First up is our house recipe for Grilled Oysters, which is adapted from this J. Kenji López Alt post. We first made these last month during a weekend upstate, and have been thinking about them basically non-stop.
For this recipe we prefer briny East coast oysters like Wellfleets because their saltiness really brings out the flavors of the paprika and basil. You’ll notice that we haven’t added any additional salt, but if you’re grilling a milder oyster like a Kumomoto or a Shigoku, then a pinch in the butter might be appropriate. For the basil, the fresher the better. We like to use Gotham Greens because they’re urban-farmer friends of ours here in Brooklyn, and their basil is *fire emoji*
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Garlic-Basil Oysters
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 cloves garlic
- 5-6 leaves basil
- 1 doz Wellfleets
Preparation
- Take butter out of the fridge, allow it to soften
- Dice the garlic and basil, and put into a medium bowl with paprika and softened butter
- Use a fork to mix until fully combined
- Shuck your oysters, and place them on the grill. If you place them longways on the racks, the metal bars should help keep the oysters upright.
- Add 1/2 Tb of butter to each oyster
- Once the butter is melted and the liquor begins to bubble, they're good to go. Remember that slightly undercooked is fine, but oysters can get tough if you let them dry out.
- Slurp!