Baked Oysters with Fresh Thyme and Sweet Garlic Butter

3 cups kosher salt
28 Kumamoto oysters, shucked – or other oysters
1/2 cup garlic butter (recipe follows), softened
12 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Mix 1 cup of the kosher salt with just enough water to make it the consistency of wet sand. Place 7 small mounds of the salt on each of four serving plates to hold the baked oysters. Set aside.

Spread the remaining 2 cups salt on a baking sheet. Place about a teaspoon of the garlic butter on each oyster and nestle the oysters in the salt. Scatter the thyme over the oysters.

Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the butter is bubbling and lightly browned.

To serve, place each oyster on a mound of salt on the serving plates. Drizzle with lemon juice, and serve immediately. - serves 4 - Adapted from On the Line by Eric Ripert and Christine Muhlke.


Garlic Butter

1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallot

Wrap the parsley in a square of cheesecloth (or paper towel) and squeeze to remove excess moisture.

Whip the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. (This can also be done by hand in a large mixing bowl.) Add the garlic, shallot, and parsley and mix well.

Transfer the butter to a plastic container and store, tightly sealed, for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 1 month in the freezer. - makes about 1/2 pound