I thought I was finally going to make it to Jazz Fest this year, but alas it was not to be. So in lieu of being there, I’m sharing my favorite recipe for Roasted Oysters from Cochon.

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities in America. The food, the music, the people… there is nothing quite like it. My husband has worked on a few movies in the Crescent City so I have had the good fortune to spend some quality time there. One stint we rented an apartment in the Warehouse District, a block away from Cochon. I could not get enough of their roasted oysters, they are so insanely addictive. So when they had a tiny lull in service around 4pm, I’d drag my kids over there and eat half a dozen with a nice cold beer.  

Although I can’t recreate the Cochon wood oven smokiness at home, they are still absolutely delicious on the bbq or in the oven.

Roasted Oysters from Cochon

serves 2

Ingredients

12 large oysters

Compound Butter
2 sticks butter
2 cloves garlic
2 anchovy fillet
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons sriracha
2 teaspoons red chili flakes
1/4 cayenne pepper

 

 

Instructions

Heat oven to 500 degrees or light grill

Soften butter and blend all other ingredients together. Put butter mixture into parchment paper and roll into a log.

Shuck oysters reserving as much liquid in shell as possible. Place oysters in roasting pan and top with 1/2 -1 teaspoon of butter. Roast for 7-10 minutes checking them around 5. You want butter bubbling.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Notes

This recipe from Donald Link makes enough butter for 12-24 oysters depending on size and how much you use. Freeze extra butter, it is delicious on toasted bread, pasta or other types of fish and shellfish.

It’s better to select larger oysters for roasting. They shrink as they cook and small ones sometimes shrink to nothing!

I have a great cast iron oyster roasting pan and there are other less expensive versions, you can also prop the oysters up with some salt on a regular roasting pan.