Charbroiled oysters are crazy-delicious. That’s it. That’s all there is to say. Sort of.
I’ve had them before at restaurants but never actually tried to cook them myself. A couple of weeks ago, someone spoke with me about doing a feature on Alabama Gulf Seafood and they suggested that I try one of the recipes at their site. When I saw the one for chargrilled oysters…
If the idea is to enjoy what comes out of our own waters, Whole Foods makes it really easy (I really like Snapper Grabbers also – they are so helpful – there’s a list of retailers here). I ran in this morning for some other things and noticed that they had a sign for their Bon Secour oysters, which… Bon Secour is synonymous with oysters. I explained to the gentleman who helped me that while I had enjoyed oysters in restaurants a zillion times, I had never actually brought them home.
It was *so* easy — he showed me to hold the oyster in a dishtowel, to look for the hinge in the shell, put the shucking tool right at that spot, and to turn it so that it unlatches the two sides. Sure enough, when I got home (being careful to leave the bag the oysters were in open and cold, as they are live), I washed them off and had them shucked in no time.
Well, I had originally intended to grill these as per the recipe but found at home that our grill was undoubtedly out of fuel when it wouldn’t light. No big deal! I’d just broil them in the oven.
reprinted with permission:
1 stick unsalted butter, very soft
1 tablespoon fresh garlic (minced or pressed)
2 teaspoons minced Italian parsley
1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch Cayenne pepper
1 pinch white pepper
1 pinch thyme
1 pinch Kosher sea salt
Grated Romano cheese
(all of the above you just mix together to make a compound butter)
1 Dozen large Alabama Gulf Oysters — shuck them, and if you go the method I used, put them on a broiler pan (those pan ridges keep them upright perfectly) top shelf, broil just until the edges of the oyster start to curl, then carefully slide them out, add a dollop of compound butter. Back they go, until bubbly.
Loaf of French bread — this is to sop up all those juices. You will want to sop, trust me.
Lemon wedges — just a squeeze over everything to get that nice bright taste.
Can’t even *say* how fantastic these were. Who’s coming over for supper?