Traditional Oyster Bread Dressing Recipes

OYSTER DRESSING (STUFFING)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in the bread crumbs and parsley and remove from the heat. Add the oysters and eggs, and season with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and thyme. Stir in enough liquid from the oysters to moisten and mix everything thoroughly. Transfer to the casserole dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the top is toasted and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

OYSTER STUFFING

Steps:

• In a small skillet, saute celery and onion in butter until tender; transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the parsley, poultry seasoning, sage and pepper. Add bread cubes. Combine the egg, broth and oysters; add to bread mixture, stirring gently to combine. , Transfer to a greased 1-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until a thermometer reads 160° and stuffing is lightly browned.

OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• To make the cornbread, combine cornmeal, flour, 2 eggs, buttermilk and oil and pour into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
• To make the dressing, crumble dried white bread slices, cornbread and crackers. Mix together and set aside. Sauté chopped celery and onion in butter until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour over corn bread mixture. Add stock, mix well and add salt, pepper, sage and poultry seasoning. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Add oysters and mix. Pour into a greased pan. Bake for about 45 minutes.

TRADITIONAL NEW ORLEANS OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• In a LARGE black cast iron Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat and saute' the smoked sausage, onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and green onion tops until all of them are tender.
• The one thing you want to remember is to keep the butter hot, but don't let it burn (and don't let the garlic burn either or it will turn bitter).
• I also suggest that you keep stirring the mixture to cook it uniformly.
• Next, stir in the parsley.
• Then gradually stir in the chopped oysters, the oyster liquor, and the turkey pan drippings. Notice I said to gradually stir. The reason for this is that you do not want to reduce the heat, lowering the cooking temperature will cause excessive water to be released from the oysters and you'll have to add too much bread to the finished dish.
• Now cook the oysters gently over medium high heat for about 4 minutes, stirring all the while.
• And when all the ingredients are well mixed, drop in the poultry seasoning, basil, thyme, seafood seasoning, black pepper and salt. About the salt; taste your raw oysters to see if they are naturally salty before adding the prescribed amount.
• You may have to reduce additional salt if nature has provided her own.
• At this point, cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes to allow time for the flavors to marry.
• This is one of the secrets to making a really good oyster dressing. Don't rush or skip this step!
• After the simmering process is done, remove the pot from the fire and begin adding the bread chunks a few at a time.
• Note that you do not have to add all four cups.
• If you want your dressing moist, stop adding bread when you get to the texture you desire.
• If you want a drier stuffing, add all four cups, even a little more if your taste and needs dictate.
• Now taste the dressing again and make your final seasoning adjustments.
• The objective is to get the bread to absorb all the pan liquor, thereby binding everything together.
• When, in your estimation, the dressing is ready (it shouldn't be soupy, but it shouldn't be dry either), allow it to cool slightly. Then rapidly stir in the raw egg to tie everything together and cover it for a few minutes to let it set up.
• This is where the richness comes in and it's how the final blending brings out full flavor.
• Oh, and if by chance you've miscalculated and made the mixture a bit too dry, just pour in a little extra turkey drippings.
• The only thing left to do is to transfer the dressing right from the Dutch oven to a buttered casserole dish, generously sprinkle the top with the buttered cracker crumbs, drizzle on a little extra melted butter, and bake it for about 25 minutes uncovered in a 375°F oven.
• Fresh bread chunks are better than dried crumbs in your oyster dressing because they tend to cook up fluffy rather than pasty. So to make fresh bread chunks, just take fresh sliced bread or French bread and pull apart small bite-side pieces.
• To make your buttered cracker crumb topping, simply drop regular saltine crackers into the processor and, while the blades are spinning, pour in a couple of tablespoons of melted butter.

THANKSGIVING TRADITION OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• Heat butter in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove Dutch oven from heat. Stir bread crumbs, oysters, oyster liquor, celery, salt, black pepper, thyme, and poultry seasoning into onion. Spoon mixture into the prepared baking pan; cover tightly with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes; remove aluminum foil and continue baking until lightly browned, about 20 more minutes.

GRANDMOTHER'S OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, over low heat, combine turkey neck, celery leaves, carrot top, onion and water to cover. Simmer for 2 hours as the turkey roasts. In a large bowl combine stale breads, set aside. In a large saute pan melt butter with vegetable oil. Add onions, celery and sage and cook over medium heat until onions begin to brown Add onion mixture and enough of the giblet broth to moisten bread, toss, and set aside. About 1 hour before the turkey is done, using a turkey baster or a large spoon remove all but 1/2 cup of fat from pan. Toss the oysters with the bread stuffing and add it in an even layer to the roasting pan with the turkey, stirring to coat the bread. Return the turkey to the oven and continue roasting for the final hour. Serve as a side dish

TRADITIONAL OYSTER-BREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Melt butter and add celery and onions. Cover and cook until tender but not brown. Add finely chopped oysters and beaten eggs gradually. Add sage and poultry seasoning to your taste. Then add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly with fork. Add enough broth to make mixture moist. Stuff bird and roast or keep dressing refrigerated until you are ready to stuff bird.