CHARBROILED OYSTERS

Recipe courtesy of Tommy Cvitanovich at Drago’s Seafood Restaurant in New Orleans

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of dried oregano
• 18 Fryingpan Cove oysters, shucked on the half shell
• 1 ounce grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons coarsely chopped parsley 

METHOD

1. Fire up your gas or charcoal grill, full tilt, 500 F. We use a wood fire for a little extra smoke.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
3. Add pepper, oregano and garlic to the melted butter. Reserve in a bowl.
4. Grate your Parmesan and Pecorino Romano into a separate bowl and mix with chopped parsley. Set aside.
5. Put your oysters on the grill. We like to use a smoker tray, like this one from Chris Demant at Grills by Demant so the oysters can be easily removed from the grill, but tongs will do.

6. Ladle the butter mixture over each oyster. Flare-ups are expected.
7. Watch as the edges of the oysters begin to curl; you are getting close (4 or 5 minutes).
8. Top with your cheese and parsley mixture and serve in the shells with crusty bread to sop. We always top ours with a dash of Woodberry Kitchen’s Snake Oil hot sauce.