Big Dude's Eclectic Ramblings: Oysters, Wings, And Jerk Chicken

As you may recall, during our RV trip in April to Pensacola, we made a couple of stops at Joe Patti’s Seafood and one of the things we bought was shucked oysters, which I froze.

I had been advised that the frozen ones were not that good when eaten raw but just as good as fresh when cooked so we deep fried them. I thawed and drained the 24 oz container which contained 20 select oysters that looked fresh shucked.

Since we had both House Autry and Zatarain’s breading on hand, we decided to have a taste test and since there were only 20 oysters, I also cooked some Royal Red Shrimp to fill us up – no side dish.

Since I cooked everything in small batches, I didn’t take any pics but the house Autry was the winner and Bev said they were the best fried oysters she’s had in a long time – both of the breading’s provided a light crispy coating and to make it a little thicker, I soaked the seafood in buttermilk.

Since the oil was in the pot on the stove, the next night we decided to get a package of wings out of the freezer and fry them up. I dried them well and fried bare at 365F then tossed in our go-to wing sauce..

For Father’s Day, I had nothing special in mind so I asked Bev if she had a food preference and she came up with jerk chicken which got the package of jerk marinade out of the freezer from a previous meal.

Pat joined us along with good friend Kathy who had her first jerk food.

I spatchcocked two whole 5½ lb. chickens (can’t seem to find 3½ lb. fryers anymore) overnight and grilled them on both sides then finished them in the oven.

I got them from the fridge an hour and half prior to cooking.

I put them over direct medium-low heat (lid closed), skin side down to begin cooking.

When they had the color I was looking for, I flipped them and continued cooking looking for a breast temp of 160F. But the right color was achieved on the second side before getting to that temp so I finished cooking them in a 350F oven.