Dad's classic Oyster Stew a meaningful memory

I've been getting lots of feedback on the Food section's latest series, Soup Stories, and I've been asking readers to write in with their own stories and recipes about favourite soups.

This one comes in tribute to a departed father, Tom Kocourek,  who had a great recipe for Oyster Stew (like a soup, really) that became a Christmas classic for his family. Originally, the reader sent an e-mail with a scanned copy of the recipe in her Dad's writing, penned in December of 1990. He died in 1991. It made me think of the recipes that I have, written in the hand of the late creator, that mean so much to me, including Alma Zimmerman's Chocolate Brownie Pudding.

Here is Tom's Oyster Stew:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (50 mL) flour

1 teaspoon (5 mL) salt

1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) pepper

4 teaspoons (20 mL) Worcestershire sauce

2, 8 ounce (250 mL) cans oysters, liquid drained and set aside

1 quart (1 litre) half and half cream

1 quart (1 litre) milik

3 tablespoons (50 mL) butter

Method: Blend flour, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, liquid from oysters and one half cup (125 mL) water to a smooth paste, like a roux. Add to cream in saucepan. Cok over low heat until thickened. Add oysters and continue cooking until edges of oysters curl. Add milk and butter. Heat, and serve with ordinary crackers, or if you're Norwegian pretend it's lutefisk and serve with flatbrod.

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