Liquor.

Lucy Buffett's Oyster Dressing is a long-standing tradition in our house (but I've yet to surpass the quality and longevity of Mum's sage dressing, the technique of which will remain a family secret) ...

INGREDIENTS

• 12 tablespoons/1 1/2 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 chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 2 dozen freshly shucked or jarred oysters, preferably Gulf 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 ½ teaspoons truffle salt or sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Butter a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
3. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine
4. Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 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 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook mixture for 1 more minute, then remove from heat, add to bread mixture, and stir to combine.
5. In a medium bowl, stir together oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley, sage, salt and white pepper. Add to bread mixture and stir well to combine. If dressing seems too dry, add a little oyster liquor and up to 1/2 cup more chicken broth; mixture should be very moist.
6. Pour dressing into greased baking dish (cast iron skillet. -Ed.). 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.

Additional provisions.

Life.

Caillebotte, Still Life with Oysters, 1881

Perfect.

Manet, Oysters, 1862

What is an oyster if not the perfect food? It requires no preparation or cooking. Cooking would be an affront. It provides its own sauce. It’s a living thing until seconds before disappearing down your throat, so you know – or should know – that it’s fresh. It appears on your plate as God created it: raw, unadorned. A squeeze of lemon, or maybe a little mignonette sauce (red wine vinegar, cracked black pepper, some finely chopped shallot), about as much of an insult as you might care to tender against this magnificent creature. It is food at its most primeval and glorious, untouched by time or man. A living thing, eaten for sustenance and pleasure, the same way our knuckle-dragging forefathers ate them. And they have, for me anyway, the added mystical attraction of all that sense memory – the significance of being the first food to change my life. I blame my first oyster for everything I did after: my decision to become a chef, my thrill-seeking, all my hideous screwups in pursuit of pleasure. I blame it all on that oyster. In a nice way, of course.

Anthony Bourdain

Liquor.

Lucy Buffett's Oyster Dressing is a nearly thirty year-old tradition in our house (but I've yet to surpass the quality and longevity of Mum's sage dressing, the technique of which will remain a family secret) ...

INGREDIENTS

• 12 tablespoons/1 1/2 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 chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 2 dozen freshly shucked or jarred oysters, preferably Gulf 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 ½ teaspoons truffle salt or sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
2. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine
3. Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 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 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook mixture for 1 more minute, then remove from heat, add to bread mixture, and stir to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley, sage, salt and white pepper. Add to bread mixture and stir well to combine. If dressing seems too dry, add a little oyster liquor and up to 1/2 cup more chicken broth; mixture should be very moist.
5. Pour dressing into greased baking dish (cast iron skillet. -Ed.). 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.

Crowned.

Bluepoint.

Nectar.

Rousseau, Still Life with Oysters, 1787

THIS BE the OYSTER

This be the cup, brimming fathoms of nectar
This, the well that flows from forever

This be the saltcellar, trencher of tears,
and also the teardrop, stone-wept from ocean

This be the stone, lost among cairns,
and there, another, hidden in middens

This be the hull that casts off its seed—
thus grows the reef, encrusted with life—

This, ancient vessel, anchored to reef,
This be the ark where life resides

and this, tiny cradle, bearer of treasure,
This be the oyster, slow-rocked by tides.

Mary Elder Jacobsen

Oysters.

Maryland watermen have been harvesting oysters from the Chesapeake Bay for over a century. Local cooks add oysters to everything from savory pies and stews to this dressing-a holiday staple around the Bay.

Ingredients

12 tbsp. butter

1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped

4 stalks celery, peeled and finely chopped

1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp. crumbled dried sage

1⁄2 tsp. dried tarragon

6 cups crumbled corn bread

1 cup chicken stock

2 eggs lightly beaten

Pinch cayenne

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 dozen small shucked oysters

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt 6 tbsp. of the butter in a skillet over medium heat, add onions, celery, parsley, sage and tarragon. Sauté the mixture until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.

Put corn bread in a large mixing bowl. Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat; add remaining butter, stirring until butter has melted, then pour over corn bread. Mix in sautéed onion-and-celery mixture, eggs, and cayenne. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Gently mix oysters into the corn bread mixture, taking care not to break up oysters. Transfer to a buttered 8" × 8" baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve with roast turkey.

Serves 8