6ea. Carolina Cup oysters
4ea. Stalks of crisp celery
1 Small bunch of cilantro
3ea. Large red ripe tomatoes
2T. Ground Horseradish
2c. Half & Half
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
6ea. Tall Shot Glasses
Pull the Oysters out of their shells and save the liquor from them making sure there are no shells in it. Keep refrigerated. Take the celery stalks and cilantro and send them through a juicer. Taste the extracted juice and season with a little kosher salt to taste. Reserve and keep cold.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Take your tomatoes and with a very sharp knife gently score an X in the bottom of them each. In a bowl place some cold water with ice deep enough to cover the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes, one at a time, into the boiling water for about 15 seconds. With a slotted spoon pull the tomato out of the water and submerge it into the ice water. Repeat this process till all the tomatoes are done. Peel the outer skin off of the tomatoes and cut them in quarters. Pull all of the seeds out of the tomatoes and puree them in a food processor. Season to taste. Place this puree into a fine mesh colander and allow the tomatoes to drain. You can save the juice to drink yourself while you’re working on the next part of this recipe. Once they have had some time to drain scrape the tomato puree into a container and chill. At this point you are ready to assemble your shooters. I like to use a tall shot glass with a foot on the bottom like a wine glass. This helps to steady them so they can sit in your fridge without tipping over, but any tall shot glass will do. In the bottom of each glass add the tomato puree, about an inch deep. Next add the oysters with a little of the reserved liquor. Atop of this add the celery juice mixture and a couple drops of the olive oil. You can then place them in your fridge until your ready to serve them. When you are ready, take the horseradish and half & half and place them into a small pot. Bring to a simmer. Shut off the heat. Next you’ll need an immersion blender. What’s that you say? It’s that hand held blender that you can place in a pot to puree something. Braun makes the one I use and it works well because there are holes in the bottom to help you incorporate air into what you’re pureeing. Take the blender and puree the horseradish cream by plunging the mixer in and out of the cream to help get it bubbly and airy. This may sound hard but it’s easy as pie. When you have a bunch of frothy bubbles on top use a spoon to gather them up and drizzle that “froth” into your shooters. Serve immediately to your guests. You’re done. Drink up and enjoy! If you like you can serve them with a dash of Tabasco but that’s up to you.