August 27th - Anniversary Dinner

This year, our 39th Anniversary, I think I will cook at home. With our new rooms, decks and the nice weather, I think this is prettier than anywhere else we can go! So, I'll cook Ray's favorites in my new kitchen and we'll eat out on our new deck. Then I can soak in my new tub (maybe Ray'll clean up the kitchen while I linger in the bubbles) and go to sleep in my beautiful bedroom!

So for the menu!

Of course, I'll have to make "Oysters Louie" using the recipe sent to me by Leeds Lmt Restaurant. Ray went there while working a Pure Fishing show and fell in love with this. After about two years, I finally found the restaurant and asked them for the recipe. And they sent it!

"hi olive....start out by dusting the oysters with a mixture of flour, pepper, salt, and a pinch of cayenne(spelling?) pepper. fry them to your liking. make a creamed spinach...aka...rockafeller sauce (not sure how its prepared but recipes must be available online somewhere). place sauce on half shell...pre warm shell to ensure oyster wont get cold. place oyster on top of sauce. take texas pete hot sauce or your favorite and mix with honey. drizzle over oyster. then put alittle blue cheese dressing over it. we make our own blue cheese dressing....i think that is important for optimal taste. im not positive on the recipe for it but it is fairly easy and again a similar recipe shouldnt be hard to find. good luck i hope this helps...jonah"

Thank you, Jonah!

Well... I've worked on this, and after about three tries, I made one that Ray says is as good as theirs! First I found a good Blue Cheese Receipe.. and changed it a bit to fit Leeds taste, (as Ray remembered it)!

Blue Cheese Dressing

1/2 cup Blue Cheese
1/3 cup Buttermilk
1 tablespoon Champagne Vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper
1/2 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

Place the buttermilk, mustard, black pepper and half the cheese in a blender and process for a few seconds, until combined and creamy.
Pour in the vinegar with the machine running.
Crumble the remaining cheese in a bowl.
Pour the dressing over the crumbles cheese and stir together.
Add salt or more vinegar as necessary. You may also add lemon juice if the dressing is not tangy enough. Add more buttermilk to thin, if necessary.
Chill overnight.

The dressing can be made overnight, but the Rockefellow Sauce must be fresh and hot.