Food & Drink

Broiled Oysters with Chile Butter

Chile flakes and a healthy pour of hot sauce bring the fire to these bivalves

December 20, 2018

Photo: Courtesy of Hog & Hominy

“These oysters will hit the table first, and they’ll also be around as people are cooking and catching up,” says the chef Andy Ticer, who grew up in Memphis with his business partner, the chef Michael Hudman. The two own Hog & Hominy and Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen in Memphis, and have hosted a feast everywhere they’ve cooked (at school in Charleston, South Carolina, and at Josephine Estelle, which they opened in the Ace Hotel New Orleans).

> See our full Feast of the Seven Fishes menu

Ingredients

- 1 dozen or more oysters
- Grated Parmesan, to garnish
For the Chile Butter:
- 1 lb. butter (4 sticks), room temperature
- 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- ¼ bunch fresh parsley
- ¼ tbsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. chile flake
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 3 oz. Frank's hot sauce (“Any favorite hot sauce can work, but we like Frank's.”)

Preparation

Place butter and remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, combine the ingredients until thoroughly mixed into butter. Set in the refrigerator to cool.

While the butter cools, preheat oven to broil with the rack at the highest point in the oven.

Shuck the oysters, being sure to detach meat from the bottom shell. On a sheet tray, crinkle aluminum foil so when you place the oysters on it, they will remain face up and the contents will not spill.

Place oysters on the aluminum foil. Add about 1 tsp. chile butter to each oyster, depending on their size. Dust the oysters with Parmesan cheese and place in oven for two minutes. Remove oysters and serve immediately.

NOTE: The butter freezes well. Wrap it tightly in plastic and store for future use in other recipes.

CJ Lotz Diego is Garden & Gun’s senior editor. A staffer since 2013, she wrote G&G’s bestselling Bless Your Heart trivia game, edits the Due South travel section, and covers gardens, books, and art. Originally from Eureka, Missouri, she graduated from Indiana University and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she tends a downtown pocket garden with her florist husband, Max.