Roasted Oysters With Parsley Butter On Toast Food

FIRE-ROASTED GARLICKY OYSTERS

Steps:

• Preheat a grill to high heat.
• Combine the butter, garlic, the juice from the lemons and a few pinches of salt and pepper in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter melts. Stir together the parsley, Parmesan and Romano in a medium bowl.
• Arrange the oyster shells on the grill grate. Spoon the butter mixture over the oysters. Add the bread to the grill cut-side down and cook until grill marks appear, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove the bread from the grill. Cover the grill with the lid and cook until the oysters begin to reduce in size, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Spoon the parsley mixture over each oyster, cover the grill and cook until the cheese is melted and the oysters are cooked to desired doneness, 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. Remove the oysters to a serving platter. Serve immediately with the bread.

ROASTED OYSTERS WITH GARLIC-PARSLEY BUTTER

Steps:

• Make the garlic-parsley butter: Puree the butter, parsley, shallots, lemon zest, roasted garlic and a little salt and pepper in a food processor until smooth.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Open the oysters with an oyster knife. Divide the oysters among small baking dishes lined with baguette slices. Place a heaping teaspoon of garlic-parsley butter on each oyster. Roast the oysters until the butter is melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

ROASTED OYSTERS WITH WARM BUTTER MIGNONETTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Stir shallot, vinegar, and 1 Tbsp. water in a small bowl; set aside. Line a plate with salt (this will help hold the oysters in place without tipping out their juices) and set aside.
• Rinse oysters, then arrange flat side up on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until oysters crack open, 4-6 minutes. (They won't open completely like a cooked clam; the top shell will separate from the bottom with about a 1/4" opening at the rounded end.) Some may open before others-remove from oven as soon as they open. Discard any oysters that don't open after 7 minutes.
• To finish opening oysters: Fold a dish towel several times and hold oyster using towel. Slide a butter knife into opening all the way to the hinge. Turn butter knife perpendicular so top shell pops all the way open. Pull off top shell with your hand, being careful not to tip bottom shell and lose any liquid (this should all happen very easily without much force). Gently slide knife under oyster in bottom shell to release the muscle, then transfer to plate with salt.
• Stir butter into reserved vinegar mixture. Spoon over oysters.

ROAST OYSTERS AND TOMATO BUTTER

Steps:

• Heat the broiler to high. In a small roasting dish or toaster pan, roast the tomatoes for 10 to 12 minutes on the highest rack, until they're blackened in places.
• Spread enough rock salt onto a baking sheet to make a layer into which oysters will firmly sit. While the tomatoes are roasting, shuck the oysters by holding a dish towel in your nondominant hand, and holding the oyster around its rounded tip, with its cup side down, on a counter, then inserting an oyster knife into its hinge, wiggling it in entirely until the hinge gives, and then moving it around. (Even better, watch our video on how to shuck, several times, and then approach the task confidently.) Detach each oyster from its bottom shell. As each is done, secure it in a little well in the rock salt, so that it retains its oyster liquor.
• Leaving the broiler on high, combine the roasted tomatoes with the butter in a blender or food processor or with an immersion blender or with a lot of elbow grease. The resulting mixture will be mottled and ugly but will melt to glossy perfection. Stir in the shallot.
• Place a 1/2 teaspoon dollop of tomato butter into each oyster. Place the tray into the oven, and broil until the tomato butter is melted and the oyster is beginning to darken and curl around its edges, around 8 to 12 minutes. Serve very hot, immediately.

OVEN-ROASTED OYSTERS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 475 degrees. Working in batches, arrange oysters in a single layer in a 12-by-16-inch roasting pan fitted with a flat rack. Pour 1/3. inch of hot tap water into pan, and bake for 7 minutes, or until oyster shells have begun to open.
• Using gloves or tongs, transfer oysters to a table covered in newspaper for guests to shuck, garnish and eat while next batch cooks. Add water to pan as necessary, and repeat roasting until all oysters have been served, about 45 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges hot sauce, and sour orange mignonette.

SAUTEED OYSTERS ON TOAST

Steps:

• For the toast, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim the crusts from the bread and discard. Spread the softened butter on both sides of bread slices. Place the bread slices on a cookie sheet and grill for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once so that both sides of the bread are golden brown.
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, add the ham and sauté for two to three minutes, until it is slightly crisp. Add the shallots and the green pepper, then turn heat to low and cook for another two minutes. Add the oysters and cook until they have plumped up and are beginning to curl on the edges. Quickly swirl in the salt, pepper, Tabasco and lemon juice. Spoon over toast. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

OYSTER ROAST WITH BACON AND PARMESAN

Steps:

• Make the compound butter: Remove the inner stem of the chard leaves and roughly chop. In a skillet, heat two tablespoons of butter and saute the Swiss chard until wilted. Season with a pinch of salt. Set aside to cool. Finely chop the bacon and place in a bowl along with the butter. Add the lemon juice to the bacon/butter mixture. Finely chop the garlic and mix into the bacon/butter along with the Parmesan, thyme, and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Finely chop the chard and fold into the butter mixture. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Set aside. (To store, form into a log, wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator. Soften first before using on oysters).
• Shuck the oysters: Using an oyster knife, locate the "keyhole" in the top of the oyster. Stick the tip of the knife into the keyhole and wiggle it until until the top releases. Wedge your finger along the side of the oyster (it won't hurt!), just to open it enough to run the knife along the edge. (This will keep the oyster from puncturing as it's opened.) Shuck the oysters, leaving the connector muscle attached, so they stay in place for baking.
• Bake the oysters: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Fill a deep cast iron skillet halfway with sea salt or rock salt and place in the oven to come up to temperature. Pull the heated rock salt dish from the oven. Carefully place the oysters on the salt and dollop with a generous amount of the compound butter. Place in the oven for about 6-8 minutes, until the butter melts and the oysters are slightly curled. Finish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve right out of the hot casserole.