Oyster Bruschetta

Author Notes

I hate bruschetta almost as much as I hate the words "a duo of" when I see them on a menu. I once worked for a chef whose every appetizer idea was bruschetta and to this day it sends chills up my spine and I freeze in a moment of panic. I used to have nightmares that I had a restaurant and the entire menu was bruschetta, pronounced in the Hoosier manner, bresheta, served on bad bread, always with a smear of canned marinara and some pre-shredded mozz or, in other words, pizza bread. For me to type the title words to this recipe is a huge step in my recovery to this often overworked and oft abused appetizer. So when I was in Florida this last spring you can imagine my surprise, well lets just say tequila was involved, it wasn't, but that is what I am going to go with, when I was at the Sanibel farmers market and discovered great ingredients, finding their way into my recyclable market bag, that lead me to overcome my fears or at least take a step in that direction. It was so a moment of Jonathan Livingston Seagull I almost wanted to puke but there they were staring me smack in the face, these beautiful oysters and when the market lady let me taste one I almost collapsed to my knees in utter forgiveness for my bruschetta hating soul. It was such an out of body experience the way all the ingredients were finding there way into my bag and the way my brain was working, rapid fire, on a quest to prove myself wrong. I had been grilling a lot of green onions lately and I thought how cool, green onion and basil mignonette, sriracha, it was magical the way it happened but then that is the magic of eating fresh, at the source, or raw. It is why you have to have a huge arsenal of recipes and ideas in your brain, it is why you have to have experience in the kitchen and why you are the sum of your food experiences. When you eat this way you have to be able to adapt to what is fresh, tasty and on hand at the very moment you chance upon beautiful ingredients no matter how much you may hate yourself for it in the morning. —thirschfeld