Thanksgiving Recipes 3 – The Stuffing
[This is part of a multi-post series on Thanksgiving. Start from the beginning.]
… or should I say “dressing?” I have never been a fan of the goopy stuffing that comes out of a bird. I find it mushy and generally not good. So I have always been very pleased with AB’s theory that “Stuffing is Evil!” However, that isn’t to say I don’t like stuffing. In fact, I love the stuff. I think it’s delicious. So long as you don’t actually try to stuff it into anything. So I guess the appropriate term would be dressing, rather than stuffing.
Mine starts with some help from the grocery store. I bought two bags of Pepperidge Farm “country” stuffing mix. At least I think it was called “country” or maybe “country style.” It’s the kind that has both white and whole wheat cubes of dry bread.
The next step was to spend weeks trying to convince my husband and his sister that things can be added to stuffing. They insisted that stuffing should be plain. And they felt they were caving mightily by allowing me to make one that didn’t come from a red canister labeled Stove Top. So, in a final state of desperation, I ended up making two different batches of stuffing and placing them side by side in a lasagna-sized baking dish.
First, I made the good stuff – the kind with flavor. I diced a sweet onion, a peeled golden delicious apple, and two stalks of celery into pieces about the same size as the bread cubes. I then gave a bit of a chop to about a quarter cup of raisins and a quarter of a bunch of parsley (which turned out to be a little to much – I really just wanted about 2 tablespoons chopped). I sweated the onion and celery in two tablespoons each of light olive oil and butter, with just a pinch of salt to help the process along. When they were starting to become translucent, I added the apple and cooked until the apple started to get soft. After that, the raisins and parsley were added, followed by another half stick of butter (giving about the total of one stick of butter required on the back of the package) and 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth from a box (also as required on the package). Once that came up to a simmer, I added the whole package, stirred until the bread sopped up every bit of moisture, and dumped the stuffing into one half of my big ol’ baking dish.
I scraped that out as well as I could, and put in the stick of butter and 2 1/2 cups of broth required for the second bag. Once simmering, I added the second bag, stirred until all was absorbed, and dumped into the other half of the baking dish. I then slapped on a piece of aluminum foil and stuck the thing out on the deck to wait until the turkey was done for reheating at 375 for about 25 minutes. The reheating process allows a nice crust to form on the top of the stuffing. I recommend eating the kind with flavor.
The real question is which way did Mike & Kate vote after all was said and done? I am also a die-hard stove top eater.
They enjoyed the plain stuff and wouldn’t eat the stuff with flavor. Actually, it was pretty well evenly split. The Robertses (excepting me) ate the plain stuff and the Jordans (including me) ate the stuff with flavor. If Gramma was still alive, she would have asked, “Where’s the sausage?” She always made hers with sausage. I didn’t for my sister’s sake – she likes the apples, etc., but there’s no way she’ll ever eat sausage. Maybe I should make 3 kinds this year.
NOT.
The flavor in the Pepperidge Farm stuff is pretty much the same as Stove Top – same seasonings. But the bread cubes are bigger, and in my opinion, the texture is better. I use Stove Top for every day occasions because it comes in the handy resealable can. But I much prefer Pepperidge Farm if I’m making enough for it to be worthwhile to open a big ol’ bag.
The Pepperidge Farm stuff is good… I couldn’t really tell the difference between that and the Stove Top that I generally eat. I do have to draw the line there though… I don’t want other stuff in my stuffing.
Also, Diane, be careful about the use of the word dressing… in the South dressing is a substitute for stuffing, but is made with corn bread. It is NOT good. I think I’m still tramautized from Thanksgiving in Mississippi!!
Yeah, no, I don’t do corn bread stuffing/dressing. Corn bread breaks down too much. I like the Pepperidge Farm stuff because it’s got bigger cubes. It’s prettier, and I think it reheats better – less mushy.