Grandma Tertocha's Oyster Stuffing

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I met my wife's grandmother when she was in her eighties. Sharp as a tack until she died at 96, Grandma Tertocha passed down a number of family recipes which her children, and children's children, cherish. Here's her recipe for oyster stuffing.

This oyster stuffing recipe is as good as it gets. I think it's typical of the type of recipe that comes out America's midwest -- simple, hearty and delicious.

There are no super fancy ingredients in this recipe other than the oysters. We've jazzed the recipe up a bit by using Chiabatta bread, but Grandma used white bread and you can do the same if you wish.

This stuffing is pure comfort food. The day after Thanksgiving, I usually sneak into the kitchen early in the morning before anyone else in the house is up, and warm up a bowl in the microwave. I then have it for breakfast with a cup of coffee. To each his own.

Ingredients:

1 Loaf of bread (you can substitute Chiabatta or French bread)
8 oz Pepperidge Farm seasoned stuffing mix
1 white onion
1 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon dry sage (or 2 tablespoons of fresh sage)
1 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
8 oz oysters (you can add as much as 16 oz if you really like oysters)
Chicken broth

Instructions:

You want your bread to be fairly dry, so 12 hours before making the stuffing, lay the bread out and let dry in the open air.
Pre-heat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius)
Saute the onions and the celery in butter
Place into a mixing bowl and add the sage
break up the bread so that it is the size of croutons and mix it and the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.
Add chicken broth so that the mixture is thoroughly moist but not wet. The amount you add depends on the type of bread used, how dry it is, and whether you used just the oysters or added the oyster liquor.
Place the mixture into a baking dish and bake in your oven for 1 hour. Check by inserting a table knife into the stuffing and seeing if the knife comes out clean)

Tip: Don't make this, or any other stuffing, by placing it inside your turkey. Turkey is difficult enough to cook properly on its own; placing stuffing inside the bird means that the turkey will take longer to cook and you run the risk of having both undercooked stuffing and a dried out bird.

Tomorrow, I'll post a recipe for a beet and goat cheese salad I know you'll love.