Roasted Oysters With Bacon and Parmesan

I’m, by default, a raw-oyster absolutist. Give me a pristine oyster—contemporary out of chilly water, correctly shucked, nonetheless slick with its personal briny liquor—and I would like nothing greater than to tilt the shell to my lips and let it converse for itself. No sizzling sauce, no mignonette, no horseradish. Simply salt, sea, and place. That clear, mineral snap—chilly water and pure sea—is merroir: the oyster equal of terroir, the place geography expresses itself immediately in taste.

Which is why I stunned even myself after I fell laborious for a roasted oyster. That occurred in Homer, Alaska, on the Damaged Oar Oyster Bar connected to the Kachemak Shellfish Growers Co-Op whereas on a press journey to Alaska to find out about its younger oyster-farming trade. The dock hangs over the chilly, crisp waters the place the oysters are pulled that very day. Earlier, I might eaten what could also be the very best uncooked oyster of my life: a freshly shucked specimen from Jakolof Bay, handed to me by Lindsay Fowler from Spinnaker Bay Farms as I stood in my wellies on a cool September afternoon. The Chugach Mountains rose behind us. The oyster was brilliant and impossibly clear, with a contemporary cucumber end and a salinity that tasted like seawater filtered by snowmelt. 

So when somebody prompt I attempt one of many bar’s specialties, their roasted oysters, I agreed begrudgingly, totally anticipating to verify my long-held perception that cooking oysters—particularly nice ones—is pointless at greatest and sacrilegious at worst.

Reader, I used to be flawed. The roasted oyster arrived effervescent sizzling, capped with a bacon–Parmesan topping that sounded, frankly, like an excessive amount of—it instantly introduced oysters Rockefeller to thoughts. However the second I tasted it, I received it. The oyster’s taste did not disappear as I anticipated it to underneath the daring topping; it stood up. Its briny sweetness lower by the richness of the cheese, the smoky saltiness of the bacon, the buttery fats. The topping amplified the oyster as a substitute of smothering it. It was over-the-top, indulgent, savory, and celebratory in precisely the appropriate method. It felt proper eaten at a dockside bar with a chilly beer, however it might be simply pretty much as good handed round at midnight on New Yr’s Eve with champagne in hand.

Selecting the Proper Oysters

I knew instantly I wished to recreate it at dwelling. This recipe is my try to try this, utilizing strategies that make sense for a house kitchen whereas preserving what made these oysters so memorable. The primary secret is oyster measurement. Search for oysters on the bigger aspect—round 3 inches lengthy—so that they’re meaty and plump sufficient to face as much as the wealthy topping and steady sufficient to take a seat securely within the shell with out wobbling. Smaller oysters are inclined to get misplaced underneath the sauce. For the oysters examined and photographed right here, I used oysters from Seagrove in Alaska, that are brilliant, clear, and crisp, with a contemporary cucumber end that holds its personal superbly towards the wealthy topping.

Freshness issues, too: Search for tightly closed shells with a clear ocean odor. If an oyster smells “fishy” earlier than cooking, it will not enhance with bacon and cheese.

How you can Maintain Oysters Regular Whereas Roasting

The subsequent trick is stability whereas roasting them. Oysters want to take a seat stage within the oven so their liquor stays in place and the topping browns moderately than sliding off. In eating places, that drawback is normally solved with a thick mattress of rock salt that cradles every shell. At dwelling, you needn’t purchase a field of salt only for this—crumpled aluminum foil works simply as properly. It creates a customized cradle for every shell and retains every thing regular underneath the broiler.

Suggestions for Shucking Oysters

To shuck oyster safely, I like to carry the oyster regular on the counter, folded right into a clear kitchen towel, then gently nudge the tip of an oyster knife into the clamped hinge and twist—utilizing finesse moderately than power, which is how most shucking accidents occur. Run the knife alongside the within of the highest shell to launch it, then fastidiously loosen the oyster from the underside shell whereas protecting as a lot briny liquor inside as potential.

As soon as the oyster is free, there’s one small transfer that makes a giant distinction in the way it eats and the way it appears to be like. At this level, gently flip the oyster over in its shell so the plump aspect is dealing with up. It is a small, “chef’s-kiss” transfer I realized from Chef Mandy Dixon at Tutka Bay Lodge in Homer, Alaska. “It is simply a simple method to get a prettier remaining presentation,” she informed me, as she casually shared years’ price of oyster-shucking knowledge. The flipped oyster creates a pure cradle for the topping, serving to it mound neatly and cook dinner evenly as a substitute of sliding off.

The Topping That Amplifies

The topping is constructed to amplify the oyster, not bury it. As an alternative of sprinkling substances loosely over the oysters, every thing will get processed right into a cohesive, emulsified combination: crisp bacon, Parmesan, butter, cream, mustard, garlic, parsley, and panko. The result’s thick, shiny, and spoonable—nearer to a savory hollandaise than a breadcrumb crust. That cohesion ensures each oyster will get the identical balanced chunk, and it prevents the topping from melting off and pooling within the pan.

Broiling the oysters shortly—simply till the topping bubbles and browns—warms them by with out tightening the meat. The excessive, direct warmth ensures the topping browns on high whereas the oysters keep plump and juicy beneath, one thing that is more durable to realize with longer baking.

Carried out proper, the oysters stay tender, their liquor mingling with the sauce within the shell. They’re slurpable, wealthy, and eye-opening in the absolute best method.

I nonetheless consider {that a} actually nice oyster wants no adornment in any respect. However I additionally consider there’s room—particularly throughout celebrations—for a little bit extra. These roasted oysters are proof that extra will be extra, with out shedding sight of what makes oysters particular within the first place. Each time I make them, I am again on that dock in Homer, tasting the chilly water, the clear air, and the sudden pleasure of being fortunately, deliciously flawed.