Stuff that Bird

It's Thanksgiving Stuffing

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

The Stuffing Journey

It’s a bit colder, the leaves have changed color or fallen, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. So, I decided it was time to share my stuffing recipe, which is world famous amongst my family. They have been asking for it for quite some time and I have given them clues but not the exact details. I am finally relenting and writing this recipe for my brother-in-law. They want to make it for some get together this weekend. Getting us an invitation would have been easier, but I think it was a clever ploy to get the secret out.

This recipe is primarily based on the stuffing recipes in The Silver Palate Cookbook and the New Kitchen Basic Cookbook. Everyone loves the stuffing from inside the turkey, partly because it is always so moist. With most chefs recommending not stuffing the bird to get a more consistent, cooking time that bit of yummy stuffing is gone. That started my search for a way to get the entire dish moist. This recipe is also a bit on the fruity side but balanced with savory ingredients.

Ingredients

· 2 12 ounce bags Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing
· 1 12 ounce bag Pepperidge Farm® Corn Bread Classic Stuffing
· 1-pound bulk, Italian Sausage – sweet
· 1-pound bulk, Italian Sausage – mild (substitute sweet if you can’t find mild)
· 2 Sticks Unsweetened Butter
· ¼ cup of  Olive Oil (not virgin)
· 1 Head of celery diced with the leaves
· 2 large, yellow onions – diced ½ inch
· 2 Granny Smith apples - diced 1 inch
· 4 or 5 cloves of garlic - minced
· ½ pound of diced dried apricots ½ inch
· ½ pound of dried cranberries
· ½ pound of dried cherries
· 2 quarts of Chicken stock or broth
· 1 quart of Apple Cider
· 1 tbsp of dried sage


(Note: I have made 2 lists of ingredients at the end of this post if you need less stuffing. The preparation instructions remain the same, though you will probably spend less time cutting the ingredients.)

Oh my god! That is a huge amount of stuffing!!! And you’re right but what I have found is that any less than this and someone goes home with not enough in their container of leftovers and you get a puppy eyed, but can I have more, thank you.

One quick suggestion to consider: dicing all those apricots can be a royal pain. What I have been doing recently is throwing them into a food processor or multiblade blender and pulsing them in 2 or 3 batches.

Cooking Instructions

1. In 2-quart pot, add ½ the apple cider and all the dried fruit. Bring the cider to a boil and then take it off the heat with the pot covered to steep. This infuses the apple cider with the flavors of the dried fruits and reconstitutes the fruits so that they are tender and moist in the final stage of cooking the stuffing.

2. In a large pan, melt ½ stick of butter and an equal the olive oil, not extra virgin, which is for bread dipping and dressings, not cooking. Use the reserved ½ stick butter to the sauté as needed.

3. Add the onions and sauté for a couple of minutes. Then add the garlic, sauté for another minute. Add the celery, additional butter if needed and sauté for another 5 minutes. Now add the granny smith apples and sauté the entire mixture for another 2 or 3 minutes. You do not want the apples to get soggy, just  tender. Put the mixture in the largest mixing bowl you own.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

5. Add ½ of the stuffing mixtures to the bowl and combine with the veg and apples.

6. Add the rest of the stuffing mixture to the bowl, pour in the apple cider and dried fruits. Sprinkle the dried sage around the top. Mix to combine. Add more of the reserved apple cider and chicken stock to get all the stuffing moist and continue mixing until all the stuffing has some liquid on it. Don’t go to far with the additional liquid as you don’t want a pasty mush.

7. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with the remaining butter and pour the stuffing mixture in. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place it in the oven for 45 minutes. I recommend checking it after ½ an hour for moisture: if the moisture is right and its cooked through, take it out of the oven. If it is too dry add more of the broth. If it is too wet, leave the aluminum foil loose on top for the remaining 15 minutes.

8. Let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving 

Fresh out of the oven

I have found that most of the guests want large, to go portions. If you don’t get a similar reaction from your guests, I suggest you unfriend the friends and disown the relatives you have invited! You can always make new friends and get closer to other relatives with better taste before the next big meal - I am joking, of course! But I am confident you will be happy with the results. When I told my brother-in-law that I was going to publish this recipe, he said “No you can’t do that, it’s the best stuffing I have ever had.”. I hope you will feel the same way. I wish you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Smaller Gatherings

As is, this recipe will serve 16 or more people plus doggy bags, you can safely reduce it to about 12 servings by eliminating one of the bags of Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing, one pound of the Italian Sausage, ½ the apricots and cranberries. The ingredients will be:

· 1 1-pound bag Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing
· 1 1-pound bag Pepperidge Farm® Corn Bread Classic Stuffing
· 1-pound bulk, Italian Sausage – sweet
· ½ pound of bulk Italian Sausage - mild
· 1 and ½ sticks of Unsweetened Butter
· ¼ cup of  Olive Oil (not virgin) 
· 1 Head of celery
· 2 large, yellow onions – diced ½ inch
· 1 Granny Smith apples - diced 1 inch
· 4 or 5 cloves of garlic - minced
· 1/3 pound of diced dried apricots ½ inch
· 1/3 pound of dried cranberries
· ¼ pound of dried cherries
· 1 and ½ quarts of Chicken stock or broth
· 24 ounces of Apple Cider
· 1 and 1/2 tsp of dried sage

If you are limiting your guests to 10 or less, the ingredients should be as follows:

· 1/2 of a 1-pound bag Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing
· 1/2 of a 1-pound bag Pepperidge Farm® Corn Bread Classic Stuffing
· 1-pound bulk, Italian Sausage – sweet
· 1 and ½ sticks of Unsweetened Butter
· ¼ cup of  Olive Oil (not virgin)
· 1 Head of celery
· 1 large, yellow onion – diced ½ inch
· 1 Granny Smith apples - diced 1 inch
· 4 or 5 cloves of garlic - minced
· 1/2 pound of diced dried apricots ½ inch
· 1/2 pound of dried cranberries
· ¼ pound of dried cherries
· 1 quart of Chicken stock or broth
· 16 ounces of Apple Cider
· 1 tsp of dried sage