Cooking Recipes Articel

A dare. A local curiosity. A southern specialty. These are enticements you heeded in your intro to Louisiana oysters. However
the mystique of oysters may actually scare some home cooks away.

The Louisiana Seafood Board brings you a handy guide to selecting and preparing oysters
so you can serve this delicacy fearlessly.

What Do Oysters Look Like?

Oyster meats are cream to light brown with ruffled edges and a silky texture. Avoid fluffy white oysters as they're filled with water. Oysters should not be floating
but packed closely-with no more than 10 percent liquid.

Oysters are available in pints or quarts. The containers should be clean. Check for government- required information: best-if-used-by date
interstate shellfish permit #
weight
nutrition facts
and country of origin.

How Do Oysters Smell?

Oysters have a clean ocean smell. Never buy oysters with an odor.

How Much Is One Serving?

Louisiana oysters are available year-round and vary in size from season to season. Skinny oysters come as many as 30 to the pint. Medium or fat oysters come 16 to 18 per pint. Either way
a pint is approximately three servings.

What Do Oysters Taste Like?

American oysters
Eastern oysters
Gulf of Mexico oysters
or Louisiana oysters-they are actually all the same animal. In fact
there is only one oyster that is native to the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

However
like fine wines
oysters have subtle nuances in flavor-depending on where they're cultivated. In a blind taste test by an independent researcher
consumers chose Louisiana oysters over others sold in the U.S. 85 percent of the time.

Try this longtime Louisiana oyster favorite.

Traditional Louisiana

Oyster Stew

4 servings

11/2 pints medium Louisiana oysters

1/2 cup shallots
diced

1 pint milk

2 Tbsp. butter

Salt & pepper to taste

Over a high heat
saut้ shallots in butter. Stir in milk. Bring to boiling point
then lower heat. Ease in oysters. Simmer until oyster edges furl (3-5 minutes). Add salt & pepper. Serve with crackers.

A grand prize of $100
0
will be awarded to America's top chicken cook at the 47th National Chicken Cooking Contest
to be held May 4
2007
in Birmingham
Ala.

Fifty-one contestants
one from each state and the District of Columbia
will be selected to compete. Chicken is the only required ingredient for recipe entries
and it can be prepared whole
in parts or in any combination of parts. Pre-cooked
pre-marinated and ground chicken products are also eligible.

Recipe preparation and other ingredients are left up to the imagination and creativity of the entrants. All recipes must be original
make four to eight servings and take less than three hours to prepare and cook twice. Grilling recipes are not allowed.

Contestants may submit an unlimited number of recipes. Each should be on a separate piece of paper and should include the contestant's name
full address and telephone number.

The judges
a national panel of food experts and journalists
will choose the winning recipes based on taste
appearance
simplicity and overall appeal.

The second-place finisher will be awarded $10
0
third place will win $5
0
fourth place will win $2
0
and fifth place will get $1
0
Every state finalist will win an expense-paid trip to Birmingham for the cook-off.

The contest is sponsored by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Members of the Alabama Poultry Federation will serve as local hosts.

The grand prize at the 46th National Chicken Cooking Contest
held in Charlotte
N.C.
in May 2005
went to Indiana contestant Camilla Saulsbury for her Mahogany Broiled Chicken with Smoky Lime Sweet Potatoes and Cilantro Chimichurri.