BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Holiday/Seasonal Cooking How do you make your stuffing?

Hi,

Just that...how do you make your stuffing? In the turkey? On the stovetop? Baked? What goes into your stuffing?

I usually make my stuffing both in the turkey and on the stovetop. I love it so much, I always make too much!

The best stuffing I ever made was on the stovetop, with whole wheat bread I'd baked myself and turkey stock I'd made myself! Plus almonds, water chestnuts, cranberries, turkey drippings, and lots of sage. It was a once-in-a-lifetime do-it-yourself stuffing, and I'm still bragging about it because it was so, so good...mmmm...stuffing...

Karen
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I have some good recipes for stuffing. One of them, which I love, is Mrs. Cubbison's herb flavored mix and I add sauteed onions, celery, mushrooms and add some hazelnuts then bake till thoroughly hot and a little crusty on top.

The family favorite, though, is my Mother's old fashioned stuffing made from day old bread, torn in peices, turkey stock, onions, celery, sage, salt, pepper - that's it. Then she bakes it till crusty on top.

None of us in the family stuff the turkey anymore. We just use baking pans for the stuffing alone. But, we still call it stuffing, because we stuff ourselves with it.

Heh-heh. Very apropos.

Take loaf of a few days old bread and chop or rip it up.

Place in a bowl.

Add chopped onions, celery, peppers...whatever you want.

Seasonings: Sage, garlic, salt, pepper....your choice...

Add about 2 tablespoons real butter and then pour at least a 1/4 cup of boiling hot water onto the bread. Start kneading. You want it to be in a dough-y state.

If you need more water, add it - SLOWLY! You can always add more.

As soon as it is a dough-y constistency, place it in the cavity of the prepared bird.

Bake the bird as directed and then you have your stuffing, too.

I make my own turkey broth by boiling the gibblets and neck in 2 quarts of water. Then cut the turkey parts into small, small pieces.

The bread I use is cubed and completely dried. The drier it is the more broth (and flavor) you need to add. I don't add much in the way of seasoning - Poultry seasoning, onion, pepper.

I lightly stuff the bird. But most goes into a casserole dish which bakes at 350 degrees for around one hour.

I make a lot of stuffing. Turkey is a common bird in this 'neck' of the woods, so it is the stuffing that makes it a Holiday Meal.

I like to make oyster and wild rice dressing. My husband and I love it. Of course we have to make traditional dressing for everybody else because oysters aren't that popular.

We also smoke our turkey in a smoker now. It's delicious and very easy to do.