Oyster Stuffing

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: December 2024

“The glittering pleasure of a just-plucked oyster is not to be underestimated.”

That’s a sentiment with which Nory LeBrun would most certainly concur. After all, this is a gentleman who, with his longtime partner, Susan Grant, has spent the last 35 years crisscrossing the country – from the Northeast to the Gulf Coast – in pursuit of the very tastiest of these pelagic wonders.

It was LeBrun’s French Canadian father who instilled in him a love of oysters, but it was his mother, “a country girl from Kansas,” who made the oyster dressing that was a ritual at the family’s Christmas dinner.

This tradition is held in such high regard that, as M.F.K. Fisher once described, its omission “would at once connotate a sure sign of internal disintegration, as if Ma came to church in her corset-cover.”

Grant long ago inherited Mom’s original Gourmet Magazine recipe, making it annually from the oysters that LeBrun shucks early Christmas morning (immediately following the opening of the presents). Since no oyster should be opened without ceremony, LeBrun gives it its righteous due, donning a sturdy mesh glove and wielding one of his four custom oyster knives to release the briny bivalve and its liquor.

As compelling as the provenance of the recipe are the guests gathered around the table – mutual friends from the couple’s many years at CNN. Over three decades, Grant ran five divisions of the network, including CNN.com, while LeBrun, one of CNN’s early pioneers alongside Ted Turner, later ventured out to help launch the Food Network, reimagine the Home Shopping Network, and pursue other media projects. Now semi-retired, LeBrun serves on several regional nonprofit boards, including the Historic Toxaway Foundation, the Heart of Brevard, and the Transylvania County TDA.

Meanwhile, Grant has embraced roles as a community activist in Atlanta, a nonprofit board leader (notably with Heifer International), an anti-racism practitioner, and a mentor coach.

Gourmet Magazine
Oyster Stuffing Recipe,

Courtesy of Nory LeBrun and Susan Grant

Ingredients:

2 loaves Italian or French bread (1 lb total), cut into ¾-inch cubes (12 cups)
½ lb sliced bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil (if needed)
2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)
1½ cups chopped celery
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme, crumbled
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried sage, crumbled
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
⅔ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted
18 oysters, shucked, drained, and chopped (¾ cup)
2¼ cups turkey giblet stock or low-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Step 1:

Spread bread cubes in 2 shallow baking pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until crispy and golden, 25 to 30 minutes total. Cool bread in pans on racks, then transfer to a large bowl.

Step 2:

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, reserving fat in skillet.

Step 3:

If bacon renders less than ¼ cup fat, add enough oil to skillet to total ¼ cup fat. Cook onions, celery, thyme, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper in fat in skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer to bowl with bread cubes, then stir in bacon, parsley, butter, and oysters. Drizzle with stock, then season with salt and pepper and toss well.

Step 4:

Transfer bread mixture to a buttered 3- to 3½-quart shallow baking dish. Bake, covered, in middle of oven 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until browned, about 30 minutes more.

Do Ahead: Stuffing can be assembled (without oysters and not baked) 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature and stir in oysters before baking.