Low Country Steamed Carolina Cup Oysters With Melted Butter Recipes

GRILLED OYSTERS WITH LEMON BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat grill or Great Grate over medium heat.
• Scrub and rinse the oysters. Keep refrigerated until ready to grill.
• To make the sauce: Pour the cream into a 1-quart saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking occasionally to prevent the cream from boiling over, until the volume is reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and add the butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking constantly, until the sauce is shiny, emulsified, and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the lemon juice and simmer briefly. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the chervil or parsley and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm until ready to serve.
• Set up the oysters on the grill with the cup side down (and flat side up) or place them directly on the grill in the same fashion. Cook the oysters without turning them.
• As soon as the oysters pop open, after 8 to 10 minutes, transfer them carefully with tongs to a platter (or plates) lined with a bed rock salt. If you are using a Great Grate, this won't be necessary. Use the tongs to pry off the top shells. Spoon 1 teaspoon sauce over each oyster and serve immediately.

INSTANT POT® FRESH STEAMED OYSTERS WITH SPICY BUTTER

Steps:

• Pour water into a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot®) and set trivet inside. Place oysters on the trivet. Close and lock the lid. Select Steam function according to manufacturer's instructions; set timer for 2 minutes. Allow 15 minutes for pressure to build.
• Meanwhile, stir hot sauce and parsley into the melted butter until well combined.
• Release pressure using quick release according to manufacture's directions, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Carefully open the oysters using a spoon; set on a serving plate. Spoon butter over the top.

STEAMED OYSTERS

Steps:

• Discard any broken-shell or open (dead) oysters. Scrub remaining oysters in cold water, removing any barnacles with a dull paring knife.
• Place half of the oysters in a steamer with boiling water. Cover and steam 5 to 8 minutes, removing oysters as they open. Discard any unopened oysters. Repeat with remaining oysters.
• Serve hot oysters in shells with butter.

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.

GRILLED OYSTERS WITH LEMONY GARLIC-HERB BUTTER

Steps:

• Ignite a full chimney of coals and spread out under one side of the grill once they are fully covered in gray ash, or heat half the burners of a gas grill to high. Cover and let the grill heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut off a sheet of aluminum foil twice the length of a 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Crumple it up so that it fits into the baking sheet. The crumpled foil should be able to support the cupped side of the oysters without allowing them to tip over.
• Prepare the garlic-herb butter: In a food processor, combine the butter, parsley, basil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Process until the herbs are finely chopped and there are no large chunks of butter remaining, about 30 seconds total, stopping to scrape down the sides of the processor with a rubber spatula a few times as needed. Transfer the mixture to a small, oven-safe saucepan.
• Using tongs, arrange the oysters over the hot side of the grill, placing them with the cupped sides down, doing your best to set them in the grates so that oyster juices don't pour out of the cups as they open. Cover and cook, checking on them every minute or so, and transferring any oysters that have begun to gape open to the foil-lined baking sheet. After a total of 4 minutes, transfer any remaining oysters to the foil whether they have opened or not. Place the saucepan on the cooler side of the grill.
• As soon as the oysters are cool enough to handle, pry off the top shells with a butter knife or oyster knife, severing through the muscle that holds the oyster to the shell and retaining as much juice in the shell as possible. For oysters that aren't already gaping open, the easiest way to pry off the lids is by inserting the tip of the knife into the joint and firmly twisting it until the joint releases.
• Spoon a generous teaspoon of the garlic-herb butter (which should be fully melted by now) into each oyster, then return the oysters directly onto the grates on the hot side of the grill. Cook, uncovered, until the sauce mixture is bubbling hot, about 1 minute. Return the oysters to the foil-lined baking sheet and serve immediately.

LOW COUNTRY STEAMED CAROLINA CUP OYSTERS WITH MELTED BUTTER

Steps:

• Build a hot fire with wood chips. Stack stones or bricks around fire so that the sheet metal sits securely on top.
• Once metal is very hot, place oysters on top, and cover completely with wet burlap. Steam until shells begin to open, checking frequently, 12 to 18 minutes.
• Shovel oysters onto a serving platter, discarding any that do not open, and serve immediately with melted butter, cocktail sauce, and lemon wedges.