Oyster Nachos
Episode 10 Hilah’s Texas Kitchen: Oyster Nachos!
Evangeline Cafe is one of Austin’s best-loved Cajun restaurants. Chef and owner Curtis Clarke hails from Lake Charles Louisiana and for 10 years has been making friends through his delicious food and nightly live music. Perhaps Evangeline’s most famed item is their Oysters Contraband, or “oyster nachos” as they are affectionately referred to … by myself and Chris. A large Gulf oyster, lightly breaded and fried then served on top of a house-made Kettle chip and served generously drenched in a special remoulade that incorporates ground sausage and jalapeño. These are not for delicate eaters. Listed as an appetizer, I personally would be happy to eat an entire order of them myself and call it dinner.
The praline stuffed pistolette is another favorite. A single-serving French roll, hollowed out and stuffed with brown sugar and pecans, then deep fried and served with a cinnamon caramel sauce makes for a decadent dessert that’s perfect for sharing. Or not sharing. Try one with a mug of Community coffee. It’s heavenly.
Below you’ll find my version of Oyster Nachos. Admittedly more Tex-Mex than Tex-Cajun, but just as tasty. If you like a milder remoulade sauce, replace the oil with mayonnaise and reduce the mustard to 1/4 cup.
PrintOyster Nachos
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- Remoulade Sauce:
- 1/3 cup spicy mustard
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons grated horseradish
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- Cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup light-flavored oil (canola, light olive, safflower, sunflower, etc)
- 1/4 cup minced celery hearts and leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced green onion
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley
- Dash hot pepper sauce
- up to 1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
- Oyster Nachos:
- 1 pint shucked oysters (about 8 large oysters)
- 1/2 cup corn meal (aka “fine polenta” in Europe)
- 1/2 cup oil for frying
- Salt
- Thick tortilla chips or potato chips
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients through black pepper.
- Stream in oil slowly, whisking, to form an emulsion.
- Add all other ingredients, adjusting for salt and heat. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Makes about 1 1/4 cups sauce and leftover sauce will keep in refrigerator a week. This sauce also goes well with fried fish and french fries.
- Drain oysters and roll lightly in cornmeal. Set aside while you heat the oil.
- Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high.
- Fry oysters for about 1 minute on each side until crisp and golden brown.
- Drain on paper and sprinkle with salt.
- Assemble “nachos” with chips, remoulade sauce, fried oysters.
- Garnish with pickled jalapeños and/or sliced green onion.
* These look really delicious. I’m glad you said “to taste” for the cayenne. That looked like a lot in the video.
* I know it would be looser, but could this be done without the oil?
* What variety of oysters did you use? I’ve grown very fond of pemaquids lately, They’re Maine oysters — plump and pretty briny — but I’ve never had them cooked.
Yes, you know we like the spice down here. 😉 I think it would be okay without the oil. The mustard might be a little strong. Maybe try diluting the sauce with a spoonful of FF yogurt or sour cream instead to balance the sharpness of the mustard. Or use a mild mustard, maybe?
I don’t know what those oysters were. I bought them already shucked in one of those plastic tubs, they were actually from the same oyster house on the Gulf of Mexico (Jeri’s Oysters) that Evangeline gets theirs from. It’s been a while since we’ve done an oyster tasting, but it’s fun. There was a place in Boston (forget the name) where Chris and I got a sampler platter of raw oysters from around the country. It was a lot of fun to compare them!
do you have a video or recipe of praline stuffed pistolette ? it looked so delicious and i would like to know how it is being cooked. thank you so much. You are one of my favorite hosts in you tube. God bless.
I wish, Terry! That’s one of their secret recipes, I think 🙂
I want to serve an oyster appetizer at my supper club next week, but I’m not the hostess and it’s a 20-minute drive. So ideally my appetizer would be delicious served at room temperature. Do you think these would be good at room temperature?
Hey Denise,
I think they would be okay at room temp, but probably not delicious. Maybe something like angels on horseback would be better. Wrap oysters in par-cooked bacon and toothpick to hold. You could even bring them like that to the party and then broil for 2-3 minutes when you get there