Fried Oyster Salad and/or PoBoys

I know I lost a lot of you with "oyster", but for those of us who like them, this salad is a winner. Whenever oysters are available, I buy several pints and throw them in the freezer to use whenever I get a craving. That is exactly what happened today. The only thing I had to decide was how I wanted to serve them. I had lots of lettuce, so a salad was the obvious choice. I don't usually use bottled salad dressing because it's so easy to make, but this was in my refrigerator after we let our house be used for a weekend retreat, so I didn't want to waste it. It was actually quite good! I added and avocado and some crunchy bacon bits and dinner was ready. I served Hubby's on a Hawaiian bun as a sandwich and he loved it. I ate mine just as it was and enjoyed avery bite. Here's what you'll need:

  • 1 pint oysters, drained
  • cornmeal for dredging the oysters
  • bacon bits
  • avocado
  • romaine
  • parmesan cheese
  • salad dressing of your choice
  • peanut oil for frying 

Start by frying the bacon. I like to have bacon bits in the freezer, so I cut up the whole pound and fry it until crisp. Then I used what I needed and put the rest in the freezer in a zip top bag and keep it in the freezer until I need some.

Heat the oil in a pan to fry the oysters. You want the oil to be about 350 degrees.

While the oil is heating, put the corn meal in a bowl and season it to taste. I used roasted garlic salt and Old Bay. Stir to combine. After you have drained the oysters well. pat dry with a paper towel. Hot oil and water do not mix. Dredge an oyster in the seasoned corn meal, shake off the excess and gently place in the hot oil. Repeat with the remaining oysters, but don't add them all to the oil at once. I fry about 3 at a time. Any more than that and the oil dolls too quickly and the crust doesn't get a golden, crunchy brown. When they are done, drain on a paper towel and season with a little salt. Cook all the oysters.

In a big bowl, toss the lettuce with dressing until it is evenly distributed.

Dice the avocado and add it to the bowl.

Now sprinkle on the bacon bits.

Add the fried oysters.

Now it's ready. Beautiful, right? I love all the different textures and flavors.

And here it is made into a sandwich.

Tomatillo Avocado Sauce

This is a simple sauce/dip that I made one day when I needed something to go with some crab cakes. I looked in the refrigerator to see what I could come up with and this was the result. Hubby says it should be on hand at all times to put on everything and my Dad just likes to eat it with a spoon!​

Ingredients:​

  • 3 tomatillos, roasted
  • 1 avocado​
  • 1 handful cilantro​
  • 1/2-1 Serrano (roasted)​
  • juice of 3 limes​

Start by removing the husks from the tomatillos then roasting the tomatillos and the Serrano pepper on high heat until they are blistered. ​The unroasted tomatillos will be the color of Granny Smith apples. You can tell they are ready when they start to char and the bright green color starts to fade. If they start to burst open, take them off the heat because you don't want to cook them. 

In a blender add the roasted tomatillos, cilantro,​ lime juice, avocado and 1/2 of the Serrano. Blend until smooth. We like spicy food, so I leave the seeds in the Serrano, but be careful because their heat tends to vary greatly. You can always add more if it's not spicy enough. If you add too much Serrano (like I did last night!), don't panic. You can always add more of the other ingredients to balance the heat. Now just season with salt and pepper and it's ready. Last night I served the sauce with grilled chicken soft tacos. It's also great just as a dip.

FYI: Whenever ​I make this sauce, I buy more tomatillos than I need and roast them all at the same time. Then I blend the extras and put them in a container in the refrigerator to use for something else (maybe chicken enchiladas?) later in the week. It's not really any extra work and I'm one step ahead for the next meal. I grilled extra chicken last night too!

Enjoy!​

Lynn​