Barbecued oysters

I've had raw oysters and broiled oysters, but until last week I had never enjoyed them barbecued.  I'm not sure I will ever fix them another way again!  They were not only delicious, but downright easy!  In a previous post on broiled oysters with lemon zest,  I discussed how to shuck a raw oyster.  Usually, this takes a lot of force and for me, time.  But when you barbecue oysters, you put them on the barbecue whole and the steam from the inside of the oyster opens them up.  Do you see how some of them are opened?  You still need to shuck them to remove the top shell, but they were almost a joy to shuck they were so easy.  I also was able to retain the juice that collected in the oyster cup which is obviously the perfect accompaniment to oysters with a couple of drops of hot sauce.

You will need a barbecue that is old and rusty, or one that is devoted entirely to cooking oysters (as it will become rusty from the salt water).  Fortunately, a friend of mine had an oyster barbecue and let me borrow it!  You will also need charcoal briquettes and of course, oysters.

Barbecued Oysters by Joie de vivre with thanks to Melissa and Patrick

Ingredients:

Oysters (count on 6-7 a person if served with a salad and crusty bread)

Hot sauce (we have a nice Thai chili sauce that tasted the best)

Directions:

1.  Light the charcoal briquettes and wait 20 minutes or so until they are fully ignited and all white.  In the meantime, scrub your oysters under cold water with a scrub brush.  Discard any opened oysters or any oysters that don't close when you press on them.  These are already dead and cannot be eaten.

2.  When the charcoal is ready, lay your oysters on the grate of the barbecue, cup side down.

3.  Cover the barbecue and grill the oysters for 9 minutes.  Some of your oysters should be open.  Remove all of them at this time using tongs.  (even the ones that aren't opened yet)

4.  Using a towel or an oven mitt to protect your hand, place the oyster in the oven mitt and then using your other hand, place an oyster knife in the hinge of the oyster.  Wiggle the knife up and down to break the hinge on the oyster.  

5.  Place the shucked oyster on a plate filled with salt to keep the oyster from tipping over.

6.  Eat your oysters with a drop or two of hot sauce.

7.  Comment back on this post to let me know how awesome the oysters were.

Beauties of La Mer

In honor of Valentines Day, I thought I'd include a recipe for oysters.  Long considered an aphrodisiac, these little morsels are high in minerals, low in calories, and really not very expensive.  I bought 18 large Pacific oysters for $8.79 from my local fishmonger today.  If you have never prepared oysters yourself, they will take a little bit of practice, but you will find the effort well worth it.

How to Shuck Oysters

To begin, it is imperative that you obtain an oyster knife.  An oyster knife is a small blade, shaped like an arrow head, with a shield close to the handle to protect your hand (kind of like a fencer's sword) Last year, I tried shucking oysters with a flat screwdriver because I lacked an oyster knife.  Eventually, I was able to open the oysters, but it took all of my strength banging them against the counter, shell shards flying all over the kitchen, I'm really surprised I didn't slice open or puncture my hand with that screwdriver.  What was I thinking?  Tonight, I used a true oyster knife and was able to shuck twice as many oysters in half the time with hardly any shell shards outside of the towel I was using to protect my hand.

After you obtain your oyster knife and have purchased your oysters, you are ready to start shucking.  Gently clean each oyster with a scrubbing brush under cool water.  Place a folded up tea towel in your left hand and place the oyster in your left hand on top of the tea towel with the point of the oyster facing you.  In the point of the oyster, you will see a small place where the two halves of the shell are slightly separated (it is not big at all).  This is the hinge of the shell.  With the oyster knife in your right hand, place the point of the knife in this hinge.  FIRMLY press the knife into this space, wiggling back and forth, up and down until you break the hinge.  After you break the hinge, the two halves of the oyster will separate slightly, but there is still a strong muscle holding the halves together.  Take your knife and work it around the oyster until you cut through the muscle.  Once you cut through, the two halves will separate.  Now, you will only need to keep one half of the shell (the one that is most bowl like).  Separate the oyster from the shell on both halves and place them into that shell.  Pour the oyster liquor into a small saucepan and place the oyster shell onto a prepared cookie sheet that has a thick layer of salt on it to prevent the oyster shells from rolling.  Continue shucking all of the oysters, plan on 6 per person.  When you are finished shucking, here is a simple way to prepare them if you're at all squeamish about slurping them down raw.

Broiled Oysters with Lemon Zest by Joie de vivre

Serves 3

Ingredients:

18 oysters on the half shell (6 per person)

The oyster liquor from the oysters

1/4 cup white wine

sliver of butter

lemon zest from 1 lemon

Directions:

1.  Place the oyster liquor, white wine and butter in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then strain into a large measuring cup with a pouring spout.

2.  Pour a small amount of liquid into each oyster shell.

3.  Broil the oysters for 3-4 minutes.

4.  Sprinkle a little lemon zest over each oyster.

5.  Eat immediately with fresh bread.  Yum!