Well, I’ve been saddled with the task of cooking the Turkey Day feast, and I’m without a go-to Stuffing recipe. I’ve got the Turkey and the Mashed Taters and Gravy down pat. The stuffing is always one experiment after another.
I turn to you good epicurian folks to guide me to stuffing heaven.
I’m not 100% decided on whether I want to actually stuff the bird or cook it outside in a dish, I’ll take recipes for both, or perhaps make a batch big enough to split and do both.
Also, feel free to dish any other holiday suggestion ideas that happen to tickle your fancy.
My stuffing is a plain, but extemely tasty and easy one. I put as much in the bird as safe, and bake the rest outside.
Melt a stick of butter or margarine in a skillet. Add chopped onion and celery (maybe a cup each…whatever you feel like chopping) and saute until tender. Add a can of chiken broth, some salt and some pepper. Then pour over a bowlful of fresh bread cubes (I use a mix of Italian and sourdough bakery bread…just cut the slices into strips and then into cubes…about a loaf to a loaf and a half) and toss until all coated.
I sort of fake mine, as well, but here are some ideas:
1/2 pound of ground beef, browned (optional)
1 regular sized package of bulk Jimmy Dean sage sausage, browned
a few stalks of celery, minced or chopped
1 onion, minced
poultry seasoning
sage
salt
pepper
warm liquid, such as chicken broth
bread crumbs
For the bread, I usually use whatever I can find locally, which may be a combination of whole wheat, white, French, etc. I HATE bread chunks in stuffing, so I batch it in the food processor until it’s crumbs. Also put the meat(s) in the food processor and process until fine.
There’s no need to saute the veggies. Just mix everything in a bowl and add liquid at the end until the mixture is moist, but not soggy. A large batch of stuffing can take a significant amount of poultry seasoning and sage. Add and taste until it seems about right to you. I would definitely stuff the bird, as the flavor that results can’t be duplicated.
For stuffing cooked separately: use the same recipe, but don’t add the liquid until ready to cook. For liquid, cook the giblets in water on the stovetop with some onions and celery. Add some of this liquid to the stuffing and reserve the rest for the gravy. Bake the stuffing, covered, until good and hot.
Mine’s similar to kittenblue’s. This makes a huge batch, because we’re always fighting over the stuffing and everyone wants leftovers to take home.
Melt a stick of butter and sautee 3 or 4 chopped onions, 1 pound celery and 2 pounds sliced mushrooms. Heat about 10 cups of chicken stock (OK, canned broth if ya gotta) and pour half of it over 2 pounds or so of bread cubes in your largest mixing bowl or stockpot (we use Pilsbury’s Farm unseasoned cubes, but you could cut your own.) Break two eggs into the breading, add the sauteed veggies and mix. About halfway through, you’ll decide using a spoon is too much work. Wash your hands, roll up your sleeves and just dig in there. Add salt, freshly ground black pepper and lots of sage. No, more sage than that. A little more. Add more chicken stock as needed until the stuff is moist enough to stick together.
This stuffing does need to be baked, because of the raw eggs. We use some to stuff the bird and the rest gets baked in bread pans.
I posted mine here a couple of weeks ago, but it’s so yummy that I’ll post it again.
Parmesan Sourdough Artichoke Stuffing
1 loaf sourdough bread (the pre-sliced rounds are easiest, but get the good stuff. The cheesy kind or whole wheat is yummy)
Chicken stock
Vermouth or dry white wine
Shallots, sliced
Mushrooms, sliced
Marinated artichoke hearts
Fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese
Black pepper
Poultry seasoning
Cube the sourdough (see, this is why the sliced kind is nice) and toast it in the oven. I put it in my big turkey pan and give it a stir when the top layer starts to get brown. Either the bake setting or the broiler works, but keep an eye on it. You can do that ahead of time, just wrap them back up airtight when you’re done.
Then dump the toasted cubes in a big pan (again, my turkey pan is the only one big enough). Saute the shallots and mushrooms, and add them to the bread cubes. Add artichoke hearts to taste (two of the small jars at my house). Add some of the artichoke juice too, what the hell. Pour chicken stock and vermouth over it until the bread cubes are damp but not soggy. Add pepper and poultry seasoning, and give it all a stir. Then top it liberally with grated cheese. Bake it uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes, or until the cheese is all melted and the top gets a nice crust.
I’m making it tonight to reheat up at my mom’s tomorrow.
WhyNot = Midwest Girl
Cowgirl Jules = California Girl
Seriously, that recipe looks awesome! I’m going to try it for our mid-holidaze party. If I change the stuffing at Thanksgiving, I will be drawn and quartered. Mom tried sneaking walnuts into it a few years ago, and she hasn’t lived down the shame yet. (Come to think of it, the year after that was when the Thanksgiving cooking was turned over to me - Oh my god! We *fired * Mom for messing with the stuffing!)
Heh, my side of the family messes with stuff all the time. Sometimes it’s a pork loin roast stuffed with prunes instead of a turkey. We’re not really traditionalists.
Cowboy’s family, however, came from Oklahoma a couple of generations ago. I think they would go for this stuffing, but they still have to have their jello salads and green bean casseroles. And deviant is to deep fry the turkey, instead of roasting it. Wild ones, that bunch!
I do a basic-type stuffing like Tiggrkitty and Chefguy described, but two fun things to add into the mix are dried cranberries and chopped apples. Yum!
