Oysters St. James - Our Valentine’s Day Meal
Creating special meals for your family for holiday celebrations can be when you may
splurge a little on your budget. My husband and I ate out for dinner several weeks ago and enjoyed one of the best meals. It was on the pricey side of our budget for the meal without the tip it cost $95. So I decided to re-create the meal for our family for Valentine’s where they could enjoy the same meal for a fraction of the price. It cost approximately $76 to serve this meal to six adults, without a tip, of course!
While this is much more than I'd spend on a typical weekly meal, it was well worth it for a special holiday meal. Not to mention, MUCH more economical than eating out.
We do live in the south, so some of the ingredients are less expensive for us and easier to obtain but use your imagination and have fun making your dinner a banquet for your family.
Oysters St. James, my name for the dish, is a take on the old-time favorite, Oysters Rockerfella, named after John D. Rockerfella. The dish originated in 1899 when there was a shortage of escargot and the chef created a new dish with oysters. Because of its rich taste and the wealth of the Rockerfellas he named after him.
I chose to fry the oysters instead of baking them. I then place them on a bed of delicious spinach sauce and they are simply divine! I prepared two dozen oysters for approximately $36, we would have paid $104 for that same amount at the restaurant!
Our full menu
Our main course was grilled salmon, simply prepared with a little butter and spices. I used the frozen salmon from Sam’s, another easy but impressive dish to prepare.
Steamed whole green beans were a delightful side dish.
I steam them and add a little seasoning and butter, sometimes I add butter and toasted almond slices depending on the menu.
I love the frozen whole green beans from Sam’s. They taste like they are freshly picked from the garden.
Another plus side to frozen vegetables is that generally, they have the highest level of nutrients! Because vegetables are frozen very shortly after harvesting, they typically retain the vast majority of their nutrients. Check out this article from Health Line to learn more!
The dessert was chocolate-covered strawberries!! The strawberries were amazing. Every little bite was like a bite of strawberry shortcake, just delightful! The strawberries cost $10 to make 30, $6 for strawberries, and $4 for chocolate. A few cents for a few sprinkles thrown on top. They were selling for $6.99 for 6 at the store, so it would have been $27.96 for the same amount I made. Another bargain!
The star of the show was, of course, the Oysters St. James. Keep reading to hear how I created this dish!
How it’s made
I started off by rising and cleaning off the oysters and left them to chill in a bowl while preparing the other ingredients.
Next, I melted the butter. When it was melted, I added in my onions and sauteed them 3-4 minutes. As much as Victoria and I both cook, we still burn onions while they’re sauteing. Make sure to keep an eye on them!
When the onions are clear, add the spinach and saute until the spinach it is wilted. This whole dish may seem complicated, but it cooks incredibly fast and is much easier than it sounds.
Once the spinach wilts, I added the cream, lemon juice, and black pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat allow the cream to reduce until half. Then remove the spinach creme from heat and allow it to cool. Place one tablespoon in each oyster shell.
My main issue with this portion of the dish was keeping my daughters from “sampling” the whole bowl!
To prepare the oysters shells for baking, I started by cleaning the oyster shells I was using. I used pre-shucked oysters for this recipe, so I used oyster shells from a previous dinner. They had been washed and cleaned previously, and I put them in the oven on a pan to sterilize them, one more time. I also have friends who love metal oyster shells, they’re reusable, easy to store, and eco-friendly. Here’s a link to some on Amazon!
Heat up the canola oil to 375 degrees. I cooked the oysters in my cast iron skillet, my go-to!
Beat egg whites and water together in a bowl, and then dip oysters in the egg mixture. Don’t forget to have a “wet hand” for the eggs, and “dry hand” to dip in the fry fish!
When the oysters are fully breaded, gently place in hot oil so they don’t splatter.
They cook very quickly. Turn them after one minute and allow to turn nicely brown, it should take around 2-3 minutes total. Drain and keep warm.
When you’re ready to serve your Oysters St. James, place oyster shells with the spinach mix onto a serving dish, and add one oyster per shell.
This dish seems incredibly fancy, but it's actually rather simple to make!
It may not be a regular dish on our menu, but it makes for a special treat.
It was such a joy to have this wonderful meal with several of my children. Next holiday, I'm planning on a special meal for the whole crew! If you try this recipe, make sure to let us know if you enjoyed it, or tag us online!
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