Oyster Time
It's July, and for our family, that means Oyster Time. About a dozen years ago, we started coming up to Stinson Beach each summer. It's a great getaway from the city but still close enough that we can commute in for work if we need to.
This year, Matthew's been back to the city a bunch, building kitchens and making sure they get shipped out for your summertime adventures. But he tries to make sure he's back in Stinson before the dinner horn goes off. (Stinson has a noon and 5 pm siren test every day of the year). And we try to have the charcoal lit before he rolls up the hill to the cottage we stay in.
Especially when our friends are staying in the house next door, nearly every meal starts with oysters. We'll pop a few to eat on the half shell while the coals get hot, and then it's on to the grilled oysters. We've also done these over our Solo Stove and Grill Top with good results.
Over the years, we've tried many different sauces for our BBQed oysters. Hog Island, where we purchase our oysters by the bag full, has a great Chipotle Bourbon Butter that we loved for years. After a while, we decided we needed to branch out. The recipe below is our current favorite.
Roasted Oysters with Sriracha Lime Compound Butter
1/2 cup butter (one stick) - partially melted
4 teaspoons sriracha
2 Tablespoons lime juice
zest of 2 limes
4 teaspoons minced shallot
4 teaspoons minced cilantro
Shucked Oysters in the shell
In a microwave or on the stovetop, soften a stick of butter until it is about half melted. Using a hand mixer or immersion blender, blend in the sriracha, lime juice, and lime zest. Once fully incorporated, mix or fold in the shallot and cilantro (see note). At this point, you can transfer your compound butter to a lidded container and refrigerate it until you're ready for it, or up to one week.
Heat up your grill or charcoal (or wood fire) until quite hot. Shuck your oysters carefully, preserving the liquor in each shell. We have a couple of oyster grill pans that make this part pretty easy.
Top each oyster with a dollop of the sriracha butter. Set over the hot fire and cook until you hear them bubbling (depending on how hot the fire is, this can be 4-10 minutes). Remove from the fire and allow to cool down a bit before enjoying.
Note: After making this compound butter dozens of times, I've decided that the best way to get all of the ingredients fully incorporated is to start with butter that is partially melted. You can use either a handheld mixer or an immersion blender, but if you use the immersion blender, fold in the shallot and cilantro by hand. Also, zesting the limes releases a lot of flavorful oils, so try to zest directly into the container you're using to mix the butter. The original recipe came from Food52.
Like most compound butters, this would be great on many other proteins, like shrimp, fish, or even steak. I've tried it on sweet corn, and it was delicious.
