Hog Island + Grilled Oysters Recipe

A couple months ago we took a trip up to Hog Island Oyster Farm to enjoy a beautiful day with family, oysters and beer. The Farm is about an hour and a half drive north of San Francisco, and it’s a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. You learn how to shuck your own oysters, and there’s something really satisfying about slurping them up after you’ve put in the work to shuck them yourself. Raw or grilled, they’re delicious. Here’s the outfit post from our day of oyster shucking, and here are a few more snaps, along with a delicious horseradish sauce recipe for grilled oysters!

Horseradish Butter for Grilled Oysters

8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1tsp prepared horseradish
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine first 6  ingredients until smooth in a food process, with an electric mixer, or by hand. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the oysters, grill over high heat (cupped side down, so juices don’t spill) for 5 minutes until they pop open. Remove oysters from grill as they pop open, and after 10 minutes remove all of them even if they haven’t popped. Shuck them (use a towel or oven mitt to protect hands from heat) and use the knife to scoop under the oyster and cut the bottom muscle. Add a teaspoon of the horseradish butter on top of each oyster and place back on the grill for a minute, until butter begins to melt. Remove from the grill and knock that sucker back! My mouth is watering just thinking about them…

[above] Beautiful day at Hog island. [below] Shucking!

[above] Oysters on the grill. [below] Bubbling and steaming away.

 [above] Yummy oysters with a horseradish sauce. [below] With my love.