Wild Rice and Oyster Dressing
2 cups wild rice
½ lb. pork sausage
1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, small diced
1 pint fresh-shucked Louisiana oysters with liquor*
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Kosher or sea salt to taste
Fresh-ground black pepper as desired
1 tsp. Frank Davis Pork Seasoning
2 pinches paprika
Start this recipe by putting on a pot of lightly salted water and bringing it to a rolling boil. Then pour the wild rice into the water and cook it for about 40 minutes or so until tender but still slightly firm. When it’s done, drain it well, place it in a shallow pan, and set the pan in a pre-heated 275-degree oven (you want the rice to dry out slightly before proceeding with the rest of the recipe).
Meanwhile, while the rice is cooking, take a heavy 12-inch skillet and sauté the pork sausage over medium heat until all the “raw” color is gone and the fat is rendered out. When this happens, remove the crumbled pork from the pan and transfer it to a colander that you position over a bowl. Now let the meat set there until all of the excess grease drains off, which should take about 10 minutes.
Next, taking the skillet you used for the pork, place a couple of tablespoons of the sausage drippings into it, and gently sauté the onions, garlic and celery. If, in the process, you notice that the vegetables are getting a little too dry, add into them a small amount of the oyster liquor and stir it in well. Then continue the sauté until the mixture becomes wilted and soft.
It’s at this point that you drop in the oysters and the remaining liquor. Now cook all the ingredients in the skillet together for about 10 minutes (or until the edges of the oysters begin to curl).
Immediately when that happens remove the oyster mixture from the skillet with a slotted spoon and combine it thoroughly with the rice and the sausage. Then work in—to your taste—the chopped parsley and all of the remaining dry seasonings.
All that’s left to do now is to bake the dressing—uncovered—at 350 degrees until it’s heated all the way through (which should take no more than 20 to 25 minutes). Serve this hot from the oven as “the” dressing with the roast at your Christmas dinner.
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Chef’s Notes:
For best results when cooking this dish, I suggest that you take the oysters and cut each one of them into three pieces before adding them to the skillet. You will get a more uniform ingredient distribution this way.
