Devilled Oysters

12 well-cleaned oysters with deep shells
Cayenne pepper to taste
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
2 raw egg yolks
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon melted butter
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons toasted bread crumbs
12 sprigs fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place one oyster in each shell and sprinkle with cayenne.

In small bowl, mash hard-boiled yolks. Mix in raw yolks, lemon juice, butter, and salt. Spoon mixture over oysters, then cover with bread crumbs. Bake on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, or until bread crumbs are toasted. Garnish with thyme.

From “A Texas-Style Christmas: Feast Meets West”, a feature story in the December 1992 edition of Texas Monthly.