The Best Holiday Stuffing by Binx

I’m back! Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in writing more recipes, but I’ve had a new job to get used to! I moved to Carrillo Ranch with my Sirs, and I have my very own restaurant!
Anyhow! It’s getting that time of year, when we want to make the yummiest food for our families. I mean, what is better than a huge plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, yams and of course, stuffing.
My folks called it dressing, but they are snotty rich folks that looked down on everyone. I choose to call it stuffing. And why not? You stuff it into a turkey! (well, you don’t have to. I know some of you deep fry, which is yummy too!)
The best way to start it is this. You know those day or two-day old loaves of bread at your bakery? They’re usually marked way down, and they are perfect for this recipe. And change it up! Use pretzel bread, sour dough, rye, corn bread! Mix and match! In fact, that is my favorite, to get French bread and others to give varying textures and flavors!
You can also mix and match the veggies. I know not everyone loves onions, or celery, or mushrooms. If I list something here you don’t like, leave it out! Or, add your own favs! Simple!
As for the meat, you can go vegan with this recipe easily. Veggie broth and vegan butter work great, and I have made that! It’s still super yum! Just cook them down until it’s a nice concentrate and add to your bread and veggies!
So, to start, cut all the stale breads into nice cubes. They don’t have to be tiny like Stovetop! Place in a paper bag and each time to go into the kitchen, shake it up so air gets to all the pieces. That’s very important. OR, if you don’t have that time or space, dry them in the oven the day before, 225F for about half an hour should do the trick.
Now, the measurements are crazy. I make dinner for at least 12 each year. So I need almost a full bag of bread. If you have a smaller family and don’t care for a lot of leftovers, you can go to a couple loaves of bread and that will be great. And don’t forget, the bread will shrink once the moisture is out of it.
For this recipe, I’m doing one large baking pan. Sure, you can stuff your turkey, but you will not have much if you stop there, so get a casserole dish or big pan that you make lasagna in, or an 18”x12”x3” pan.
Ingredients
5 loaves of good bread cubed and dried
Four to five large stalks of celery, chopped
One large onion, diced
About twelve button mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 carrots, julienned
A pound of good sausage, browned and crumbled (this is to taste! More or less as you like and use what sausage you like. Sage is my favorite)
Sage, one tbl
Thyme, one tbl
Oregano, one teas
Salt to taste (but be careful, the bouillon is salty!)
Pepper to taste
Chicken bouillon about three heaping tbl OR five cups of good broth
Two sticks of butter, separated (I know, it’s a lot, but this is cheating season!)
 
For those using turkey or fowl, take out the neck and giblets the night before you’re cooking the fowl and place in a medium boiling pan. Fill with water, add chicken or turkey bouillon, spices and start it to boil, then turn it down to simmer it. Don’t let it run out of water. Keep it filled but simmering.
After cooking sausage, in the same skillet, add half a stick of butter and your veggies and salt and pepper to taste. Sweat your veggies and not cook them fully. You’ll want a little crunch from your stuffing. Deglaze with a little of the cooking broth. Take out and add the meat and veggies to your bread cubes.
Once the neck and giblets are finished cooking, take them out of the broth and add one stick of the butter until it melts into the broth. You can cut up the meat and add it, or not. OR, if you’re using this for gravy, add to the gravy.
A little at a time, add the broth to the bread mix and stir very gently. Add more, stir more until it’s all moist. You may have to use a little more broth, and if so, no problem, get some more of the bouillon and butter (that extra half a stick).
Or, if you like a drier stuffing, don’t add it all.
Fold into your cooking pan after stuffing your bird in the morning. Do not stuff the night before, that can make you sick! The bread will keep absorbing, and you don’t want it absorbing salmonella!
You can cook the extra stuffing at the same temp as the turkey, for about 45 mins to an hour, but watch for it to get brown and a little crunchy on top. Texture is as important as flavor!
Now, what I do is make an extra big pan of the broth with the neck and giblets. I use half for the stuffing and the other half for the gravy. Place butter into the half that you’ll use for stuffing only, as you’ll use the grease from the turkey for your gravy! You’ll need good broth for the gravy too, and the fusion of similar flavors is great for the dinner!
I’ll tell you a secret, if you make your own bread, I highly recommend you use that for this recipe. It’s not only cheaper, it’s delicious!
Substitutions that are really yummy as well?
Add apples or pears. Add nuts (if no guests have allergies!)
Add bacon instead of sausage.
Add oysters!
Make your own cornbread for this. Your own zucchini bread. And I know it sounds gross, but try 3/4 regular bread and throw in banana bread for the other quarter! It gives the sweetness you would normally get from nuts or other fruits like apples.
Play around with your favorite flavors. All I ask is you start with good bread first and good broth. My favorite bouillon is Knorr’s chicken (pollo) bouillon. It’s incredibly tasty! And it’s inexpensive too! Or, make your own chicken or turkey broth in advance! Chicken, veggies and spices, cook until chicken is falling off the bone, strain and voila! You’ve got great homemade broth too!
And wish me luck! I’ll be making enough for five hundred people this year. Do you know how much bread that is? Ugh…