A seafood dressing made with the trinity, cornbread and French bread crumbs, shrimp, crabmeat and oysters.
Seafood Cornbread Dressing
There are so many different kinds of dressings out there, the most common ones in the South being one made with cornbread, another made including chicken and the other with only staled bread in the form of sandwich bread, French bread or leftover rolls or biscuits and the addition of herbs.
I've made cornbread dressing both with and without any kind of bread, but I find that I prefer the texture of cornbread dressing when it includes some bread with the cornbread. It's another one of those Southern things that folks tend to argue about though, because there are some who will tell you that only cornbread should be in your cornbread dressing, and that is the only way.
Well. Y'all know what I say about that!
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So many ways to make dressing and y'all... there's no rules, or one "right" and only way! Bottom line? Make it the way you grew up with or the way that you like it.
Personally, like most other cooking that happens in my kitchen, I don't have one type of dressing that I'm married to. I like trying lots of different dressings. Heck. I even have an Amish bread and potato dressing published here because I saw it, wanted to try it and turns out it was pretty good!
There's another popular dressing here on the website that is made with cornbread and squash and another made with mirlitons and seafood. Neither "traditional," though I love them both!
Let's not forget all the rice-based dressings too y'all, starting with Dirty Rice Dressing, but continuing on into many others - Oyster Rice Dressing, Crawfish Rice Dressing, and there's even a Cabbage Rice Dressing we love down here!
Here in the coastal Deep South, we love them all, but I gotta say, seafood is king here and while we usually have one of those aforementioned base dressings on our holiday table, you'll very often find another one that is seafood based.
Classic Oyster Dressing is probably the most common of those, but any combination of oysters, shrimp, crabmeat and even crawfish follows.
I mean, why would you limit yourself to only one dressing and one dressing only when there is so much to enlighten your taste buds?
Here's what you'll need to make my Seafood Cornbread Dressing:
- 1/2 large loaf French bread, staled and sliced
- 3 slices bacon, sliced and cooked crisp
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 1 pint raw oysters, drained and chopped
- 1 pound small (60-80 count) raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 cups cooked and crumbled cornbread
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste (see note)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon sage
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, crushed
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of Creole or Cajun seasoning, or to taste, optional
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 cup seafood, chicken or vegetable stock or broth (preferably unsalted), increase as needed
- 1/2 pound lump crabmeat
Here's how to make it!
Before we start... it is important to note that there are multiple potential sources for sodium in this recipe, so be mindful of all of them and/or use unsalted products where you can, so that you don't get an over salty result! Places where you can find sodium include the cornbread, the bread, bacon, butter, Creole or Cajun seasoning, Old Bay and the stock or broth.
You'll need a half pan of savory (unsweetened) cornbread, so use your favorite recipe, or use mine! Serve half to your family with dinner and set aside the other half for the dressing. You can make that ahead and store in the fridge or even freeze if necessary.
I'm also using a half of a full loaf of French bread that I left out to stale, which with French bread, happens fast, making it perfect for dressing, Pain Perdu, and for bread pudding. Slice and add to a large bowl and sprinkle with warm water.
Squish it together to coat the bread well and set aside.
Butter or spray a 9 x 13-inch (4-quart) baking dish; set aside. This is my Curtis Stone pan and y'all, it's really awesome bakeware! You actually don't even need to butter these pans unless you're doing it primarily to add flavor. There are several different brands out there though I don't know if they work as well.
Cook bacon until crisp, reserving the bacon drippings.
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Instead of fresh trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) I'm using the freeze dried C'est Tout vegetables (#ad) again! You're gonna be seeing me reference this product often because I have fallen in love with having this on hand and let me tell you what. When you open the bag the fragrance is so amazing that you know it's gonna be good!
All you have to do is rehydrate it! I usually do mine in the microwave and boil the water first before adding the dried trinity.
Return to the microwave to boil a few minutes longer until it's softened.
Drain and set aside. There's that Easy Greasy colander (#ad) again too and there ya go! Beautiful trinity and you didn't have to do all that chopping. I love these colanders because they have a catch base underneath and it also has a lid in case you need to reserve the drippings.
Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon and set aside to drain. Reserve the bacon bits for a garnish or reserve for another use - like that Cheddar Bacon Dip that would be a great dip for your gathering, or really just because you want some dip! I was going to use it for garnish but changed my mind and stuck it in a freezer bag and froze it.
To the bacon drippings, add 1 tablespoon of butter.
Add the celery, onion, and bell pepper and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and green onion and cook another minute.
If you haven't already, drain the oysters and chop them up. I just use kitchen shears and do that right in the colander.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add the oysters and shrimp to the trinity vegetables.
Add the oysters and shrimp to the vegetables and stir together, remove skillet from the heat and set aside.
Pour off any excess water from the French bread and blot bread with a paper towel. Return to the bowl along with the crumbled cornbread. Add the seasonings to the dressing.
Stir together until well combined. This is a good place to taste and adjust seasonings as desired, although again, be mindful of sodium sources if you're going to be using a salted broth!
By the way... how many of y'all remember these huge Tupperware bowls? Definitely vintage and the ones I have belonged to my Mama! While it photographed a little blue here, it's actually green. I bet some of y'all have seen one of these bowls before!
Add the beaten egg and gently blend in.
I'm using local lump crabmeat, though if you don't have the same access, you may certainly use drained, canned or shelf stable pouches of crabmeat as well.
You'll want to pick through it for any shell. To do that I gently spread the crab out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Take care not to break it up!
To easily pick out any shell, I prefer to use a handheld blacklight flashlight (#ad). They aren't expensive and it's especially handy for this because it clearly highlights the shell, making it much faster and easier to pick out. You can also place the tray in a 200 degree oven for 3 minutes and the shell will become visible and easier to pick out.
Add the stock or broth. Again, be mindful of the sodium in the stock/broth that you use as you may not need any additional salt added to the dressing. I'm using chicken but seafood or vegetable may also be used.
Combine thoroughly.
Add the crabmeat and very gently toss in so you don't break up the crab too much. The key is you don't want to pulverize that beautiful lump crab that you likely paid a fortune for!
Transfer to the prepared baking dish and lightly spread out, but don't compact. Cover tightly with foil and bake covered at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
Uncover and continue baking until lightly browned on top or switch to broil to brown more quickly.
Remove and garnish with the reserved bacon, if desired.
Tender and full of seafood goodness!
For more of my favorite dressing recipes, check out the collection on my Pinterest page!
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