Baked Oysters with Mustard Greens and Bacon

HIGHLANDS BAR & GRILL IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, has been a virtual school of modern Southern cookery ever since the early 1990s, and not a week passes that owner/chef Frank Stitt doesn’t create yet another innovative dish displaying Southern and Mediterranean techniques applied to the ingredients of his native Alabama. There’s a baby flounder stuffed with shrimp and crabmeat, and a grilled pompano with roasted pumpkin and orange hollandaise sauce, but his Apalachicola oysters baked with a topping of peppery mustard greens and bacon is a wonder of contrasting flavors. Fresh, young, winter mustard greens are not that easy to find, even in parts of the South. If they are available, buy only those with crisp young leaves with a deep green color. A good substitute for the greens in this recipe is a combination of fresh spinach and watercress. And don’t balk at all the bacon grease; that’s what gives the dish much of its true Southern flavor.

MAKES: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 1⁄4 pound bacon, finely diced
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 small hot red chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 4 cups washed, drained, finely chopped, loosely packed mustard greens
• 1 lemon, lightly zested, seeded, and juiced
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 dozen fresh oysters on the half shell
• 1 cup coarse white bread crumbs

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C).
2. In a large skillet, fry the bacon over moderate heat until it is almost crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and finely crumble it.
3. Add the finely diced onion to the skillet, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the onion becomes very soft but not browned, for about 7 minutes.
4. Stir in the finely diced garlic and chile pepper, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Add the finely chopped mustard greens, lemon zest, lemon juice, bacon, and butter to the skillet. Toss the mixture well for about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Place a small mound of the greens mixture on top of each oyster on the half shell.
7. Sprinkle coarse white bread crumbs on top of each oyster with the greens.
8. Arrange the oysters on a heavy baking sheet.
9. Bake the oysters in the preheated oven until the bread crumbs turn golden and the oysters are heated through, for about 5 minutes.
10. Serve the baked oysters immediately.