Traditional Oyster Bread Dressing Recipes

JIM'S OLD FASHIONED OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• Spread the bread cubes out onto baking sheets or a work surface, and allow to dry for 24 to 48 hours (longer for a drier dressing).
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion, garlic, and celery until the onions become translucent, about 8 minutes. Pour the vegetables and butter into a large bowl. Lightly mix in the bread cubes, and stir in the oysters and their liquid until thoroughly combined.

OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• Melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the onions, celery, green onions and garlic until tender, stirring frequently.
• Gradually add the chopped oysters. Cook about 4 minutes, constantly stirring.
• Add the parsley; stir. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the cheese and pepper; stir.
• Remove from the heat and begin stirring in the bread crumbs a little at a time.
• Add the pecans and oyster liquor and stir.
• Cover and let stand for 3-5 minutes.
• Salt to taste. The dressing can be stuffed into the fowl of your choice, or it can be served as a side dish with seafood.
• To serve as a casserole, spoon the dressing into a buttered casserole dish, sprinkle the top with unseasoned bread crumbs, dot with butter and bake at 350F for 20 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

CORNBREAD OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Heat the cubed fat-back or oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot add the diced onions and saute until they become translucent. To the onions add the sliced celery and continue to cook 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
• In a bowl combine the eggs and milk. Add the crumbled cornbread, the oysters and their juices, the cooked onion and celery, sage, salt and pepper. Coat the sides of a baking dish with the butter. Pour the cornbread-oyster stuffing into the dish, and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool several minutes before serving.

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.

OYSTER DRESSING II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in celery, sweet onion and yellow onion. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in poultry seasoning and ground black pepper. Stir in oysters and chicken broth, and remove from heat.
• Place Italian bread in a large bowl. Pour oyster mixture over the bread and mix to coat.
• Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven 2 hours.
• Turn off oven. Remove foil and allow stuffing to remain in oven about 10 minutes, until surface is crisp.

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.

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.

OYSTER-SAGE DRESSING

Steps:

• If possible, leave the cubed bread out overnight. When ready to make the stuffing, melt the butter in a very large skillet or kettle and saute the onion and celery until just tender. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Add the bread, sage and parsley to the bowl. Toss gently until just incorporated. Fold in stock until the whole is just moistened. Fold in the oysters and oyster liquor. Season with pepper and salt. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and cover with foil. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes more. (Alternatively, use to stuff into turkey before roasting.)

OYSTER DRESSING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450°F. Make and bake cornbread mix as directed on package, using water. Cool 30 minutes; crumble cornbread into large bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Spray 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Cook celery and onion in butter 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in sage, pepper and salt.
• Add celery mixture and bread cubes to crumbled cornbread; stir gently. Add broth and eggs; stir just until moistened. Stir in oysters. Spoon mixture into baking dish.
• Bake uncovered 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown.