Oyster Dressing Recipe
All dressed up and nowhere to go…except straight to the kitchen for seconds of Lucy Buffet’s Oyster Dressing (adapted by Kim Severson). This recipe combines everything you love in a baking dish: good bread, fall flavors, and fresh Lowcountry seafood.
8-10 servings
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 12 tablespoons ( 1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, divided, plus more for baking dish
- 1 (8-inch square) baked and cooled cornbread, preferably on the sweet side
- 15 slices white or wheat bread, toasted and cooled
- ½ large white onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
- ½ large green bell pepper, finely chopped
- ½ cup of chicken broth, plus more if needed
- 2 dozen freshly shucked or jarred oysters, preferably lowcountry oysters, drained and coarsely chopped (reserve the oyster liquor)
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce, preferably Crystal
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 ¼ teaspoon truffle salt or sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
Preparation:
Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
Step 2
Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine.
Step 3
Melt 8 tablespoons of butter into a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, for three minutes. Cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove cover, add broth, and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan for two to three minutes. Continue to cook mixture for one more minute, then remove from heat, add to bread mixture, and stir to combine.
Step 4
In a medium bowl, stir together oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley, sage, salt, and white pepper. Add bread mixture and stir well to combined. If dressing seems to dry, add a little oyster liquor and up to half cup more chicken broth; Mixture should be very moist.
Step 5
Pour dressing into greased baking dish. Cut remaining 4 tablespoons butter into small pieces and scatter over top of dressing. Bake until top and sides are browned, 40 to 45 minutes.