Baked oyster appetizer to ring in the new year!

Ingredients

• About 2-1/2 pounds of fresh, shucked oysters, drained. Enough for each person to have about 5-6 large oysters
• 1 tablespoon of bacon fat or olive oil (the bacon fat is not necessary but the flavor is great with oysters)
• 2 leeks thinly sliced (white and pale green part only)
• 2/3 cup chopped celery
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablepsoon minced garlic (about 4-5 cloves)
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups bread crumbs from Italian bread
• 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¾ cup finely minced fresh parsley

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Preparation

• Place 10 ramekin dishes on a large baking sheet with rim.
• In a large sauté pan over medium heat, sauté leek, celery, cayenne and bay leaf in bacon fat or olive oil until softened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
• Add garlic and cook just a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add white wine and cook briefly, until wine is mostly absorbed.
• Add softened butter and stir until melted. Remove pan from heat. Remove bay leaf, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir together until well blended.
  
• Place 5-6 large oysters in the bottom of each ramekin. Divide the bread crumb mixture equally over the top of oysters.
• Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. This can be done in early in the afternoon the day of serving.
• Preheat oven to 450 F. Bake ramekins about 18 minutes, or until bread crumbs are golden and browned.
• Place ramekins on individual serving plates.

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