Quick Grilled Oysters Rockefeller with a delicious flavorful bacon compound butter is the perfect recipe to host last minute guests or for an impromptu date night at home or the beach!
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How to use compound butter
Compound butters aremake ahead solid butter sauces made from butter and other additions that add flavor to meals when camping, picnicking, barbecuing or whenever you’re in the need of quick flavor fast.
Sweet compound butters, like salted honey butter, are perfect for slathering on warm bread, cornbread, and muffins. Use savory compound butter for a steak topping, sauté with clams, dollop on fish, steam with vegetables, like corn, and use as a quick pasta sauce or baked potato topping. Compound butter can also be slathered on turkey or chicken or used as a topping for seafood.
Bacon Blue Cheese Compound Butter, inspired by the flavors of classic oysters Rockefeller with crumbled bacon, blue cheese, and garlicky spinach and is a perfect for topping grilled oysters in this easy Grilled Oysters Rockefeller recipe.
Ingredients
- Bacon Blue Cheese Butter – 1 pound log
- Fresh Oysters – 2 dozen, fresh. After purchasing place oysters in a large bowl or colander in the sink. Scrub off any sand then rinse well, drain and refrigerate until ready to grill.
Step by step instructions
- Start by whipping up a big batch of Bacon Blue Cheese Compound Butter. And store this flavorful mix in your fridge or freezer until the chance for easy summer entertaining arises.
- Preheat gas or charcoal grill to medium high.
- Place oysters with the larger cup side down on grill, cover and cook until the oysters start to open.
- Then, using an oyster knife and oven mitt carefully shuck oysters, placing tip of oyster knife near the hinge and twisting to completely release the top shell. Run knife, or small spoon, under oyster to release from shell. Then discard top shell and place oyster, in the larger cupped bottom shell, back on grill. Be careful not to spill the briny oyster liquid.
- Top each grilled oyster with a teaspoon or two of the flavorful bacon butter.
- Continue grilling just until butter is melted and liquid is bubbly but the oysters are still plump, just a few minutes.
- Use tongs to transfer hot oysters to a platter and serve immediately with a bottle of hot sauce and lemon wedges.
- Enjoy!
How to serve
Simply serve easy Grilled Oysters Rockefeller directly off the grill. Or transfer to a large platter and serve with small forks napkins, lemon wedges and hot sauce.
Feeling particularly fancy? Place a fresh spinach leaf between each oyster and shell. Then, top with bacon butter, more crumbled bacon and blue cheese.
How to make ahead
Wrap tightly compound butter can be made ahead of time and stored refrigerated for up to a month. Or frozen for up to three months.
Oysters are best purchased immediately before cooking.
To make Grilled Oysters Rockefeller for a crowd, prep dozens at a time. Shuck oysters and store on large baking sheets lined with crumbled foil to prevent the oyster brine from spilling out. Then top each with butter. Wrap the tray tightly and refrigerate up to 24 hours before serving hot off the grill.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 dozen oysters scrubbed clean
- 1 cup bacon blue cheese butter
- lemon wedges for serving
- hot sauce optional
Bacon Blue Cheese Butter
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 4 ounces bacon about 3 slices
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbled
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium scallion chopped
- 1 pounds fresh spinach or substitute a 10 ounce box of frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and pressed to remove all the liquid
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 dashes hot sauce or to taste
Instructions
Bacon blue cheese butter
- Cook bacon slices in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat until crispy. Remove and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium and pour out all but 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings. Add garlic and scallion to skillet. When the garlic is fragrant, after about 30 seconds add red pepper flakes and fresh spinach in handfuls.Cook until all the spinach is sauteed, substantially decreased in size and coated with garlic bacon grease. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Discarding any additional liquid.
- Chop bacon slices and add to spinach in bowl with lemon juice and hot sauce. Cover and chill until cool, at least 30 minutes.
- Whip cooled bacon spinach mixture with room temperature butter until combined. Then gently stir in blue cheese. .
- Spoon onto a sheet of of plastic wrap or waxed paper then roll into a compact log. Twist the ends to seal and place in the fridge to firm up before using.
Grilled Oysters Rockefeller
- Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high (400°F to 475°F).
- Make Bacon Blue Cheese Compound Butter from butter, spinach, garlic, bacon, blue cheese , hot sauce and other seasonings up to 7 days ahead and kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator or up to 3 months frozen.
- Grill the oysters with their rounded sides down, covered, until they open, about 5 minutes. With tongs, carefully remove the oysters then remove the top shell and discard.
- Carefully run the edge of a small spoon underneath the oyster meat to release it from the shell. Drop about a tablespoon of the compound butter in each oyster and carefully return to the grill. Cook until the butter is completely melted and slightly bubbling, about 4 minutes.
- Transfer the oysters to a wide, shallow platte and serve immediately with lemon wedges and additional hot sauce.
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