Blackened Fried Oysters With Lemon Cocktail Sauce Recipes

BLACKENED FRIED OYSTERS WITH LEMON COCKTAIL SAUCE

Steps:

• Mix all sauce ingredients together and refrigerate.
• Mix together flour, cornmeal, blackened seasoning and kosher salt. Dip each oyster in the eggs, then into the flour mixture. Allow to sit while heating the oil.
• Heat 1/2 inch oil in a cast iron skillet until almost smoking. Without crowding or touching, fry on both sides until golden. Remove to a platter covered in paper towels to drain.
• Serve with a side of sauce and a lemon wedge to garnish.

GRILLED OYSTERS WITH LEMON GARLIC BUTTER

Steps:

• In a bowl combine all ingredients except the oysters and mix thoroughly to combine. Transfer butter mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and roll up to form a tight log and freeze until firm.
• Preheat a grill to high.
• Place the washed oyster shells on a baking sheet and top each shell with 1 oyster. Remove the butter from the freezer and unwrap. Slice the butter into 24 rounds and place 1 round on top of each oyster. Place the oysters on the preheated grill and cook until the oysters are just cooked through, curled around the edges and the butter is melted and bubbly, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Serve immediately.

MARINATED, FRIED OYSTERS

Steps:

• Place oysters in a dish and coat with cocktail sauce, chili powder, lemon juice and salt and pepper.
• Marinate at room temperature no more than 1/2 hour or refrigerate 2 hors.
• Heat a skillet with oil and butter.
• Dust the oysters in flour and cornmeal and fry, turning until golden brown.
• Drain and adjust seasoning, serve hot.
• Be gentle when turning so the coating doesn't fall off.

FRIED OYSTERS WITH TARTAR SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare the oysters: Season flour with salt and pepper. Dredge each oyster in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg, then coat evenly in the panko.
• Set breaded oysters on a baking cooling rack, leaving a little room between the oysters so they can dry and set. Refrigerate until ready to fry and serve.
• Make the sauce: Finely mince garlic with a pinch of salt until sticky and pasty. Mince shallots, cornichons and capers as finely as possible. Add all to a small bowl. Stir in mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, caper brine and cornichon vinegar, and stir well. Add chopped parsley, stir well and season to taste with salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Fry the oysters: Melt enough shortening in a deep medium skillet (we love cast iron) over medium for 1 1/2 inches of liquified fat once hot. Increase heat to medium-high. It's ready to fry in when a few crumbs of panko or the tip of a wooden chopstick sizzles actively in the fat.
• Add the oysters cold from the refrigerator, working in batches of 6 to 8 or as you have room. Fry, making sure to turn them to get both sides, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes, depending on size. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider, and let rest on a clean rack while you fry the rest. Season each batch with a little salt while still piping hot, as soon as you pull them from the fat. Serve with tartar sauce.

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.