Iron Chef Category

In Maine last weekend the secret ingredient for the Iron Chef category were oysters. I love oysters; to me the perfect oyster is fresh and eaten raw. That's almost how I prepared it for the judges, but chickened out. So, deep fried was my second choice. I know what you're thinking: it's a grilling contest, why would you deep fry something?? Looking back at some of the grilling contests we've done, I've deep fried a lot of stuff... maybe that's why we don't do that well at grilling...Oh well, I thought they tasted good. They finished in 6th place. After I shucked the oysters I soaked them briefly in a little water to loosen up any grit or shell. Then I dredged them through flour, egg wash, then breading. The breading was 1/2 corn meal and 1/2 panko bread crumbs, salt and pepper. I deep fried them for about one minute just to get some golden color on them. Then I handed them over to Kris. She had prepared a nice sauce for each oyster to sit in. It was made from butter, shallot, roasted garlic, and white wine. A spoon full of sauce went into each shell, then the fried oyster. They were garnished with some crispy pancetta, chives, and lemon.