Instructions

1.For the roux, in a heavy 8-inch skillet melt the butter over medium heat. Very slowly (so you don’t burn yourself) add 1/3 cup flour, whisking constantly with a long-handled metal whisk until all the flour has been added and the mixture is smooth.

2.Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking the roux, whisking constantly so it doesn’t scorch, until the roux turns “blond” (pale golden), two to three minutes. Set the roux aside.

3. In a heavy, nonreactive 5-quart saucepan, cook the bacon over medium-low heat until most of the fat is rendered from the bacon and the bacon is slightly crisp, about 12 minutes.

4. Leaving the bacon in the pan, pour off all but 1_ tablespoons of the rendered fat. If less than 1_ tablespoons of fat was rendered from the bacon, do not add more fat to the pan.

5.Add to the saucepan the onions, sweet peppers and jalapeños. Cook over medium-low heat until the vegetables are cooked through, about two minutes, frequently stirring and scraping the pan bottom clean with a long-handled mixing spoon.

6.Reduce the heat to very low and whisk in 1 tablespoon flour, mixing until well blended. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add _ cup of the reserved roux, stirring until it’s blended into the mixture. Whisk in the bay leaves, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and the thyme and crushed red pepper. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly.

7. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly so the mixture doesn’t scorch. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the sauce is fairly thick, about four minutes, whisking frequently.

8. Gradually add the cream, whisking constantly, and heat mixture until it is just short of reaching a simmer, whisking frequently. Meanwhile, place the remaining scant _ cup roux in a medium-size mixing bowl. Once the sauce is close to simmering, gradually add _ cup of the sauce to the roux, whisking until smooth.

9. Reduce the heat under the saucepan to very low, and add the sauce-roux mixture to the rest of the sauce in the pan, whisking thoroughly. Cook until the sauce is very thick, about 10 minutes, whisking as often as needed to keep the mixture from sticking to the pan bottom.

10. Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Once the sauce is very thick, stir about 2 tablespoons of it into the yolks, then very gradually drizzle the yolk mixture into the pan of sauce, whisking constantly and thoroughly.

11. Drain the tomatoes again and add them and the Romano cheese to the pan, whisking until well blended. Season lightly with kosher salt. (You may want to under-salt the sauce since you will be adding a salty cheese topping to the dish before it’s baked.)

12. Continue cooking and whisking for one minute more. By now the sauce should be the consistency of very thick cream, leaving a distinct track on the back of a spoon when you draw a finger through it. If not, cook a little longer.

13. Promptly transfer the sauce to a large, heat-proof mixing bowl and continue whisking one to two minutes more.

14. Refrigerate the sauce, uncovered, to cool it quickly, about 20 minutes, stirring it frequently. Once the sauce is cool, discard the bay leaves. Cover and chill until it’s the consistency of a thick pudding, at least one hour or overnight.

Instructions

*Louisiana oysters are ideal for this dish, but if you’re near coastal waters with beds of fresh native oysters, by all means use them.

**Baking the oysters and their shells on a bed of rock salt helps them stay level and cook evenly. This also keeps them from sliding on the plate and helps them stay hot.

1. In a heavy 12-inch skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and turn with tongs to coat all the leaves with butter. Season with a little kosher salt and pepper and cook until just barely wilted, about 30 to 45 seconds. When done, the leaves should still be separate rather than stuck together.

2. Immediately spread the spinach out on a platter so it won’t continue cooking by residual heat. Once the spinach is cool, drain in a mesh strainer, lightly pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Place in a bowl and set aside.

3. For the topping, combine the breadcrumbs and Romano cheese.

4. Preheat the oven to 475°F. If cooking all the oysters on the same baking sheet, place an oven rack in the middle of the oven before preheating it, for safety reasons. If cooking them on two different oven racks, position the two racks in the middle third of the oven before preheating it.

If baking the oysters in individual oval baking dishes for appetizers

1. For each oyster being served, mound 1 heaping tablespoon of the reserved spinach in each of the 8 or 9 oval baking dishes; you should have either 3 or 4 separate mounds of spinach in each dish.

2. Next, arrange a very well drained oyster on top of each mound of spinach. Sprinkle _ teaspoon of the breadcrumb topping over each oyster. Evenly spread a rounded 1 tablespoon of sauce over each oyster and sprinkle another _ teaspoon of breadcrumb topping over the sauce. Place the dishes on a rimmed baking sheet.

3. Bake uncovered on the middle shelf of the oven until the topping is light golden brown and liquid is bubbling around the edges of the dishes, about 12 minutes.

If baking the oysters in individual round baking dishes for entrées

1. Place 7 separate, heaping tablespoons of the reserved spinach in each of 5 round baking dishes. Arrange a very well drained oyster on top of each mound of spinach.

2. Sprinkle _ teaspoon of the breadcrumb topping over each oyster. Evenly spread a rounded 1 tablespoon of sauce over each oyster and sprinkle another _ teaspoon of breadcrumb topping over the sauce. Place the dishes on a rimmed baking sheet.

3. Bake uncovered on the middle shelf of the oven until the topping is light golden brown and liquid is bubbling around the edges of the dishes, about 12 minutes.

If baking the oysters on the half-shell

1. Sprinkle a layer of rock salt, _ inch or thicker, over the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet that will hold 35 oysters on the half-shell in a single layer.

2. Remove the chilled sauce from the refrigerator. Place one undrained oyster in each bottom shell.

3. To assemble the oysters for baking, mound 1 rounded tablespoon of the spinach under each oyster. Next, sprinkle _ teaspoon of the breadcrumb topping over the oyster. Spread a rounded tablespoon of sauce completely over the oyster to coat it with a _-inch-thick layer of sauce, sealing the oyster between the sauce and the shell.

4. Now, sprinkle _ teaspoon additional breadcrumb topping over the sauce. As the oysters are assembled, arrange them level and upright on the baking sheet, nestling them into the salt.

5. If baking all the oysters at once on one rack of the oven, bake uncovered until the tops are just browned and the sauce melts slightly, about six minutes. If baking all the oysters at once on two racks of the oven, bake them for three minutes, then rotate and switch the pans to be on the other rack, and continue baking three minutes more.

6. While the oysters are baking, mound about 1_ cups rock salt in the middle of each heated standard-size, rimmed dinner plate.

Serving Suggestions: Serve the oysters while piping hot.

If serving the oysters in individual baking dishes, place the dishes on dinner plates.

If serving them on the half-shell, allow three or four oysters for each appetizer serving, or seven as a main course, nestling each on top of the rock-salt bed on a prepared dinner plate, facing the pointed ends of the shells toward the center of the plate.