the insert of a large (6 qt) crock pot.  Cover and cook on LOW for 8 - 10 hours or on HIGH for 4 - 5 hours.

5.  Stir in the coconut milk and chili pepper and cook on HIGH for an additional 20 - 30 minutes before serving.

Weight Loss Weekly

Weight Loss Weekly is a collaboration between me and three other bloggers trying to lose weight.  Please join us for this weekly series as we discuss the challenges of losing weight, and our progress towards reaching our weight loss goals.

Our topic for this week is a discussion of the basic principles of the "diet" we are following.  Here is what the other three have to say.

Nurit's response:

“I don’t believe in diets. There’s always something new; eat this, don’t eat that, eat more of this, eat less of that. Fat-free, low-fat, sugar-free, gluten-free, no-carbs… South Beach, Atkins, Whatever… Enough already! Even the USDA can’t make up their minds about the “pyramid”…” To read more click 1 family. friendly. food.

Sunny's response:

"For our weight loss weekly bit we're discussing the main guidelines of the diet we're following which I already talked about last week. But I do have a few new things I'm going to be adding to my plan for my next 6 week challenge." Keep reading at That Extra 20 Pounds

Giyen's response:

Giyen is writing about a slightly different topic today, but you can read her blog at Bacon is My Enemy

My response:

I'm finding this a difficult question to answer because I am not following a "diet" in the sense that some diets are.  None of this 30, 20, 20 nonsense or carb restriction or all carbs, or only grapefruit on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays...yeah, I know you've heard of them.  Rather, I'm following the life approach Mireille Guiliano talks about in her book French Women Don't Get Fat.

I suppose the biggest changes I have made are to look at food and eating as an adventure in sensory awareness.  I pay attention to how foods look, how they are presented, how they smell, how the table is set, the lighting of the room, in addition to how the food tastes.  When you look at eating as more than a refueling stop and instead look at it in terms of taking care of yourself and pampering yourself, you naturally pay more attention to the quality and quantity of food you are eating and eat less.

I say this is a lifestyle approach because I have not only made dietary and meal time changes, but I've changed the way I live my life.  I dress better, I pay attention to accessories, I entertain in my home more, and I keep fresh flowers and plants in my house.  I engage people more and am trying to feel more comfortable in my own skin and with who I am.  I am so much more than how much I weigh or what I eat.

Yes, there are certain diet changes also.  I eat one to two servings of plain yogurt a day, I'm also eating more fruits and veggies, going for a daily walk, and I've also developed a love of prunes!  But it is the diet changes as well as the lifestyle changes that have changed me the most and helped me to become more comfortable in my own skin and to appreciate the little things around me.

If you would like to learn more about French Women Don't Get Fat, sign up to follow my blog as my whole blog is a testament to the changes I've made in my life since finding that book.  Also, tune in every Friday for my French Fridays series, as well as every Monday for another installment of Weight Loss Weekly.