Oysters with Brown Sugar-Chipotle Butter

Oysters with Brown Sugar-Chipotle-Bourbon Butter

Oysters! Bourbon! Chipotle! Butter! Garlic! What's not to love?

The Pacific Northwest has a bounty of delicious seafood that is readily available. A perennial favorite among seafood lovers are the oysters found throughout the bays and tidal waters of the greater Puget Sound area. Oysters range from the small and delicate Olympias, to the plump Kumamoto, and the ruffle-shelled Pacific. For this recipe, search out medium or medium-small sized oysters such as smaller Pacific oysters, as the oysters release juice and shrink in size when grilled or broiled.

Fresh Pacific oysters from Johnson & Gunstone Shellfish

Over the past 6 months or so we have participated in a Community Supported Shellfish (CSS) program from Johnson & Gunstone Shellfish. Similar to a CSA (Community Support Agriculture), a CSS program provides regular deliveries of fresh shellfish to the subscriber directly from the producer. The particular CSS we belong to supplies fresh Manila clams (stay tuned for a recipe!) and premium Pacific oysters. Overall, we have been extremely pleased with the J&G CSS both in terms of price and, more importantly, quality.

Another favorite shellfish company of ours is Hama Hama, a 5th generation family-run oyster farm located on the waters of Hood Canal. The folks at Hama Hama not only produce exceptional oysters, they very well may have perfected the grilled oyster. Lucky for us, they also shared their outstanding recipe for grilled oysters, or "Grillers" as they are know at the Hama Hama Oyster Saloon, with Bon Appetit a few years back.

This post is our reproduction of Hama Hama Grillers using J&G Shellfish Pacific oysters. We typically broil the oysters in the oven by placing them on a baking sheet with small squares of foil under each oyster to hold them level.

These oysters make a fantastic appetizer or afternoon snack. Enjoy them with chunks of fresh bread for dipping in the grilling juices and brown sugar-chipotle-bourbon butter. We often have them as an appetizer before scarfing down a couple pounds of steamed clams; our typical J&G CSS order is a dozen Pacific oysters and two pounds Manila clams.

Ingredients

Ingredients!

• one dozen Pacific oysters (or other medium sized), freshly shucked, on the half shell, with liquor
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ of one canned chipotle chile in adobo, finely chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, or softened/melted in microwave
• 1 ½ teaspoons bourbon
• 1 ½ teaspoons light brown sugar
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Estimated time: 5 minutes prep, oyster shucking (time may vary), 10 minutes cooking plus cooling

1. Preheat the oven to 500° F. Before saucing the oysters, switch oven to broil (high) and let it preheat for a minute or two before broiling the oysters.
   
   

   

   Brown Sugar-Chipotle-Bourbon Butter
   

   
   
2. Mix garlic, chipotle chile, bourbon, and brown sugar in a small bowl until well mixed (smooth if butter is not melted). Season lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper.
   
   

   

   Oysters on foil cups

   
   
3. Shuck oysters and arrange on a baking sheet, using a small square of aluminum foil under each to create a "cup" that supports the oyster and holds it level.
4. Spoon about ½ teaspoon of the butter mixture onto each oyster.
5. Broil oysters until butter is melted, sugar begins to caramelize, and light charring appears on the lips of the shells, about 3 to 6 minutes.
   
   

   

   Broiled Oysters - hot!

   
   
6. Enjoy! Make sure to let the oysters cool first, as they liquid will be boiling hot when they come out of the oven. Fresh bread or baguette is a great addition for soaking up any remaining juices and sauce.

Notes

• Careful! Oysters and sauce will be boiling hot after cooking. Let cool slightly before enjoying.
• The original recipe calls for two dozen oysters. We enjoy our oysters generously sauced, so we often use most of a single batch of sauce for a single dozen oysters.
• Oysters release liquid during cooking so we usually pour off some of the oyster liquid as we shuck them.
• Finished oysters will have released liquid and shrunk in size, losing around a third or half of their body volume.
• Place a small square of foil beneath each oyster, place the oyster on top and hold level, then scrunch the foil up around the sides to create a "cup" of foil to support each oyster on the baking sheet. This keeps the oysters level while cooking to hold the juices and sauce in the oyster shell. 
• The oyster juices poured off during shucking could be saved to for another use (seafood broth? a soup?)