Oyster Stuffing

So hearty and full of herbs, veggies, bacon and oysters… if you’re a fan of oysters, you’re going to love love love this Oyster Stuffing Recipe!

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I understand that there are pretty much oyster LOVERS or oyster HATERS out there.  I’ve never seen or heard of an in-between liking when it comes to oysters.  Soooo… if you dislike oysters, it’s pretty safe to say you won’t like this stuffing.  But if you’re an oyster lover like me, then this stuffing will rock your Thanksgiving table!  🙂

Technically I should be calling this oyster dressing because it’s baked outside of the turkey.  But I’ve always grown up calling it stuffing regardless of whether was baked inside or outside of the turkey.  I guess it’s possibly a southern thing?

So even though I bought these local oysters at the store that were already shucked, I thought it would be pretty cool to have some oyster shells in the photographs.  When we moved in July to our new (new to us) home on Calico Creek, we discovered this used to be an old “oyster house” that I see from the back porch every day.

So today I decided to walk to the shore and pick up a few oyster shells for the photo and ran into a nice gentleman (Mr. Tootle) who was fishing.  He told me that what’s left of the structure used to be his uncle’s oyster house back in the day.  I hate it that I didn’t ask when it was in business, but obviously a long time ago.  How cool is it to have a piece of history basically in your back yard (not really in the back yard but kind of)?!  It was called Luke Dudley Oyster House.  He even told me about the women shucking the oysters all day and how the business ran.  I felt like I stepped back in time!  🙂

Even if you’re an oyster lover, but a little hesitant about adding seafood to your stuffing… no need to worry.  This stuffing does NOT have a “fishy” or an overly abundant seafood flavor to it.

I adapted this recipe from here with a lot of changes.  The original recipe says that you can prepare this stuffing up to 2 days ahead of time WITHOUT the oysters and not baked, chilled and covered.  When ready to bake, bring to room temperature and stir in oysters before baking.  I’ve not prepared this recipe ahead of time so I can’t personally say how it turns out this way.

Enjoy!

Oyster Stuffing

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• Author: Amy @ The Blond Cook
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 8 servings

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Ingredients

• 2 loaves French bread (14 ounces) cut into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 pound thick cut bacon
• 2-1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 2-1/2 cups thinly sliced celery
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon rubbed sage
• 1-1/2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup tightly packed fresh chopped Italian parsley
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1-1/2 pints shucked, drained and roughly chopped oysters (about 1-1/4 cups, chopped)
• 2-1/2 cups chicken broth

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Evenly place bread cubes on 2 large rimmed baking sheets.  Bake in upper and lower thirds of your oven for 30 minutes, switching pans after 15 minutes.  Place baking sheets on a wire rack to cool.
3. While bread cubes are baking, fry bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crispy (about 8 minutes).  Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.  Cut cooked bacon slices into about 1/2-inch pieces.
4. Pour off bacon grease in skillet EXCEPT for about 1/4 cup.
5. Add onions, celery, thyme, sage, garlic, salt and pepper to skillet with bacon grease.  Cook over medium high heat for 7-8 minutes or until soft, stirring frequently.
6. Place cooled baked bread cubes in a very large bowl.  Add onion and celery mixture, bacon pieces, parsley, melted butter and oysters.  Toss to combine.
7. Drizzle with 1/2 of the chicken broth.  Toss to combine and drizzle with the remaining 1/2 of the chicken broth.  Toss again to evenly combine.
8. Spray a 13 x 9 -inch casserole dish with cooking spray.  Transfer stuffing mixture into casserole dish.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees F.
9. Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Notes

Adapted from Epicurious