A Moose in Love wrote:
> I've never had oyster dressing, but I sure would eat it up.
> To me it sounds good.

Made right, it can be good.

> I've only had raw oysters before as well as smoked oysters
> from a can. The raw oysters, I can live without.

Never had canned oysters. Only fresh live ones that I kill
right before eating. I don't care for raw either. Most
seafood benefits from a bit of cooking.

One thing that's always annoyed me are those contests
'How many can you eat in a certain time frame'
Usually drunken ppl at a bar doing this.
They just swallow the entire thing down in one gulp and
not chewing and savoring the flavor.
So sad that all those living creatures die just for a contest.

> But they sure have potential when they are cooked, fried.

Imo, each step of cooking makes them better.

I've had them just "steamed in shell" and they are tasty.
Once steamed open by placing them on a grill at a party.

Several times, I've been hiking around the shoreline and
at low tide (with easy access to oysters). I'd dig a little
pit in the sand and start a small fire. Get it going for
awhile then let it burn down to coals. While the fire is
going, I'd wade out into shallow water and harvest a few
oysters. Come back and set them on the hot coals to steam
open and....very tasty.

For the best oysters (AND clams) imo, open them live,
remove from shell, batter them whole and deep fry just
until the batter browns nicely. It doesn't get much
better than that.