Carolina Oyster Roast

This weekend we had our "annual" Carolina Oyster Roast.  I put it in italics because, due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the difficulty in getting oysters from the Gulf, we had to cancel our 2005 annual oyster roast.  And once it stopped, seems like we would never think of it again in time to get it all together!

But this year is different!  We had been to Charleston SC back in January 2011 in order to attend the Boone Hall Plantation Oyster Roast, and that got us geared up to start back up this year!

We sent out the invitations about a month in advance.  Per the RSVP, we planned on 22 guests showing up, plus my wife and I, for a total of 24 people.

Previous roasts indicated I would need about 5 cases of oysters.  I ordered them from Whole Foods a week in advance (per their instructions), the same place I've been buying them for years.  They do oysters a little odd around here (Atlanta) - they sell them by the case, instead of by the bushel.  Anyway, a case is about 35 lbs of oysters in the shell.

On the day before the party, the manager at Whole Foods called to say they weren't going to be able to provide us with the oysters!  They offered me 1 (one - one little lb) lb of shrimp for my trouble!  Quite generous of them, considering they were putting us out of business with our guests!

I located another seller - Bufford Hwy Farmer's Market.  They had plenty, so I took a ride down to have a look at the quality.  They looked great!  I picked up 5 cases and returned home with them.  These oysters were from New Zealand, instead of of the Gulf of Mexico - they were in bigger shells, and the shells were thicker.  However, the oysters themselves were larger.

Once I unloaded them, I realized the yield from their cases were less than Whole Foods, which accounted for the price difference (the cases were a lot less expensive), but now I was going to be short of enough oysters.....but that is what Son-in-laws are for - to go get more oysters!  He returned to the store and picked up another 3 cases

With a total of 8 cases, we examined each oyster for breaks or open shells before washing them under a hard spray of water, then transferred them to a large plastic tub, where I then covered them with ice to hold them over to the next day.

BTW - we do not serve any raw oysters at our parties; all are cooked.  Our favorite method for cooking oysters is to steam them. This is a superior method for cooking oysters.  The heat of the steam is lower than that provided over a grill, so it allows you to cook the oyster slower and more precisely to the desired amount of doneness.  We like ours to be hot and full of liquid, not shriveled up little homeless creatures!  And steaming them allows you to provide just that amount of doneness.

We setup the party in the garage - seven (7) 6-foot tables, arranged in a "U" shape - with one end accessible from outside (where I was cooking) and the guests lined up along the outer edge of the tables. We provided gloves to protect our guests' hands, and an oyster knife for each guest, along with beer and wine, as well as Low-Country-Boil for our guests that didn't like oysters (this is shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob).

Outside, I set up three 'turkey fryers', which are sold here in the USA.  These consist of a large propane burner, a 20 lb propane tank, and a 5 gallon pot with a large basket strainer.  I poured a couple of inches of water into each of the three pots, then lit burners.  Three burners going at the same time produces quite a roar!  While this was coming up to heat, we filled each basket 1/2 way up with oysters - this is important, because we will be lifting these baskets up and over the pots, then into the garage, where we will go along the tables pouring out a stream of oysters.  If we were to fill the baskets up, they would be too heavy for us later in the night (this goes on for a couple of hours), and also it would be too many oysters at once for the guests, so they would cool down.

There were three of us cooking this time - me, my son-in-law, and a friend.  It takes this many people to feed 20 people with hot oysters!  It takes about 20 - 30 minutes for the first batch to be ready.  You know they are ready after it comes to a boil, the froth from the oysters will rise up all the way to the top of the lid.  So it's past the point of boil, but waiting until the froth hits the top, tells you they are ready (per the temperature and doneness we like to serve ours).  We made sure the oyster tub was set up on saw-horses at waist high, as the first year I had them on the ground and filling the baskets all night with 500 oysters left me crippled with my back from stooping - so now we set the tub up at waist high, put the basket in the waist-high tub and fill them up.

Once we start delivering oysters to the tables, our goal is to keep a steady stream of oysters going to the guests.  In order to do this, we've got one person filling the baskets and lowering them into the pots, then another person monitoring the pots, then a third person pulling the basket and pouring the oysters out along the tables, then returning the basket to the oyster-filler.

We keep this assembly line process going, switching off each job among ourselves, as the oyster basket-filler person will get numb fingers after a while, and the person doing the delivery will need a rest for his arms.

While we are doing this work, we don't stop for anything - we don't eat oysters, and rarely drink a beer, as it's just too busy.

Later, when the last batch of oysters are in the pot cooking, we'll start on our beers and our dinner.

Afterwards, we sit around a 'pit fire' that we place onto our driveway, smoke cigars, have Lemonchellos, laugh, and just visit with each other.

The party starts at 6 PM, and usually the last guest has left around 2 AM.

Dennis Ritchie

Dennis is dead, and I'm not feeling too good myself.

Dennis Ritchie in co-writing the C Language, and the book that accompanied it, has probably provided me, and my family, with more money than anything else I've ever read, studied, or undertaken.  It has been more valuable to me, in wages earned, than a college degree.

I still have the first edition of this book; I doubt it is even 100 pages.

I remember reading it after having programmed in Fortran, Basic, machine code, and Algo.  I got goose bumps when I got to the part about functions, pointers and stacks.  I could just imagine all of the re-usuable software that was going to be invented and made available.

While known for the C programming language, if not for them, we would not have UNIX today, nor Linux, nor Android, nor......

Sometime, for a gift, I'm hoping my family can get together and get my book framed, like people do for college degrees.  It was my graduate program.

Banjo

Dining in Charleston - Fig Restaurant

Fig Restaurant
Map Link

Fig - an interesting choice of names.  Having climbed in fig trees as a boy, it brings back good memories.  The branches are low and horizontal, making for easy climbing for a 4 year old.  Just enough of a challenge to make you feel like a "big boy", but low enough so you can't really get hurt.

Fig - the restaurant....our daughter Heather recommended this place to us.  She and her boyfriend had an excellent "Heather's Adventure - the Movie" here.  The think this has one of the best bars and bartenders they've run across, east of Las Vegas.  And that's saying something!

Fig is located in a completely nondescript building on Meeting St, just north of Market St., at the corner of Meeting and Hasell St.  It's very easy to get to, and by Charleston standards, they have convenient parking as well!  Just down from the restaurant on Hasell St (east), on the right, is a large paid parking lot; makes for safe, convenient parking.

The decor - I don't usually talk about the decor in a restaurant; I'm either comfortable and enjoy the 'look' of things, or not.  Fig however, is a "little different".  There aren't really any windows; from the outside, it looks like it might have been a place to go to avoid bad weather.  However, on the inside, they've turned it into something really interesting.  On the South wall, they've hung a series of beach landscape scenes, as might be viewed just at dusk.  Each panel is a little different; one being the surf, another being a river inlet, another being a marsh.  I found this to be very different, and entertaining to "ponder" as I waited for my meal to be delivered.

Our waitress was a server from the local College of Charleston.  She had a quick, nice smile, and worked hard to make our dining experience enjoyable.  Unfortunately, since I'm writing this a week later, and since I'm a happily married man of 36 years, I no longer recall her name!  Too bad, as she was worth a mention here for her service.

The food we had was really good.  It was definitely worth the price we paid, and was both flavorful and interesting.  This James Beard award winning restaurant was top on our list for dining destinations on this trip.  Having eaten at many other James Beard award winners and nominees over the years, we looked forward to this for weeks before our arrival in Charleston.

We were not  disappointed!

We started with the CODDLED SEA ISLAND FARM EGG.  For those not familiar with the term "coddled", it means, in essence, to take tender care of something.  This egg was indeed taken tender care of as it was cooked to perfection.  Since I have a Sous Vide Supreme  cooker at home, I can replicate this dish and am thus familiar with it, it was nevertheless a wonderful start to our dinner.

I really hate to tell you this, but in looking back over their online menu, since it was almost two weeks ago that we dined at Fig, I realize we both chose from their daily menu, and that I no longer recall the individual dishes we chose, other than the Coddled Egg.  I do remember that we were both pleased with it, and would enjoy going back.

Hopefully, my wife, who is away at choir practice as I write this, will recall in better detail the dishes we enjoyed, and I'll be able to update this post.

Would we go back?  Yes!  The food and service was excellent, and the interior was interesting!

According to my daughter Heather, the bar is excellent too!

Dining in Charleston - SeeWee Restaurant

SeeWee Restaurant
Map Link

The SeeWee Restaurant is located about 15 miles north of Mt. Pleasant SC, so it's a bit of a hike.  However, if you are into a little bit of travel, then this may just be your cup of tea!

SeeWee Restaurant is located within an old gas station.  It's eclectic inside and out; even the restrooms are outside, just like in the day of the old filling stations.

But make no mistake - they are serving honest Southern Fried Seafood, along with all of the trimmings.  This is first rate.  While the distance may be a bit of a hassle, the price makes up for it; your bill will be considerably cheaper than anything in the Charleston area for comparable food.

This is not gourmet food; instead, this is the style of food we grew up with in Calabash NC; if you like good Southern Fried Seafood, then you will love this place!

Nearby, to the north, is McClennenville, where hurricane Hugo came ashore in 1990(?).  Also due east is Cape Romain, where you can go out on the landing pier and observe the marsh wildlife and seashore.

We made a whole afternoon of it, and thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of our time here, from the food to the seashore.

There's also the  "Center for Birds Of Prey" (Map Link) located just a short drive to the East.  We haven't been here (yet!), but it certainly looks interesting!

Dining in Charleston - Social Wine Bar

Social
Map Link

My, what a fun place!

Our daughter had stated that we simply must go to Social Wine Bar! So, on Thursday evening, prior to dinner at SNOB, we stopped by Social!  And are we glad we did!

We did not have dinner her.  We just had drinks.

The drinks are very reasonably priced; it may be that we were getting an early bird special rate; not sure, but the price was very good.

My wife had a wine flight of 3 white wines for $13.  I had three Dewar's Scotch drinks at $3.00 each!  Note that the pours are not full pours, so it's not an outstanding deal, but very very reasonable.

Our waitstaff was good and attentive, and the crowd was fun.

We enjoyed sitting here and watching the people stream by on E. Bay St.

Note that they do server food, but we didn't order any food at all; just drinks.