Bill Smith's Fried Oysters

Ingredients

• 2 cups maseca (the corn flour ground especially for tamales and tortillas)

• 2 cups self-rising flour

• 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 pint shucked oysters

• 2 cups, more or less of oil for frying. Remarkably I never use lard for this.

• More salt for dusting oysters after they are cooked

Instructions

Mix the flours together with the salt and pepper in a bowl. Taste to make sure that it is seasoned to suit you. Heat the oil in a suitable pot to about to 365 degrees. The oil should be deep enough to float the oysters. (A little of the breading will sizzle when you sprinkle it in the oil.)

Drain the oysters. You don’t want to crowd the oysters either in the breading bowl or the frying pan because they will be gummy. A few at a time, toss the oysters in the breading. Fry them in the oil for a minute, to a minute and a half at most. They should float and be pretty and brown when done. Let the oil recover its heat between batches. Drain the oysters in a bowl lined with a clean kitchen towel, then dust with more sea salt.

Serve at once with lemon wedges and a favorite sauce. When Lynne was here I think we had aioli made with roasted garlic. Lately I’ve taken to Sriracha sauce stirred into mayonnaise until it is the color of Thousand Island dressing. Regular old cocktail sauce is fine too.