Oysters Dunbar.
If you know what I’m talking about, simply hearing the name of the dish is enough to make you salivate.
Corinne Dunbar’s in New Orleans was a special place — a restaurant in the grand parlor of a beautiful uptown home, where people who went to dine were treated like guests instead of customers. There was a set menu that changed seasonally, but they were most famous for their oyster and artichoke casserole.
Oysters Dunbar was a regular “company” dish in my home while I was growing up. It was always served as an appetizer at the Corinne Dunbar restaurant, but here’s the thing. When Mom tried serving it as an appetizer, it was SO good that no one wanted the main dish that followed. They just wanted more oysters and artichokes! So we figured — let’s make it the main event. At our house, it became the main dish, served with a green salad and a crispy loaf of French bread.
I hadn’t eaten it in years, but when I saw the gorgeous globe artichokes at my local market the other day, this dish was all I could think about. So I called Mom, and she went hunting for her recipe, or the Corinne Dunbar recipe book — and could find neither. 🙁 — so the two of us talked it through and examined the versions of it out on the internet.
I’ve cooked it twice this week, and I’m very satisfied with the recipe I’m sharing here.
The first time I tried it with only 4 artichokes, and that was not the proper artichoke to oyster ratio. You will find some recipes that use 4 artichokes plus canned mushrooms to adjust the ratio — but we never put mushrooms in our oyster and artichoke dish, and I’m not starting now! When I re-did it, 6 artichokes to the pint of oysters was spot-on. So if you’re serving fewer people, you can cut the recipe below in half and feel confidant of your proportions.
And by the way, I was able to locate a Corinne Dunbar cookbook on eBay. I’ve bought it, but it’s coming snail-mail. When I get back from New York in a couple of weeks, I’ll update this recipe with a .pdf copy from the old cookbook, so my readers will have both versions.
UPDATE: Well, it wasn’t a cookbook that I bought through eBay. I didn’t read carefully enough, in my excitement thinking I’d found a cookbook, I clicked the “buy” button too quickly ?. What I got was a printed “menu” from Corinne Dunbar’s . . . so — you’ll have to make do with my version of the recipe.
What kind of oysters? Of course, since I live in the Gulf South, and this dish is from New Orleans — I use oysters from the Gulf of Mexico. But I am sure that you will have wonderful results using your local oysters, regardless of where you are from.
It’s one of those labor-of-love dishes — because it’s time consuming. And that’s the reason it was always a “company” dish when I was a kid. But I’m telling you. It’s worth every minute of prep!
Ann's Oyster and Artichoke Casserole
My version of the beloved creole appetizer from Corinne Dunbar’s restaurant in New Orleans. Will serve 5 – 8, depending on whether you serve it as an appetizer or a main course.
See notes on my blog about time to prep and cook.
- 6 large artichokes
- 1 pint oysters, ((roughly 2 dozen), with oyster liquid)
- 3 – 4 lemons
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, (minced)
- 1/2 cup green onions, (minced)
- 1 clove garlic, (minced)
- 1/3 cup flour, ((Wondra flour if you can get it, otherwise all-purpose))
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
- salt and pepper, (to taste)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- Cook artichokes until tender. (Note: it takes two pots for me to cook 6 artichokes. Liberally salt the water, and squeeze at least half a lemon into each of the pots. Bring water to a boil, put artichokes into pots, bring water back to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, cook at a fast simmer for about 40 minutes. Bottom of artichokes should be tender, and leaves should pull off easily, you should easily be able to scrap the flesh off of a leaf. Test to be sure). Drain and cool artichokes — you can speed the process by putting them into the fridge.
- Mince onions and garlic and set aside.
- Retain all oyster liquid, and measure it. For this recipe, you will need a 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of total liquid — whatever you don’t have in oyster liquid, you’ll make up for with water.
- Rinse the oysters to be sure you have no shell bits. Cut the oysters into quarters (or halves, if they are small). If you have large oysters, be sure to cut the adductor muscles (the stiff muscle that holds the oyster to its shell) into small pieces, or discard them — otherwise, you’ll have some big, tough pieces. Place oysters and liquid into the refrigerator.
- Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a small skillet, stir in breadcrumbs and mix well. Set buttered breadcrumbs aside.
- Cool artichokes to room temperature. Remove all of the leaves. With a spoon, scrape artichoke meat off of leaves and place scraped meat into a bowl. Clean choke fuzz from artichoke bottoms, rinse the artichoke bottoms well, and cut in 1/2 inch dice.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Put the diced artichoke bottoms into the bottom of a casserole dish. Salt lightly. (You’ll be cooking the artichoke scrapings with the oysters in the next step).
- Melt 1 stick of butter in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cook minced yellow and green onions for 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 additional minute. Gradually whisk flour into onion/garlic mixture, and continue cooking for 5 minutes, being very careful not to scorch.
- Add oysters, oyster liquid, water, and artichoke scrapings, bay leaf, thyme, Tabasco sauce, juice of one lemon (remove seeds before squeezing) to skillet. Lightly salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. If it seems TOO thick, add a little more water. Taste. Adjust seasoning to your preference (while there is a little Tabasco in it, it will not be spicy — and should not be). You may need to add a little more salt or pepper.
- Pour mixture into casserole dish over the diced artichoke bottoms. Top with buttered bread crumbs, and place in the oven. Set a timer.
- Cooking time? It will depend on whether you put the whole thing into one casserole dish, or instead made individual ramekin servings.
- For small ramekins: Cook 15 – 20 minutes. For a full casserole dish: Cook 25 – 30 minutes. Breadcrumbs should be a golden brown, and the oysters and artichokes bubbly hot.
- Serve with a slice of lemon, some crispy-hot French bread, and a green salad. Absolutely delicious with a buttery chardonnay.
Time estimate for everything: approximately 2.5 hours.
- 40 minutes cook time for artichokes — while the artichokes cook and cool down, prep oysters, mince onion and garlic, butter the breadcrumbs
- 20-ish minutes cool down time for artichokes
- 20 – 30 minutes scraping and prepping artichokes
- 25 – 30 cook time on stovetop
- 20-30 minutes baking time
Additional notes:
What is Wondra flour? An instant flour that is a low-protein, finely ground wheat flour that has been pre-cooked and dried. It mixes into sauces and gravies quickly and easily without clumping. You can certainly use all-purpose flour instead.
All of it up to the baking can easily be done ahead, put into the refrigerator, then baked once your company arrives. Remember that if it’s cold, the baking time will be longer.
Also, my Mom often cooked the whole thing ahead (without the bread crumbs) and froze it. We frequently had company come visit for long weekends to see us — or really, to see New Orleans 🙂 ). Mom would pull the oysters and artichokes out the the freezer and put it into the refrigerator to defrost overnight. Then she’d cover it in breadcrumbs and warm it up for supper.
Finally — you can substantially reduce the time by using frozen artichokes, and finely chopping them. It’s just won’t be as good.
For appetizers at a sit-down dinner: bake in individual ramekins with a very thin slice of lemon on top.
For a cocktail party: If you are using small plates, put the casserole out in a dish with a serving spoon, along crackers to go with it.
