Oyster Dressing

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving my husband and I picked up a half a sack of oysters for use in various dishes for the holidays. Fresh shucked oysters have always been a holiday tradition for us, and it just wouldn't be the same without them.

 Last  Thanksgiving we decided on oyster gumbo. This year, oyster dressing along with some other yummy dishes including, turkey breast, dirty duck rice, green bean casserole, and a yummy pumpkin pie.Today I'm introducing my recipe for oyster dressing . Enjoy!

First thing we should talk about is cornbread.
I prefer to make my own cornbread for the dressing but you don't have to, you can always us a box or 2 of stove top stuffing as a short cut, but I find you get a much better flavor and texture using home made than commercial. Heres how I make mine.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Then grease and heat a rather large cast iron skillet. I heat mine on a medium heat.

While your oven and skillet are getting hot, in a mixing bowl combine your egg, milk, oil, and cornbread mix. Stir until well blended.

 Then pour the mix into your hot skillet. It will sizzle, but this is whats going to give your corn bread a nice crust.

Next we move the skillet to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Once the cornbread is done and lightly brown on top I like to add butter to the top and leave it in the oven for another minute or so to melt the butter. Once the butter has melted and soaked into the cornbread remove from the oven and let cool.

 After the cornbread is cool enough to handle  break it all up into tiny pieces onto a sheet pan (sorry I didn't take a pic of this step ) and bake again  at 350 until its all a nice golden brown. You can make the cornbread a day or 2 ahead  to make things a bit easier, and to let the cornbread dry out a bit more.
Now on to the fun part !
Oyster Dressing.
First take about a half a loaf of white bread and break into chunks.
bake the bread at 350 degrees until crispy and golden brown, and mix with the cornbread crumbs.
 In a large enough pot melt
1 stick of butter on a medium low heat

to the butter add onion,  red bell pepper, and celery.
 Cook this for about 5 minutes or until the veggies are tender

take your oysters and strain reserving the liquid.
put oysters aside

add the oyster liquid to the veggies
cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid turns white like this.

then add the oysters.

cook for another 5 -10 minutes until the oysters are just done being careful not to over cook

add a cup of water to the pot  and remove from heat
carefully add the oyster mixture
trying to evenly pour the liquid over the bread, and mix thoroughly

transfer to a casserole dish and bake covered for 15 to 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven

uncover and brown the top for another 5 minutes
  If you find the dressing to be to dry for your liking you can always add a little more water and bake for a few more minutes.
And there you have it folks, cornbread dressing !!

The Recipes

 Cornbread 

1 large egg

1 1/3 cup of milk or butter milk

1/4 cup of oil

2 cups of corn bread mix (I use Martha White)

Heat oven to 450 degrees F

coat an 8 or  9 inch cast iron skillet with butter or shortening. 

heat over a medium heat.

Beat egg in a medium bowl 

add milk, oil and cornbread mix until creamy. 

pour mixture into hot skillet. 

Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown 

Oyster Dressing

8 inch cornbread 

1/2 loaf bread

1 purple onion chopped 

1 red bell pepper chopped 

3 stalks of celery chopped

3 dozen oyster and their liquid

1 stick of butter 

1 cup of water 

First take about a half a loaf of white bread and break into chunks.

break up the cornbread and 

bake at 350 degrees until crispy and golden brown. 

remove from oven and set aside 

 In a large pot 

melt 1 stick of butter on a medium low heat

to the butter add the onion, red bell pepper, and celery.

 Cook this for about 5 minutes or until the veggies are tender

next take the oysters and strain 

reserving the juice.

put oysters aside

add the oyster liquid to the vegetables

cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid turns white

add the oysters cook for another 5 -10 minutes until the oysters are just done being careful not to over cook

add water to the pot and remove from heat

 add the oyster mixture

trying to evenly pour the liquid over the bread, and mix thoroughly

transfer to a casserole dish and bake covered for 15 to 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven 

uncover and brown the top for another 5 minutes 

The Humble Onion

How important is the onion to authentic Cajun cooking ?  Well it's almost always the first ingredient in every Cajun dish and in non Cajun dishes that most Cajuns cook ( where I'm from anyway ). There have been many times in my kitchen where I felt lost and hopeless with out one.

Since this is an introduction post I felt I should start with the onion.

 Most Cajun cooking ( well, my cooking ) starts with a yellow onion.

And it always starts with browning it in a little oil. The smell of browning onions is a smell that has been with me all my life. It's enough to bring back a flood of memories of jambalayas, gumbos, and everything in between .