Oysters...In a Way That You've Never Seen Before

 

And by never seen them like this before, we're talking about grilled oysters. And who better to do the grilling, than the grillmaster himself, Josiah Citrin. Chef Josiah owns the celebrated Santa Monica, California restaurant Charcoal Venice. If you can't make it to one of his restaurant, he's written a cookbook, appropriately named Charcoal, detailing his tips and tricks to grilling over fire. He stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about how to proper grill oysters, and make sure they have the amazing flavor. Josiah told Tonia he created this dish simply playing around with one his grills, and noted that you can have the same kind of fun, since you can grill just about anything

For the Grilled Oysters:

• 18 large oysters, such as Hama Hama, Fanny Bay or Beausoleil, scrubbed clean
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• Hibiscus Seaweed Butter (recipe follows)
• Rock salt, for serving

For the Hibiscus Seaweed Butter:

• 1/4 cup shredded wakame seaweed
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped dried hibiscus
• 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high. Grill the oysters until they pop, then remove from the grill. Heat a small saucepan over medium and toast the breadcrumbs, stirring constantly to be sure they don't burn.

2. For the Hibiscus Seaweed Butter: Pour 1 cup water into a small bowl. Add seaweed and let bloom until rehydrated, about 10 minutes. Wring out excess water and coarsely chop. Mash the seaweed, shallot, chives, fleur de sel, pepper and hibiscus with the butter until thoroughly combined. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours.

3. Place a small dollop of the Hibiscus Seaweed Butter on each oyster and let melt. Sprinkle the oysters with toasted breadcrumbs and serve on a bed of rock salt. Serves 6.