Big Green Egg Oysters

Our prehistoric ancestors ate mountains of them, literally. The ancient Romans ferried them across the Alps and Horse-Drawn carts from Britain to Rome. Throughout the ages, oysters have ranked among our most popular sustainable seafoods. Today, we’ll grill them with crispy prosciutto and parmesan cheese.

To grill the oysters, I’m using a Big Green Egg Extra Large. This is the fire bowl for the charcoal. It comes with a removable partition when you want to do split zone grilling.

So lower the fire bowl into the Egg. Another advantage with these handles makes it easy to remove spent ash after you’re done grilling. And I’m fueling it with natural lump charcoal. And I’ll place two paraffin fire starters in the center and then sort of shingle the charcoal over the paraffin starters, kind of making a tripod, then use a butane match to light the paraffin firestarter.

To generate a wood smoke flavor, I’ll place a few Maplewood chunks on the charcoal– 1. 2. 3. What will happen– The fire will burn down and out, giving us an even heat source.

Now to the oysters. Keep your oysters on ice while you make the topping.

The topping starts with melted butter. Then take a few thin slices of prosciutto– Italy’s dry cured ham. Pile them up. I’ll fold them over and cut the prosciutto into thin slivers.

The idea is to cut matchstick slivers of prosciutto. Once the butter is melted, add the prosciutto. Then add a finely chopped scallion white, and freshly grated lemon zest. Stir the ingredients together. When the scallion brown and the prosciutto is crisp the butter is ready.

To shuck an oyster– place it on a folded dishcloth to protect your hand. Then, using an oyster knife, come in at the narrow edge under the hinge. Gently pry and twist to loosen the top shelf from the bottom.

Then run your knife blade under the top shell to cut the adductor muscle. Finally, run your knife under the oyster to loosen it from the shelf. One of the by words of Project Fire and Steven Raichlen is shop locally and grill globally.

These are Sure Thing oysters from St Mary’s County in southern Maryland. Oysters were one of our first sustainable seafood, the ancient Romans farmed them as early as first century BCE. Now, spoon some of the prosciutto scallion mixture into each oyster.

A lot of people eat oysters raw on the half shell, and they’re certainly delicious that way. But I think you find the complex flavors that come from grilling are even more delightful. Next place a pinch of scallion green on each oyster.

And finally, grate fresh Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on top. When you see the words Parmigiano Reggiano stamped into the rind, you know you’re buying the real McCoy.

As for the grilling, it’s really quick. Back to the grill. Place the grate over the charcoal, then place the oysters on their grilling rack on the grate.

The grilling time is really quick — a minute or two. You want the juices to bubble, but the oysters to stay just warm in the center. When the juices boil, the oysters are ready.

Take an oyster and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Let’s see how we did. Hmm. Those oysters are so sweet. I love the contrast of the crispy prosciutto and the creamy oyster, the sweetness of the parmesan cheese. And those juices are like nectar.

I’m going to have another one.

These are grilled bread fingers. You can dip those in the juices. Mmm. This is sustainable shellfish at its best.