Category / Recipes

15
Oct

Grilled Oysters with Hog Warsh Mignonette

 

Grilled Oysters

There are few things so decadent yet so quick to prepare than Oysters on the Grill. This time of year we like to prepare a few dozen at a time to throw on a grate over a live fire while we’re outside enjoying the crisp Southern Illinois fall weather.

This recipe for Grilled Oysters with Hog Warsh Mignonette will be delicious with any kind of oysters, so long as they are very fresh. My favorites come from Island Creek Oysters, located just 30 minutes from my Boston outpost. The company ships directly to consumers in 100-count bags. In addition to the basic grilled oysters described here, we have also perfected a rockabilly take on grilled oysters Rockefeller, shown above, that uses both the Seasoned Collards and Spinach Artichoke Dip from our book Praise the Lard. In the recipe below, the grilled oysters are simply splashed with a mignonette made with our Hog Warsh sauce, then dotted with hot sauce and a squeeze of lemon after they come out bubbling hot and bathed in smoke from the cooker.


Grilled Oysters with Hog Warsh Mignonette

Recipe makes 3 dozen oysters

• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 1 cup Hog Warsh Sauce
• 3 dozen raw oysters, shucked and set back in bottom shell
• Hot sauce, for serving (use your favorite – we’re big fans of Red Clay)
• Lemon wedges, for serving
• Rock salt, for cooking and serving
• 3 pounds good-quality charcoal (we use Royal Oak)

To make the mignonette: In a serving bowl, add the onion to the Hog Warsh Sauce and stir to combine. Cover and set aside until you’re ready to serve. Line a serving platter with rock salt.

To grill the oysters: Set up a cooker for direct cooking. Open the top and bottom vents. Pile 2 pounds of the charcoal in the bottom. Load a charcoal chimney one-quarter full of charcoal and light it. When the coals in the chimney are glowing, dump them on top of the pile of charcoal already in the cooker. Adjust the vents as necessary to establish a steady temperature between 285º and 300º.

On a rimmed baking sheet, spread a 1/2-inch layer of rock salt. As you shuck the oysters, set each one, in their bottom half shell, on the rock salt, taking care to preserve the briny liquid in the cup of the shell. Place the baking sheet in the cooker, directly over the coals, and close the lid. Cook for 15 minutes, or until bubbling.

Again taking care to not slosh out the oyster liquid, pull the baking sheet off the grill and use tongs to transfer the shells to the prepared platter from the first step. Serve immediately with the mignonette, hot sauce, and lemon wedges.

 


Praise the Lard CookbookFor more recipes and revelations in barbecue culture pick up a copy of our book Praise the Lard

28
Aug

17th Street Barbecue Apple Cider Marinated Pork Loin

In Murphysboro, IL, September is the time when we honor the almighty apple. The Murphysboro Apple Festival has been celebrated here every September for 72 years. For the last 37 of those years, our own Murphysboro Praise the Lard Barbecue Cook-Off has been held the following weekend. Mike Mills always like the idea of having an entire month when people could all come together to shine a light on Murphysboro, and that’s how the Cook-Off originally came to follow the Apple Festival.

Following here is our recipe for 17th Street Barbecue Apple Cider Marinated Pork Loin. We thought it was the perfect recipe to feature this September, when apples and apple products can be found all around not just our region, but across the country.  It’s one of the few recipes in our book, Peace, Love and Barbecue, that uses a marinade instead of a dry rub. The down-home side dishes for this moist and tender meat would include — you guessed it— some type of apples. Baked, fried…even applesauce. And don’t forget…for the best results, smoke it with real apple wood, too!


17th Street Barbecue Apple Cider Marinated Pork Loin

Serves 6

• 1 pork loin (4 to 6 pounds)
• 1 can (6 ounces) frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/3 cup apple jelly
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, finely ground
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Set the loin in a shallow dish.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy. Pour the marinade over the loin, coating thoroughly. Marinate, covered and chilled, overnight.

Discard the marinade and smoke at 200 to 225 degrees for about 3 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.


© Mike Mills and Amy Mills, published in Peace, Love, and Barbecue, Rodale

 


Cover of "Peace, Love, and Barbecue" BookFor more recipes, secrets, tall tales, and outright lies from the legends of barbecue, pick up a copy of our book Peace, Love, and Barbecue