I originally entered this recipe in the "Recipe you want to be remembered for" contest. Like many of you, I struggled with what recipe to pick. I submitted this because I realized that this recipe is my favorite because it marks my evolution as a cook. The reason I am so creative is because I learned at the hip of my Gran. Starting out as her "sous chef" when I was less than three and standing on the step ladder/chair/deathtrap, I learn to stir carefully, then I am "promoted" and learn to dice precisely and eventually, cook with love and abandon. <br /> <br />Fast forward 45 years later...the day before I am to go on the Martha Stewart Show. <br /> <br />I am standing on top of the Rockefeller Center in NYC with my daughter at sunset....her college spring break and I am thinking about my legacy. My grandmother and mother before me, and now my daughter following me. Feeling a bit nostalgic, I remember attempting to recreate the oyster dish from Antoine's (a secret recipe not shared by any employee) in New Orleans. My grandmother had a cook book with recipes from many famous restaurants, but the owners wouldn't give this recipe. <br /> <br />Gran taught me to read a cookbook like a detective novel...or a romance novel, or historical fiction...but the different types of cookbooks each provided a different inspiration, a different leading lady, and could lead you to desperate thoughts (and deeds!) That cookbook haunted me. I had to figure out how to not only recreate a classic, but to unlock the secret combination of ingredients. <br /> <br />I've had a lot of fun trying to come up with a winning combination over the years, and this one is it and it has become the traditional first course at my mother's birthday dinner, and of course, Christmas Eve,so I will be making it again in a few weeks.

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