Fried Oyster Salad

This is more about the concept than the recipe.

1 dozen fresh shucked oysters
corn meal
buttermilk
Frank's hot sauce
vegetable oil


Place oysters in a bowl and cover with buttermilk. Add a few dashes of Frank's. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat oil in a small pot to 370 F. Remove oysters from BM and coat with corn meal. In small batches fry oysters in oil for about 2 minutes each or until done. They cook quick and don't over cook. Drain on rack.

Make whatever kind of fresh salad you want with whatever dressing you like. Simple salads with a vinaigrette seems to work best.

Hearts of Romaine
tomatoes
green olives
cucumber
crumbled Cotija Fresco

Top with fried oysters.

Deviled Eggs

Base
12 eggs
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup of mayo
1 tablespoon minced shallot
5 dashes Franks hot sauce
salt
pepper
paprika
chopped fresh parsley

Options
green olives
sweet pickle relish

Hard boil eggs. Cool, peel, halve. Remove yolks and place in bowl. Mash 24 halved yolks with a potato masher until smooth. Add and blend in mayo, mustard, shallot, Franks, salt and pepper. Place whites on a bitchin' deviled egg plate. Fill the halved egg whites with yolk mixture. Dash on paprika and scatter parsley. Chill 3 hours. Serve.

Marinated Roasted Stuffed Chicken

1 roasting chicken (approx 4½ lbs)

Marinate
olive oil
2 lemons halved
Montreal chicken seasoning
salt
pepper
dried parsley
dried thyme

Stuff
2 cups of Cornbread Dressing (I hope)
2 cups Italian Sausage
1/2 onion chopped fine
olive oil
salt
pepper
dried parsley
dried thyme
dried sage

Roast
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 lemon
Montreal chicken seasoning
salt
pepper
dried parsley
dried thyme
1/2 cup of white wine

Wash and dry chicken and remove the stuff inside. Cut way any excess skin or fat around the openings. Slide you fingers between the skin and the breast meat creating some separation. Do the same thing around the thigh. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl.

Liberally and individually coat the bird inside and out with olive oil, juice from one of the lemons, Montreal chicken seasoning, salt, pepper, dried parsley, dried thyme. Use your best judgement as to what is enough of each. Put a spent lemon inside your chicken. Cover with a paper towel and refrigerate for 4-8 hours. Rotate chicken every hour to recoat with marinade. Add more of any of the ingredients as needed.

In a medium sauce pan soften the chopped onion in olive oil over medium heat. Add two cups of bulk Italian sausage. Break-up and brown. Add salt, pepper dried parsley, dried thyme, dried sage. Drain excess fat (but not too much). Combine cornbread dressing and saute for another 5 minutes.

Remove the lemon from inside and place the chicken in a large cast iron skillet. Cut the butter into table spoon size pieces and slide between skin and the breast and thigh meat. Fill the birds cavity 90% full with sausage and cornbread dressing stuffing. Don't cram it in there. Squeeze a lemon over the brid and put the halves in the skillet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes and then pour the white wine over the bird. Bake for another hour. Remove. Tent and let rest for 10 minutes. Carve and eat.