Skip to content

Robert St. John

Restaurateur, author, enthusiastic traveler, & world-class eater.

Crispy Fried Oyster BLT’s

I first ate these when my friend Julia Reed served them at a cocktail party on the courtyard of her Bourbon Street home. Make sure to use smaller oysters so that they can be eaten in one or two bites.

Ingredients

4-5 whole leaves of romaine lettuce

1 cup                 Seafood Remoulade Sauce

1/2 cup             Cooked chopped bacon

2 dozen            Oysters, fresh shucked

1 2 /3 cups       Corn meal

1 /3 cup            Corn flour

2 tsp                  Salt

2 Tbsp             Creole Seasoning (recipe page xx)

Peanut Oil for frying

 

Instructions

Heat oil in cast iron skillet to 350 degrees.

Combine cornmeal, corn flour, salt and Creole seasoning. Drop oysters into cornmeal  mixture and drop one at a time into hot oil. Fry until golden and crispy (approximately five minutes), remove, drain and assemble BLT’s.

Cut two-inch wide sections from the romaine leaves. Cut across the leaves so that each piece has a center rib piece.

Place 2 teaspoons of remoulade and one teaspoon of chopped bacon on the center of each romaine strip. Top with a fried oyster and wrap the lettuce around the oyster. Pierce the center with a decorated toothpick to secure the oyster.

Serve immediately.

Yield: 24

Recent Recipes

Amalfi Lemon Cake

There's a particular kind of sunshine that only shows up in citrus form, and this Amalfi Lemon Cake has it in spades. Bright, moist, and unapologetically lemony, it walks the line between a proper dessert and something you'd be just as happy eating with your coffee on a Tuesday morning. The glaze soaks into the crumb while the cake's still warm, so every bite carries that little pucker of acidity balanced against real sweetness. It's simple enough for a weeknight and pretty enough for company.

Read more

Pecan Crusted Redfish

There's a certain kind of Southern kitchen wisdom that says you can't improve on a fresh Gulf redfish — and for the most part, that's true. But every now and then a dish comes along that doesn't so much improve the fish as it does pay proper respect to it, and this pecan-crusted redfish is one of those. It's a dish that works just as well for a Tuesday supper as it does for a table full of guests you're trying to impress — which, if you ask me, is the mark of a truly great recipe. Serve it simple, with rice or grits and something green on the side, and let the fish do the talking.

Read more

Stuffed Pork

Robert St. John's Stuffed Pork is an elegant centerpiece dish that takes a braised pork loin and layers it with Black Forest ham and melted Fontina cheese for a result that's as impressive to look at as it is to eat. The pork is seared, slow-roasted in chicken stock, and then sliced accordion-style so each cut fans open to hold the savory fillings before going back into the oven to meld together. A silky pan sauce made from the reduced braising liquid and heavy cream ties it all together, making this one of those recipes that feels restaurant-worthy without being out of reach.

Read more