Jamie’s Roasted Oysters on the Half Shell with Spiced Butter 

Topped with a generous dollop of the delicious spiced butter mixture (which you can make well in advance), these fresh oysters go under the broiler only until they bubble around the edges, which takes mere minutes. You can also cook the oysters on a hot grill. These oysters should be slurped straight from their shells, but no one will complain if you offer crusty bread to sop up every last bit of the crazy-good butter.

Jamie Davis is a professional chef who creates elaborate seafood dishes at a gorgeous fine dining restaurant only a few steps from the water. But he assures me that this is how he loves to fix oysters at home for his family on a day off. 

Makes 4 dozen.

Roasted Oysters on the Half Shell with Spiced Butter

• 48 large freshly shucked oysters on the half shell
• 1 1/2 cups Spiced Butter (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Arrange the oysters on a baking tray. If the shells are wobbly, hold them upright and in place on a bed of rock salt or a layer of crumpled aluminum foil.) Top each oyster with about 1 teaspoon of chilled Spiced Butter. The amount of butter depends on the size of the oyster and shell, but should be about half the size of the oyster meat. It’s fine to cook them in batches if they won’t all fit on a single tray.

Roast until the butter melts and the juices just begin to bubble around the edge of the oysters, about 5 minutes. Serve at once.  

Spiced Butter

• 8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
• 1 small red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, cored and very finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 small jalapeño, very finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 small garlic clove, very finely chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
• Pinch of salt, to taste

Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for about 4 dozen large oysters.

Warm 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the bell pepper and jalapeño and cook until tender, about 5 minutes, stirring often; do not let the peppers brown. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds while stirring. Pour into a medium-size bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Add the remaining butter, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and Old Bay.  Beat with a mixer set to low speed or stir vigorously by hand until well-combined. Season with salt.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week. For longer storage, wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months; thaw in the refrigerator before using.