Friday, Jun. 25, 2010

Grilled Oysters with Spicy Garlic Butter

Ingredients
1 lb. butter, at room temperature
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. red-pepper flakes crushed
1 tsp. fresh chives, chopped
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 dozen oysters, shucked and left on the half shell
1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves only

Preparation
Beat the butter with the garlic, pepper flakes, chives, thyme and lemon juice in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon or in the bowl of a food processor until well combined.

Using a rubber spatula, mound the butter onto a wide sheet of plastic wrap. Drape one of the wide ends of the plastic wrap over the butter, then roll butter into a cylinder about 1 in. in diameter and twist ends tightly. Refrigerate butter until hard.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. Unwrap the spicy butter and slice it into disks about ½-in. thick. Put a disk of butter on each oyster, then put the oysters, butter side up, directly over the hot coals on the grill. Grill the oysters until they start to curl and bubble around the edges and the butter melts. Serve them hot!

Courtesy of My New Orleans, by John Besh, Andrews McMeel publishing