12Tbsp unsalted butter1 ½ sticks, divided, plus more for baking dish
18-inch-square baked and cooled cornbread, preferably on the sweet side
15sliceswhite or wheat breadtoasted and cooled
½large white onionfinely chopped
2celery ribsfinely chopped
½large green bell pepperfinely chopped
½cupchicken brothplus more as needed
24 freshly shucked or jarred oysterspreferably Gulf oysters, drained and coarsely chopped (reserve the oyster liquor)
¼cupfreshly squeezed lemon juice
1Tbsphot saucepreferably Crystal
¼cupfresh flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped
1Tbspfresh sagefinely chopped, or 1 teaspoon ground sage
1 ½tsptruffle salt or sea salt
½tspground white pepper
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine
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.
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.
Pour dressing into greased baking dish. 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.
Notes
This recipe appeared in a 2014 New York Times article entitled, The United States of Thanksgiving, which selected the most representative Thanksgiving recipes from all 50 states. Lucy Buffett, who is the sister of famous singer Jimmy Buffett, opened the original LuLu’s restaurant in Gulf Shores, Ala. and her recipe made the pick for Alabama. Photo credit: Amber Fouts for The New York Times