Oyster Stuffing

For my husband Scott, Thanksgiving and Christmas are not complete without several servings of his mom's oyster stuffing. The first time that he asked me to try to make oyster stuffing the thought of oysters in stuffing kind of turned my stomach but it was a fond family tradition for him so I gave it a shot. I'm not going to lie, my first attempt involved pulling a random recipe off of the internet and left me with less than desirable results. Scott liked it but I think that he was desperate and I knew I could do better. First, I needed his mom's recipe and then I needed to watch the master herself put this dish together.

During Thanksgiving '07 Alicia and Ernesto came to visit for Thanksgiving and our wish came true, she made her famous oyster stuffing. Wow! It was incredible. The original recipe is from River Road Recipes II "A Second Helping" with slight adaptations from her good friend Ann Guillory, a New Orleans native. Scroll to the bottom for the recipes.

Left-over oyster stuffing is perfect for making hot turkey sandwiches. Below are pictures of me making hot turkey sandwiches in our old Silver Spring, MD condo (circa 2011) with a batch of my brother-in-law Andrew's oyster stuffing.

Make a double batch...trust me... it's not going to last :)

Ingredients:

• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of basil
• Pinch of sage
• Pinch of thyme
• Pinch of marjoram
• 1⁄2 stick of butter
• 4 slices of bread
• 1 egg beaten
• Bread crumbs (optional)
• ½ lb. Jimmy Dean pork sausage 
• 2 large onions 
• 1/3 cup celery 
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 
• 2 green onions (scallions) 
• 1 pint fresh oysters (save juice)

Directions:

• Preheat oven 350 F. 
• Lay out the four slices of bread and then place oysters on top of them with a little juice. 
• Melt butter in a large skillet. Sauté onions and celery until transparent. 
• Add pork sausage and sauté until pork is cooked thoroughly. 
• Chop oysters in half. 
• Squeeze excess juice from bread. Tear bread into small pieces and add to pork mixture. 
• Add egg, parsley, oysters, and spices. 
• Simmer until oysters begin to curl. 
• It should be very moist but there should be no excess liquid. If soggy you can add breadcrumbs. Remove from heat and add green onions. 
• Turn into a 2-quart casserole and dot with butter. Bake for 30 minutes.

For my DMV area friends, I almost always make a special trip to Maine Avenue Fish Market, an open air fish market on DC's Southwest waterfront, for my oysters. There are several vendors to choose from but I always head straight to Captain White's Seafood City.