Garlic scape, anchovy, and parsley butter will be your new signature shellfish garnish.

“Grilling oysters is an occasion in itself. You gather your oysters and gather your friends and get to work shucking before setting the opened oysters over the fire,” writes chef Renee Erickson in her book Sunlight & Breadcrumbs. If you’re a fan of the shuckable shellfish, your mouth is probably already watering at the thought of slurping up all the oysters you can stomach. Luckily, Erickson has provided a thoughtful tutorial on how to do them up right with a savory, garlicky butter.

“Here’s a place where compound butter really shines,” Erickson writes. “A kiss of rich and feisty flavoring melds with the oysters as they cook over the open flames and helps them become burnished and bubbly in the heat.” In other words, the addition of butter is absolutely mandatory.

“I use the garlic scape and parsley butter here to deliver a green spark to the oysters, but in general, compound butters offer a wonderful chance to experiment with flavors. In other moments, I’ll incorporate other herbs, citrus, or chiles into the buttery matrix.” So consider this just the beginning of your buttery oyster journey — you still have so many herbs and aromatics to pack into those shells.

Grilled Oysters with Garlic Scapes, Anchovies, and Parsley

Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients

2 dozen oysters in their shells, ideally 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) long
1 batch of Garlic Scape, Anchovy, and Parsley Butter (see recipe below)

Instructions

Prepare a charcoal grill for medium-high heat: Ideally the coals will still be glowing red but not flaming anymore and the interior temperature is about 425°F (220°C). Brush the grates clean.
Line a couple of sheet pans with paper towels. Shuck each oyster and reserve the top shells. In each oyster, cut the adductor muscle from the bottom shell so it is easier to eat when cooked, but leave the oyster meat and liquor in place. Set each shucked oyster on one of the prepared pans and work to preserve as much liquor as possible in each oyster; you can use the reserved top shells as props if the oysters are inclined to tip over.
Spoon about 1½ teaspoons of the garlic scape butter on each oyster. Place the oysters on the grill and cook until the butter fully melts and the oysters start to firm up to the touch. I like to see the mantle (frilly end of the oyster) start to curl up a bit, and the butter will start to brown and caramelize a bit. Cooking time for a medium oyster is 8 to 10 minutes. Be careful, as some oysters might pop a shell out at you as they cook.
Remove the cooked oysters to a serving plate and eat them quickly. Be careful—they will be hot! But so delicious.

Garlic Scape, Anchovy, and Parsley Butter

Yields: About 1½ cups (340g)

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks/225 g) unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 additional tablespoons
10 garlic scapes, woody ends trimmed, chopped into ½ -inch (12 mm) pieces (if not available, you can substitute 10 spring garlic cloves)
1 cup (50 g) roughly chopped Italian parsley leaves
Grated zest of 1 lemon
6 anchovy fillets, chopped
⅓ cup (75 ml) lemon juice, about 2 lemons
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

In a medium skillet, melt the 2 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Add the garlic scapes and sauté until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape the scapes and their pan juices into a blender while warm. Add the parsley and buzz them together until smooth.
In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the remaining 1 cup (2 sticks/225 g) butter on medium speed for 15 seconds. Add the blended scapes, lemon zest, anchovies, lemon juice, and salt. Beat for 1 minute, or until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
If not using right away, you can roll the butter into a cylinder using parchment paper. If you won’t use that within a couple of weeks, then wrap the parchment tube well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. You can slice off the amount you need to use as you go along.