A great treat: oysters with a variety of white wines. Photo by Nathan Maxfield | IST.
We love oysters, so we hosted an extensive wine-and-oyster celebration last Friday, National Oyster Day (August 5th).
When we began eating oysters (way back in our college years), the de rigeur wine was a crisp Chablis from northern France—or Champagne, if you were a bon vivant.
But if you know what to look for, you can buy an oyster-friendly white wine for $10—and have more money to spend on oysters. We’ve asterisked * the more affordable wines we tried (of course, some wines in these categories are more than $10—ask your wine store clerk for help).
And here’s another budget-wise tip: Each participant was assigned one of these wines to bring to the party.
STILL WHITE WINES
Albariño.* A lighter style crisp white wine, a refreshing Albariño is a delightful oyster pairing in warm weather.
Chablis. The classic pairing, a French chablis is dry with notes of minerals.
Chenin Blanc (Dry).* This is not our favorite white wine grape, but if you enjoy Chenin Blanc, try it with oysters.
Dry Riesling.* A sophisticated approach for palates that demand something different.
Chardonnay. We love Chardonnay but prefer something a bit lighter with oysters. If Chardonnay is your go-to wine, pick an unoaked style.
Muscadet. This bistro regular can be hard to find in the U.S. If your wine store carries it, here’s an opportunity to get to know Muscadet.
Pinot Gris. An Alsatian Pinot Gris is one of our favorite oyster pairings: rich with spicy tropical fruit notes.
Pinot Grigio.* Made in Italy from the same grape as Pinot Gris, this style is lighter, crisp and clean.
Sauvignon Blanc.* Depending on where it’s grown, this wine can be grassy or citrussy (we like both styles). It’s always good, clean and balanced.
Sherry (Dry). This combination is popular in Spain, although we find that the nutty flavors of the wine interfere with the delicate flavor of raw oysters. It goes better with cooked oyster dishes.
SPARKLING WINES
Champagne. Champagne and oysters: sexy and luxurious. Pop the cork for a special occasion.
Cremant d’Alsace. This bubbly, from the Loire region, has a more affordable price and just as much festivity.
Prosecco. This lighter-style sparkler from Italy is always popular for warm-weather drinking.
BEER WITH OYSTERS
While we were comparing all of the wines, someone asked for a beer.
We pulled out several different styles: an amber ale, IPA, Pilsner and stout. All were delicious, but the stout, a roasty style of beer (the term comes from the dark-roasted malts used to brew it) was deemed a perfect beer pairing.
If you’re looking for a gourmet Labor Day activity, here’s your blueprint!
See our Oyster Glossary for everything you wanted to know about oysters.
Check out the different types of beer in our Beer Glossary.
We really need your opinion on the design of our new e-commerce website.
Our friends at Heinz have donated two picnic baskets to entice you to complete the two-minute survey: a classic picnic basket filled with bottles of tangy Heinz 57 Sauce with a special 100th anniversary label, plus:
A checkered tablecloth to set the mood
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An American flag to celebrate the great American tradition of outdoor grilling
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You can buy lychee-coconut water or take advantage of lychee season and enjoy fresh lychee. Photo by Deasy Setiawati Widjaja | Dreamstime.
If you’ve seen the uber-trendy Rihanna posing in ads with a container of Vita Coco coconut water, you know that chilled juice from green coconuts is a hot drink.
When Vita Coco was introduced in the U.S. in 2004, coconut water had minimal visibility and sales were confined to certain ethnic communities. A mere five years later, sales of coconut water were about $35 million. And two years after that—this year—U.S. coconut water sales will top $350 million.
That’s impressive—and the reason why we set out to taste the different brands of coconut water to see how much they differ.
You can take two simple steps to grill a better burger.
Dimple It
If your burgers tend to puff up, here’s a tip to keep them looking good: Use a spoon to press a dimple into the top before placing them on the grill. The burgers will rise while remaining shapely.
Butter It
We had burgers at the home of a friend who shaped her patties around a pat of butter, like Martha Stewart does. We were shocked at the addition of cholesterol to cholesterol, but decided to taste it before passing judgment.
It was luscious, and inspired us to do the same, with our own improvement: compound (flavored) butter (see here for our favorite compound butter recipes).
T-Rex and Triceratops in a Jurassic food fight.
Our money’s on T-Rex. Photo by Jaclyn
Nussbaum | THE NIBBLE.
We’ve all seen films of massive dinosaurs eating their prey. Although mankind and dinos did not walk the earth at the same time, films like Jurassic Park have remedied that fact: We’ve seen more than a few dinosaurs make a meal of man.
And now, man can eat dinosaurs.
Although we didn’t have anyone’s birthday to celebrate, when we saw this Nordicware Dinosaur Cakelet Pan from our favorite cake pan manufacturer, we knew we had to bake a batch.
The pan yields two each of Apatosaurus (formerly known as Brontosaurus), Stegosaurus, Triceratops and the king himself, Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Both kids and adults will delight in taking a bite of the ginormous antediluvian reptiles—here, reduced to the size of a large cupcake, or cakelet.
Getting all the tiny details in the mold to come out perfectly is a piece of cake (pun intended): Just follow a few simple baking tips.
As cool as the dinosaurs looked when we popped them out of the pan, we couldn’t leave them unadorned. We used Nordicware’s E-Z Deco Icing Pen to create the fine lines outlining each dinosaur.
For those of us who would never be invited to assist the Ace Of Cakes, the Icing Pen combines a basic pastry bag with a pen-like applicator. Simply fill the bag with icing, insert it into the applicator and start decorating your cake. The easy-to-hold ergonomic handle lets you “write” as if you were using a pen.
It’s easy to hold and to apply pressure evenly. Even if all you do is write “Happy Birthday” on a cake twice a year, this little gadget is worth its drawer space.
One tip: Don’t forget to unscrew the two parts of the plastic coupler before you begin. We didn’t even realize there were two parts until we were finished, but the cakelets turned out just fine.
