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I just made Drago’s Style Charbroiled Oysters, and I have to say again that this is simply the best damned way to eat an Oyster known to man. I didn’t use the official recipe, generously shared by Drago’s Chef Tommy Cvitanovich here, but altered it a little, because that is just what I do.
By the way, I hope you all know that the “official” recipes, never contain ALL of the ingredients that make the dish what you know and love. I wouldn’t respect them if they told you ALL of their secrets! Just in case you’re wondering why you made it at home and it doesn’t taste the same? Because they (not just Drago’s, all restaurants!) aren’t telling you the whole story. They want your hungry butt in a seat in their dining room, with question marks swirling around your head about why their’s tastes so much better than the one you tried to make at home. God love ’em for it, that’s business.
Personally, I’m not a secret recipe guy. I have a few that I won’t share with you because someone else let me have their secret recipe and made me swear that I wouldn’t tell a soul (and I never will.) I have a Praline recipe that unfortunately will never see the light of day on Nola Cuisine and it’s a damned good one.
Anyway, back to the ersters. The only problem I found with my version here is that I only made half a dozen.
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| From November 21, 2011 |
Drago’s Style Charbroiled Oysters Recipe
The Sauce:
1 Stick Unsalted Butter, very soft
1 Pinch Kosher Salt
1 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
4 Tbsp Pecorino Romano
1 pinch Cayenne
1 pinch White Pepper
1 Spritz Lemon Juice
1 tsp Minced Italian Parsley
Whisk together all ingredients.
For the Oysters:
1 Dozen Large freshly shucked Oysters on the half shell (preferrably Louisiana) Watch my quicktime video on How to Shuck an Oyster
1 Recipe of the Sauce, above
Pecorino Romano to finish
Minced Italian Parsley for garnish
Fresh Bread
Lemon wedges
Mix together all of the ingredients.
Heat a charcoal or gas grill until very, very hot. Place the oysters on the hottest spot on the grill and let them cook in their own juices for a few minutes, just until they start to bubble and the edges curl.
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| From November 21, 2011 |
Top each with a generous portion of the sauce, enough to fill up the shell. When the sauce starts to bubble and sizzle sprinkle each oyster with about a Tbsp of Pecorino Romano. Let the Oysters go until the sauce on the edges of the shells gets nice and brown. Garnish with minced Parsley.
Serve while still sizzling with Lemon wedges and fresh bread.
Note: The more sauce that oozes onto the plate the better for mopping up with the bread. Also, don’t be as foolish as me and just make half a dozen, 3 dozen is more like it.
**Update**
My picture from this post was chosen as the cover of The Louisiana Seafood Bible: Oysters
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| From Louisiana Seafood Bible – Oysters |
Drago’s Seafood Restaurant is located at:
3232 N Arnoult Rd
Metairie, LA 70002-4738
(504) 888-9254
Some pics of the real deal from my most recent trip, at the New Orleans Oyster Festival 2011:
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| From July 21, 2011 |
Tommy Cvitanovich at the New Orleans Oyster Festival 2011:
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| From July 21, 2011 |
Drago’s Char-broiled
Oysters at Egullet
The Perlow’s latest trip to Drago’s at Off the Broiler
More Oyster recipes on Nola Cuisine:
Chargrilled Oysters with Artichoke Garlic Cream Sauce
Oysters Bienville Recipe
Oysters on the half shell
Be sure and check out my ever growing Index of Creole & Cajun Recipes!
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I LOVE Drago’s oysters. I used to live in an apartment that was about three blocks away from there, and I could just walk outside in the evenings and smell the place.
By the way, I linked to your site from my foodblog. Hope you don’t mind! I was surprised to find that there aren’t a lot of New Orleans food blogs out there. Yours is really good!
Oooo I can’t wait to try this out.
Each time I find a new way to eat oysters I am simply amazed.
Damn, I’m hungry.
I gotta make some of these – love the ones at Drago’s. Gonna get me a big sack and eat several dozen raw, then after my eyes cross from that little fest, do some of these. The rest, of course will be fried. Or thrown in a gumbo. Or just eaten raw with some lemon (again).
Just came back from New Orleans where I piggged out at Dragos
in the Hilton.On charbroiled ersters of course. I love oysters raw or fixed any way, but that was the best.
Have ordered oysters for next weekend and YOUR recipe gets
the test.
Here is one of my favorite recipes.Comes from the area where La. meets Texas.Take 10 Pablano peppers splitting them from the big ed to the point.On the big end make a cut 1/2 half the way around.Now open them up and cut and remove the seed pack,also at this time carefully remove the stem takng care not to damage the pepper.Put aside for now.Next take 6 pieces of bacon.Cut into small pieces about the size of your thumbnail.Start frying on medium heat in a large size frying pan Add 1/2 a medium onion cut into small pieces and 6 jalipano peppers also cored and cut into small pieces.When this mixture is about 1/2 cooked you have to drain the mixture.Drain the bacon grease off.Otherwise the filling will be to greasy.At this time you add 8 bouden sticks.Cut the bouden sticks open and empty the contents into the pan with the bacon mixture.Now add 1 cup of cooked rice and mix into the bouden mixture (This is the extender).Mix together well.Take the peppers and hold them open.Spoon the bouden mixture into the peppers taking care not to overfill the peppers.After the peppers are filled top with motserella cheese.Place all the peppers on a large baking sheet.Bake at 400 degrees for no longer then 30 minutes otherwise you will burn the cheese.Serve with a baked potatoe and a lettice and tomatoe salid.You can also use this recipe using shrimp or crawfish bouden.The only change you make is to not drain the bacon because the rice in the shrimp and crawfish bouden tends to be dry.”This bouden will not be greasy” ENJOY
Here is one of my favorite recipes.Comes from the area where La. meets Texas.Take 10 Pablano peppers splitting them from the big ed to the point.On the big end make a cut 1/2 half the way around.Now open them up and cut and remove the seed pack,also at this time carefully remove the stem takng care not to damage the pepper.Put aside for now.Next take 6 pieces of bacon.Cut into small pieces about the size of your thumbnail.Start frying on medium heat in a large size frying pan Add 1/2 a medium onion cut into small pieces and 6 jalipano peppers also cored and cut into small pieces.When this mixture is about 1/2 cooked you have to drain the mixture.Drain the bacon grease off.Otherwise the filling will be to greasy.At this time you add 8 bouden sticks.Cut the bouden sticks open and empty the contents into the pan with the bacon mixture.Now add 1 cup of cooked rice and mix into the bouden mixture (This is the extender).Mix together well.Take the peppers and hold them open.Spoon the bouden mixture into the peppers taking care not to overfill the peppers.After the peppers are filled top with motserella cheese.Place all the peppers on a large baking sheet.Bake at 400 degrees for no longer then 30 minutes otherwise you will burn the cheese.Serve with a baked potatoe and a lettice and tomatoe salid.You can also use this recipe using shrimp or crawfish bouden.The only change you make is to not drain the bacon because the rice in the shrimp and crawfish bouden tends to be dry.”This bouden will not be greasy” ENJOY”
I’m from New Orleans and evacuated to Little Rock, AR due to Katrina. I keep NOLA alive in my cooking. Wanted to try this recipe with sparkling wine. Now I have the recipe.
Thanks,
Lorrie
This is truly the best recipe for chargrilled oysters. We live and die by it!! A good head of smoke on the grill adds even more flavor. Enjoy!
I posted a video of these oysters on Facebook. Not sure how to link? Anyone? Maybe you just go to Facebook and search “Drago’s?”
THE BEST.
Maybe here:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=39658979626
I love to eat dragos charbroiled oysters. But there is another place on the westbank called new orleans cresent city grill. the charbroils are the top of the line. look out dragos you have competition.
Vito
Hey vito,
I agree. Ive had the oysters at that spot also if were talking about the same place. Its on barataria blvd right next to starbucks. i can eat the charbroils there all day. New orleans Cresent city grill.
Tony
The recipe worked great!!! We are from NO and loved it, simple, and delicious! Allllllmooosst as good as Dragos–except we had to sweat a little instead of someone else! Thanks
Great and simple recipe! It worked great! Almost as good as Dragos…except we had to sweat a little!
These oysters are incredible.
My wife makes what she calls “artichoke bread” where she takes a loaf of french bread and slices it in half length ways. She then pulls out the center of the bread and throws it in a mixing bowl. She takes a can of artichoke hearts and slices them into quarters and mixes that with a cup of cheddar jack cheese, a cup of sour cream, and the bread crumbs. She then puts the mixture back into the loaf, adds extra cheddar to the top and wraps it in aluminum foil. She then bakes it in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes.
We had these oysters on top of this bread and it was to die for.
What’s up! I can’t believe that Chef Cvitanovich is proliforated the sauce ingredients that! I had to figure out each spice &/or aroma for myself. That is, before I found the nolacuisine.com blog. That’s cool though.
I no longer live in the NOLA, I live in CENLA now…ya know near the military base and BELIEVE ME WE NEED A DRAGO’S HERE! I would manage the place for near minimum wage, the rest in profit sharing, live a happy (full)life and make my kids rich. Meanwhile, I still drive to NOLA so if you see a guy that looks just like Tiger Woods (like enough to be a twin brother) it’s probably me!
We were just in The Big Easy this weekend and had some of these oysters and let me tell you……….Dey are GOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!
Every year for my birthday I make these ever since I had them years ago. This recipe is delcious. Here in Pa its like a bit of New Orleans for my B-Day ! Thanks !
I met someone who told me she didn’t like oysters. She said she had tried them fried and did not care for them much. She said she had also tried them raw and liked them even less. I told her she hadn’t tried the best way in the world to eat an oyester. I knew if I could get her across Lake Ponchatrain I could change her mind. We made a trip down and needless to say, she was reluctant to try them.. Right up until the first one made it slowly to her mouth. It’s funny how fast a dozen char-grills will go. I knew I had succeeded in changing her mind when I saw that, ” wonder who’s gonna get the last one” look in her eye while she wiped the shells clean with the French bread. I asked her what she thought of oysters now? “Heaven on a half shell” she replied.
Fantastic. A smoking hot grill will yield a nice flame once the sauce is spooned in. Use freshly grated romano. Simple and tasty.
I realize that you may not want to reveal the real secret of Drago’s oysters but I think that most people will go to Drago’s anyway. For those who have not been to Drago’s and watched the guys make them,the secret is that while the oysters are on the grill you not only put the sauce in the shell but you let a little drip into the grill so that the flame comes over the shell so that the oyster “Char-broils”. There, I said it.
I just came back. My wife has never/would never eat an oyster…until after Dragos. now thats all she talks about. Im pretty sure the recipe has bread crumbs in it which seems to be missing from this list of ingredients.
Dockside Seafood in Harahan has the best char-broiled oysters I’ve tasted! I have not been to Drago’s yet….we may go tonight and I’ll let y’all know how they compare!
I just got back from NOLA and ate at Dragos in the Hilton. I didn’t like oysters before but now I have a way I can eat them. I love it and plan to prepare them at home (Indianapolis)!