Oysters Kilpatrick

bluemoon downunder's Note:

A classic Australian dish which will be found in many Australian restaurants, and which is a brilliant way to enjoy oysters. I checked out a few sources before posting this recipe, for the 2005 Zaar World Tour, but primarily Huey (Australian chef Iain Hewitson) and the Australian publication by Reader's Digest of a book jam-packed with traditional Australian recipes: 'Family Recipe Scrapbook: tried and trusted recipes for today's cooks'. The recipe I've posted here is taken primarily from the Reader's Digest publication, but I've included details of a variation (from Huey) in the notes. By the way, if you're watching your salt intake and you're concerned about the unspecified amount of rock salt, don't be: you won't be eating it! Not in this recipe! But DO buy your oysters from someone or somewhere you can trust, so that you KNOW they are fresh.

• Total Time: 13 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 3 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 24 Oysters ...

• 24 fresh oysters, in their shells
• rock salt
• 14.79 ml Worcestershire sauce
• 30 g butter
• 4 slice bacon, rind and all fat removed, finely diced
• sea salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 29.58 ml flat leaf parsley, chopped
• lemon wedge, to serve

Directions:

1. Preheat the grill to the highest temperature.
2. Arrange the oysters on a bed of rock salt in a large, shallow, ovenproof dish.
3. Combine the Worcestershire sauce and butter in a small saucepan and heat the butter until it melts and the mixture begins to bubble around the edges of the saucepan. Remove from the heat.
4. Spoon a little of the Worcestershire sauce and butter mixture over each oyster, and top evenly with the diced bacon and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
5. Cook under a preheated grill for 3-4 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp.
6. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.
7. Variation: The recipe for Oyster's Kilpatrick on Huey's website is Cath Claringbold's (from Mecca Bah in Melbourne), and varies from this more traditional recipe by including 100g finely chopped onion which is gently sautéed with the bacon in some olive oil. When the onions and bacon are removed from the stove, 2 drops of Tabasco sauce (this is for 3 dozen oysters) are added along with the Worcestershire sauce. Otherwise, the steps are much the same. I'm including this variation here, because unlike me some chefs I know are always looking for ways to add extra heat!

Reviews

[Andi of Longmeadow Farm]

Holy oyster shellfish this is good! Wow, I am coming to Aussie if you all are serving this! I eat raw oysters consistently during the cold Winter months, and now you have given me a reason to keep going. Maryland has wonderful oysters, (although the population is waning) so I used some fresh oysters to enjoy with this topping of tastes and sensations. Yummy, I followed this exactly expect for one change, we ate the oysters raw, but with the topping as suggested. Easy to throw together, the bacon, the butter, the Tabasco, the worceestershire sauce, all of it, extremely satisfying and tasty. I added a bit of garlic/hot sauce to the top and it came out beautifully! Thank you, bluemoon downunder!

[Peter J]

Very tasty! I've had these a million times before and never realised they were an Australian dish. The only thing I changed in the recipe was to use diced ham rather than bacon as it tastes a little less salty. In the past I've just used worcestershire rather than mixing with butter, but the butter added to the taste and is a worthwhile step. I cooked on a BBQ grill with the hood down, although if using bacon you would need to crisp it first for this method to work.

[whitewings 33]

So simple and completely delicious!! We're a bit partial to chilli - so I added one crushed birdseye to the Worcestershire (which I doubled to 2 Tabs as we used MASSIVE New Zealand Pacifics - they tend to have a very deep shell) before adding it to the shells, We thoroughly enjoyed them temaed with a chilled crisp Savingon Blanc from the Berossa Valley and you have the perfect Aussie evening!!