Christmas Oyster Dressing

The idea of oyster dressing landed on this continent with the first European settlers. The practice of stuffing birds like turkey, chicken, and pheasant with oysters was common across Europe.

Oyster dressing has been a southern and east coast tradition since before the formation of the this nation. Images by author

When those early explorers landed on the eastern coast of North America, they soon discovered that oysters were plentiful and at their tastiest in the cold winter months. Over the generations, the stuffing turned to dressing, cooked in a separate pan outside the bird, but the addition of rich oysters continued as a holiday treat.

The first colonists to land on the East Coast found oysters abundant.

Once the recipe made its way down south, particularly around New Orleans, chefs and home cooks spiced things up a bit with the holy trinity of onion, bell peppers, and celery. They also added sausage to the mix and often substituted cornbread for the more traditional bread crumbs.

This recipe leans more to the southern style, with a cornbread base, onions and celery and medium or spicy breakfast sausage. The oysters came from the cold waters of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, where they rival even the famed Apalachicola Bay oysters of Florida in flavor. Don't like oysters? The recipe works without them as well for a tasty traditional southern style dressing.

The first step is to make some cornbread.

Start by making the cornbread. Add a rounded spoonful of lard or bacon grease to a well-seasoned 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet and place the pan into the oven at 375 degrees.

While the skillet comes to temperature, mix 2 cup of self-rising cornmeal, 1¾ cups of buttermilk, 1 egg and ¼ cup melted butter or vegetable oil in a large bowl.

Mix the cornbread ingredients in a bowl.

Once the skillet and the grease are hot, remove the skillet from the oven and carefully pour in the cornbread batter. Return the skillet to the hot oven to bake for 20-25 minutes.

Turn the batter into a pre-heated and greased skillet.

While the cornbread cooks, in a large skillet on the stovetop, brown 1 diced onion, two chopped stalks of celery, and a pound of your favorite medium or hot breakfast sausage.

Brown a pound of sausage with the onion and celery.

Cook until the vegetables are soft and the sausage is cooked through and crumbled. Move the skillet from the heat to allow the mixture to cool slightly.

Move the sausage mixture off the heat to cool.

Remove the baked cornbread from the oven and turn it out onto a plate. Once the cornbread is cool enough to handle, crumble it into a large bowl. Add two to three cups of your favorite herbed breadcrumb stuffing mix. I used Pepperidge Farm.

Don’t Miss: CRISPY FRIED MARYLAND OYSTERS

Add the cooled sausage mixture, 5 eggs, beaten; 4 ½ cups of chicken stock, the melted butter, dried sage, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir everything well. If you prefer your dressing on the dry side, stop here. If you like your dressing moist, add the additional half cup, or more, of chicken stock and stir to incorporate until the mixture is on the wet side.

Crumble the cornbread and add remaining ingredients except for oysters, then fold to combine.

Now gently fold in the oysters until they are evenly distributed throughout the dressing.

Gently fold in the oysters.

Turn the dressing out into a greased 13x9 baking dish and place it back into the oven. Cook for 40-45 minutes or until the top of the dressing is golden brown and the consistency matches your preferred dressing level.

Bake until golden brown.

Serve as a side to your holiday dinner or just eat a bowl by itself. Then raise a glass to those first Americans who knew a good recipe when they saw it.

Don’t Miss: MAPLE GLAZED RED PEPPER BACKSTRAP