Oysters Kilpatrick

Last week’s article on oysters pointed out all their fabulous health benefits; now, we’re back with a classic Australian recipe for enjoying these tasty morsels. This would be a perfect appetizer, especially for a barbecue or another outdoor meal, but don’t assume that you’ll be able to whip it up in the 10 minutes before dinner starts! Oysters are simple to cook, but hard to open-up. How long this recipe takes to get on your table will really depend on how good you are at shucking them; first-time oyster chefs might want to enlist a more experienced friend to help.

Once you’ve pried your oysters apart, the hard work is done, and the fun part begins. Oysters Kilpatrick are roasted with bacon and Worcestershire sauce: savory, tangy, and delicious. For the bacon, this is one of those rare Paleo recipes where you’ll actually want to trim off the fat (save it to cook with). Alternately, you could use Canadian bacon (back bacon) which is leaner to begin with.

The Worcestershire sauce really has to be homemade if this isn’t going to be a cheat meal. The bottles you can find at the store are usually full of nasty artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, and sometimes all other kinds of chemicals as well. Use our recipe to make your own; if you don’t have the time or can’t find the ingredients, the oysters are just as good without.

The recipe also calls for quite a bit of rock salt, but you won’t actually be smothering your oysters in brine; the salt is just used to stabilize the oysters while they’re cooking. Holding them upright like this makes sure that none of the juice spills out of the shell. Like the Worcestershire sauce, this is optional if you don’t have any.

Oysters Kilpatrick Recipe

Makes 12

Prep Time: varies, depending on how long it takes you to shuck the oysters.

Cooking Time: 10 min.

Ingredients

• 12 oysters, shucked;
• 2 slices Canadian bacon (back bacon), shredded;
• Worcestershire sauce to taste on each oyster; (optional)
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced;
• 3-4 lemon wedges, to serve;
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste;
• Several handfuls of rock salt to stabilize the oysters; (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat a grill on medium-high heat.
2. Place a thick layer of rock salt on a baking tray, and place the oysters on top. (This is optional if you don’t have enough rock salt; it’s just there to stabilize the oysters and make sure you don’t loose any juice or moisture)
3. Sprinkle a drop or two of Worcestershire sauce over each oyster.
4. Add the bacon bits to the oysters, and place on the grill for at least 10 minutes. (If you want to save some time you can pre-cook the bacon)
5. Once the cooking is done, sprinkle with the fresh parsley and serve with lemon wedges.