Grilled Oysters with Herbed Brown Butter

Grilled Oysters with Herbed Brown Butter

June 30, 2019

Servings: 2

Prep: 5 min

Total: 15 min

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A delicious appetizer to add to your summer rotation! The oysters get the royal treatment, starting on the grill and then poaching in a rich brown butter sauce.

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• A dozen oysters
• 4 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1 TBSP finely chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 TBSP finely chopped chives
• The juice of one lemon
• Sea salt

Directions

• Step 1 Place the oysters in the grill pan (unshucked) and preheat your grill to high.
• Step 2 Once grill is preheated, place the grill pan on the grates and close the grill. They grill fast – about 5 minutes. Watch carefully, the oysters will be done when the shells start to pop open. They won’t pop all the way open like clams or mussels do, but they will release their seal just a crack. If anything you want to undercook them slightly since the brown butter sauce will cook them a little more. Remove from the grill and prep your brown butter sauce while they cool.
• Step 3 Start melting your butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally to ensure the butter is cooking evenly. Add chopped tarragon as the butter melts and begins to foam. Remove from heat when it turns a nice golden color.
• Step 4 Shuck the cooled oysters now and then finish off each oyster with a drop of lemon juice, a sprinkle of sea salt and a spoonful of your brown butter sauce. Serve immediately.

Nothing says summer quite like grilled oysters and a bottle of rosé, am I right? We log a lot of hours at the grill in the summer (and all year long too for that matter), but one of my favorite new seasonal traditions is grilling up these delicious bivalves. And you don’t need a lot of ingredients, or a lot of time, to pull off this amazing appetizer. All you need are a few simple supplies: a shucker, and a cast iron oyster grilling pan, just like this one we recommend. (It’s actually a really great gift if you’re looking for something different to get that chef in your life!)

With shucking, a little practice makes perfect. Marc is a far better shucker than I am and he’s really figured out how to master this skillset. There were a few near misses at the beginning, so be careful – especially because these oysters will be hot off the grill! But being able to shuck your own oysters is one of those technical skills that is definitely great to have on your home chef resume. This great video on YouTube gives you a good step-by-step tutorial.

There are lots of different options for what can accompany raw oysters – the most common are cocktail sauce, mignonette, hot sauce and horseradish. But grilling oysters are a whole different ballgame. Our earthy brown butter sauce serves as a welcome compliment to the meaty oyster. It boasts a subtle enough flavor that it still lets the oyster shine but adds a layer of complexity from the herbs that really elevates this app to the next level. How badly do you want one of these right now?!