Last Meal On Earth has moved!

Hi All!  Blogger is great, but the software was limiting and I wanted something fabulous.  So, I set out on my own and you can now read my posts at www.lastmealonearth.com.  

Thanks for reading!

Love, Lysa

What the Huh?

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I have found some BIZARRE items in my backyard after a big party, but this one takes the cake (mmm...cake).  Did Carmen Miranda drink one too many South Sides and fall over the patio furniture, thus losing some vital components of her headwear?  How embarrassing!  Looks like her loss is my gain.  Now, what should I make with this stuff?

A Recipe for Gluttony: One delicious gin-soaked weekend

Oysters and South Side Cocktails have been a Cooper family tradition on "Opening Day on the Bay" for 30+ years. But, who can wait another nine months for that to roll around again? Especially considering this could be our last meal on earth.  It's just TOO GOOD.  Also, the amazing weather and lush condition of the backyard landscaping mandate a gathering.  So here's the (eh' hem...) Skinny!

Ingredients:

100 raw oysters

3 pounds butter

50 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

4 long sourdough baguettes, sliced into 1/2" thick medallions

1 day absence of a conscience

Step One:

Take advantage of your local resources in the gathering of high-quality raw materials.

Select 100 of the finest specimens.

Step Two:

Sample some of the product before you even make it back to the car with your purchase.  Here are a dozen raw and a dozen bbq.  

Crack a cold one....

...and enjoy the view!

Step Three:

Bring your booty home and scrub the treasures well.  It's important to let the tense oyster relax.  Not with a massage, but with rest.  At least for an hour.  The meat will taste better that way.  Tuck them into a bed of clean ice for a little nap.  Bedtime story optional.   

Meanwhile, melt your butter and garlic in a large saucepan over a very low heat.  Grill oysters over medium heat until good and hot and the shells can be easily opened. Scoop oyster meat and juice into the butter.

Spoon oysters, one at a time, onto the baguette medallions and let the salty butter and oyster juice run down your chin, as you moan with pleasure. OH! Sorry, I got a little pornographic there.  Family site!  But, really, YUMMMY!

That takes care of the food, but now you need a beverage.  A traditional South Side Cocktail is as follows:

1 1/2 ounce dry gin

1/2 ounce lemon juice

2 sprigs fresh mint

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass with ice and mint sprigs. Hmm, how civilized. **she takes a sip, whilst gingerly extending one pinky finger.**

But, this is GLUTTONY, after all.  So here's how we revise this recipe...

Combine three gallons of gin, 7 cans of lemonade concentrate, and 6 bunches of fresh mint in a large clean ice chest with a 20 pound bag of ice.  Then, stir, stir, stir.  And of course, taste, taste, taste.

It's best to start this the night before, so that some of the ice melts into the drink and the flavors marry perfectly.  Oh, and be careful!  The gin taste is conspicuously absent, so it's easy to forget you are drinking pure blackout juice. 

Croque Madame, que c'est délicieux !

Call me a Francophile.  Go ahead, I won’t even give you a dirty look.  The one characterized by my solitary arched eyebrow, pursed lips, and ever-so-slightly tilted head that subtly conveys I am destroying you with my thoughts?  Yep, you know the one.

I LOVE the French.  I love their attitude, their habits, their language, their cities.  Mostly, I just love a culture that revolves around the sensual gratification derived from food and drink.  I see myself in it.  When I am ambling through the misty cobblestone backstreets of Paris (more daydream than actual occurrence), I can visualize myself a life in this place.  My wet laundry would look at home, drying on the line outside of that random apartment window...

For me, nothing screams Paris louder to my taste buds than a Croque Madame (or her faithful counterpart, the Croque Monsieur).  It has been appearing on Parisian cafe menus since the early 1900’s and takes a variety of forms and personalities.  It is high-class street food and an experience not to be missed, if it's done right!  Most recipes found online call for a fried egg plopped right on top of the sandwich.  I prefer this method, which incorporates the egg into the sandwich and makes it possible to still eat it sans knife and fork.  I like mine with turkey and Muenster cheese on artichoke & garlic sourdough.  It’s love at first crunch.

Croque Madame

2 slices french bread of your liking

High quality butter

Generous slathering of creole mustard (trust me)

Slice peppered turkey breast

Slice Gruyere or Muenster cheese (or more!)

1 Egg

1. Slather both sides of the bread with butter.  
2. Spread a generous layer of mustard onto the buttered sides of each slice of bread.  
3. Put turkey and cheese on the bottom slice, place top slice on the sandwich.  
4. Grill over medium heat in a cast iron pan for 4 minutes.  Turn and grill other side for 4 minutes.  Cut a hole 1 1/2 inches in diameter in the top slice of bread.  Crack the egg into the hole, allowing whites to run down the sides and over the bread.  
5. Put under a broiler for 5 minutes.  Monitor this step carefully, as the bread will take advantage of every opportunity to burst into flames.  Don’t be scared.  I think the singed edges add to the tastiness and “croque” of this sandwich, but if you don’t care for it, you may consider covering the non-eggy parts of the bread with a little foil, or running the egg white all over the top slice with a basting brush.  Broil until the egg whites are opaque and the yolk is more firm.  Cut in half, through the yolk.
6. Serve with chilled champagne.  Bon Appetit, mon ami!

Suggested Playlist...wine and friends aside, what goes better with food than music?

• Les Amants D'Un Jour- Edith Piaf
• La mer- Charles Trenet
• A bicyclette- Andre Bourvil
• Grain d'ananar- Leo Ferre
• C'est Si Bon- Yves Montand
• Flambee Montalbanese- Madelaine Peyroux