Oyster Casserole

With all the fun that I have been having recently, my wife wanted to take center stage this Sunday. On a trip to the western shore of the Chesapeake a couple years ago, we picked up a book about Maryland’s cooking roots that we have been playing around with a bit. She did a modification of one of the recipes in Maryland Cooking. I wouldn’t say it’s the healthiest thing we have ever made but sometimes a nice casserole on a cold winter day can be great

• Glug of olive oil
• stick of butter
• Few sticks of thyme with leaves torn off
• Box of bread crumbs
• 1/2 lb Tuscan style sausage
• 1/2 pint of shucked oysters
• Old Bay seasoning
• Pint of heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Lay down a nice layer of olive oil with some thin slices of butter in a 9×13 pan. Next, a layer of bread crumbs, a layer of oysters spread around, a layer of sausage and a sprinkle of Old Bay and some salt. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients. Finish with a layer of bread crumbs and the liquor from the oysters. Finally, another sprinkling of Old Bay. Pour in the cream around until you think its full enough. Add another sprinkling of Old Bay. Bake at 350 for about 45-60 minutes until it has come together.

She served it with a side of sauteed brussels sprouts and garlic. Just finely chop brussels sprouts so that they cook super quickly and fine chop the garlic. Saute with a little olive oil.

Couple of changes we would make, more oysters and sausage and a bit more cream. Just not a lot of oyster flavor.