 Excerpt from today's e-mail exchange with Stacia Deshishku, CNN's White House Sr. Supervising Producer: "I am obsessed with the cornbread v. sausage v. oyster stuffing debates!" You and me both, sister. As so many Americans did, I grew up on Stove Top Stuffing. Then, as probably the vast majority, uh, didn't, because I fancied the flavors so much, I took to making myself little after-school snacks of toasted bread stirred with margarine, a splash of instant bouillon and a sprinkle of Bell's Poultry Seasoning. I fixated on those flavors the 364 non-Thanksgiving days of the year. (There are reasons I've chosen the career path that I have.) This all goes to say that until I started celebrating Thanksgiving with the families of college pals (Kentucky was a long, expensive schlep for a broke art student in Baltimore), I had no idea that stuffing - or "dressing" if you roll that way - had any sort of regional variations. Who knew you could branch beyond bread, sage, thyme and the usual seasoning suspects and add oysters, andouille sausage, chestnuts, rice, giblets, raisins, White Castle Slyders or even peanuts? For that matter, cornbread was suddenly a viable swap for stale white bread and one could dally with pumpernickel if the mood were right. Hey – it's a free country, after all. (Unless you're sticking dried cherries in there. That's just nasty.) |
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Fresh bread (white, wheat, rye, challah) Bell's Seasonings, 1 stick butter, celery salt, celery, onion, apple (all grated into the mixture raw), cold turkey broth, chestnuts (but only if I feel like it). Stuff, roast, n' eat!
A variety of whole grain dark breads, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions, leeks, oregano, thyme, sage, eggs, duck stock. Bake 40 min at 3:75, top with a mixture of melted butter and duck fat and bake for another 15.
My stuffing is sour dough bread, artichokes, mushrooms, and black olives with onion & celery and poultry seasoning. Family won't let me try any other recipes
Oh, I forgot to say I use the rest of the broth and turkey drippings to make the gravy.
Peppridge Farms herb stuffing cubes, italian sausage, onions, celery, fresh mushrooms, 1 apple diced small or 1 small can apple sauce (to cut the acid of the sausage), garlic, garlic, garlic, turkey broth, eggs. Cook as much as you can in bird, the rest in large casserole, and mix at last minute to get that "in the bird" flavor throughout. Thanksgiving dinner is all about the stuffing!
Ah! You're a red bag girl. Personally, I prefer the blue.
Not stale bread, but week old bread and mashed potatoes, onion, butter, egg, celery, poultry seasoning, etc. is used by the Pennsylvania Dutch also (and it's the BEST). But it is not called stuffing or dressing; it's called filling!
Use beer instead of chicken broth or water.
My future mother-in-law's recipe is made about half and half, stale bread and mashed potatoes. I toss a little more bread in but it's fantastic!!! From what I understand it's a big thing in eastern Canada (maybe in the US too).
No time to read through LOL... making it after typing this. There'd better be some SAGE love in these posts. Grew up in Texas. Cornbread, onions, celery, sage, eggs, and chicken broth/stock. Family made it really wet, packed it down so that you ended up slicing it. These days I crumble it looser and bake it so it's a little dryer, crisper. The rest of the (plain white bread) country is missing out :) Cornbread's where it's AT. I'm thankful for cornbread.
Amen to that
I was in my 20s before I even knew there was another kind!
Exactly how we do it!
2 bags or Arnold's Herbed stuffing, onions, celery, and a pound of Jimmy Dean's Spicy sausage.
Instant stuffing/dressing is terrible, compared to almost any homemade. While we also like a sausage and mushroom stuffing, the recipe below is an "old county" favorite from my great-grandmother:
3 loaves bread, 4 onions, 4 stalks celery, a dozen eggs: boil the neck/heart/gizzard for stock, saute the liver and chop finely, saute the onions and celery until tender, add the eggs/liver to the bread/onioins/celery, mix very well with the stock as needed to make it the bread fall apart (should be moist throughout but not with puddles) and cook inside or out as you like. Makes 4 quarts.
This takes time and effort, but the reward is worth it.
Don't forget herbs to taste; we use parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Bread cubes, onion, celery, pecans, mushrooms, golden raisins, cranberries, sage, rosemary, thyme, flat-leaf parsley, and a dash of mace. Moistened with broth, and stuffed into the turkey. Of course, the trick is getting all of that into the turkey!
We use bacon in our stuffing / dressing. My wife is allergic to both onions and sausage, and none of us likes oysters.
Sauted green pepper, celery and onion; browned Bob Evans sausage with sage; stale white bread crumbs; chicken bouillon cube dissolved in ~1 cup water; parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (hehe... but seriously)... mix & bake til crunchy on the top!
We have to have celery, mushrooms and craisins with the Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix, otherwise it isn't Thanksgiving!
Bacon, mild sausage, celery, onion, frsh rosemary and thyme and some chicken broth along with the stuffing cubes. Try it- you'll love it!
Onion, celery, turkey liver,and granny smith apples sauteed in butter, chopped prunes macerated in madeira, parsley, sausage, Italian bread cut in 1/2 inch cubes and dried in oven for 2 hours at 200 degrees, stock. I've always worried that stuffing cooked in the bird was a great bacteria breeding ground so I cook it separately. I also use the madeira in the gravy. Been doing this for 40 years and everyone loves it.
Along with the cornbread and stale white bread you also have to add sage, onion, juice from the turkey or chicken stock. Then form into little patties and bake in the oven. It is delicious beyond reason !!!!! Ohh then after baking slather with good turkey gravy.......... ~ drool ~ ~ drool ~ ~drool ~
Martha, sounds to me like you'd be a fan of Bubble and Squeak, where you take left over mashed potatoes, veggies, stuffing and meat (if you want) and form them into patties that are then pan fried to heat through and crisp up. Topped with gravy and/or cranberry sauce... Good stuff!
Stuffing, Dressing, or in a small area of central Pennsylvania (Lewistown) it is called Filling.
Here's my recipe Started it last night
1 cup of Southern Comfort
1 large pan of cornbread
Sourdough Bread (small to medium loaf)
Jalepeno
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Carrot
Andouille Sausage
1 medium apple
Chicken Broth
Make your cornbread. Let cool. Cube your Italian Bread. Place breads (save half of the cornbread) into LARGE Bowl. Add Southern Comfort (this is key for the Sweetness) Make sure you stir all of the bread to allow for even coating of SC. Set in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Bread will be mushy. Butter in a pan. Add veggies except the Jalepeno. Cube your sausage add to pan. Saute. Add Chopped apple and saute. Get your bread bowl. Add ingredients to bowl. Rough chop Jalepeno (I typically use 2-3) DON'T Deseed. Add the last half of cornbread, peppers, seasoning and herbs. Add Chicken stock slowly until it reaches a nice "wet" consistancy. Place in baking dish. Bake the last 35-45 minutes of your turkey cook time.
SoCo stuffing! NOW we're talkin'.
Thank you Something new! I am definitely trying this out.
Mine is spicy chicken sausage, shitake mushrooms, fennel [I hate celery], onion/shallots, white wine and chicken broth.
stale bread, celery, onions, butter (never too much), chicken stock, eggs, almost a box of bell's seasoning. simmer onions and celery in butter. once soft, turn off heat, add bread and pour in stock. liberally douse in Bell's seasoning. Once the mixture is a big, moist, gooey mess, add scrambled egg. Once egg is stirred throughout, stuff bird and you are good to go.
Family tradition is a spoonful of peanut butter melted into the hot water or broth before tossing in the bread and other good stuff.
"Then, as probably the vast majority, uh, didn't, fancied the flavors so much, I took to making myself little after-school snacks of toasted bread stirred with margarine, a splash of instant bouillon and a sprinkle of Bell's Poultry Seasoning because I fixated on those flavors the 364 non-Thanksgiving days of the year. (There are reasons I've chosen the career path that I have.)"
Hey, I hope that career path doesn't involve writing! Is that first part supposed to be legible?
As my brother contributes the stuffing, I'm not 100% sure what his essential ingredient would be. He makes a killer stuffing and, even though I'm now a vegetarian, I will probably partake (a tiny bit) of his sausage-infused masterpiece coz it's once a year and it's delicious. He uses Pillsbury biscuits, dried apricot, pine nuts, sausage, broth (yes, chicken), seasoning and I don't know WHAT else. But it's the greatest!
Sourdough bread, with lemon and rosemary. Stuff inside, piling out and around the end, soaks up a lot of juice that way. My turkeys are never dry.
Oh, and lots of sauteed onions go in it.
My dressing is actually my grandmother's recipe and I use, as she did, challah as the base, with onion, mushrooms and celery, eggs, chicken broth and seasonings. It's the best tasting dressing ever, and very moist.
Cornbread + real biscuits (Pillsbury doesn't work as well) + chopped onions, celery, fresh sage, rosemary and thyme cooked in a stick of butter+ pepper, salt if necessary, and more dried sage to taste. You just sort of mix it til it's right. I mix with vegetable broth because my daughter is vegetarian, but you can also use chicken broth. I make my dressing separate because my mama did. ;-)
sausage apple stuffing...variety of bread[this year light and dark rye, solid italian loaf, stuufung bread and some left over cider squash this year]. dice and sautee in butter lots of onion carrots and celery til soft, and roughly chopped cranberries[ not too many] and one to two peeled and chopped cortland apples. set aside. cook up pork breakfast sausage til cooked through..don't drain. mix in bread and cooked veggies. moisten with broth[turkey best but chicken will do] should be moist byt not soggy. place in buttered pan and cover with foil. bake for 90 min. basting with pan juices a couple of times. incover for last 15 min. there will be no leftovers!
I like America's Test Kitchen stuffing cooked outside the bird. We make the Apple, sage, caramelized onion version and it's delish.
Ooops – forgot about Christmas!! DOI !!!! hhehehehheheheheheheheh
One loaf of white bread, broken up into little pieces.....add savory, sage, poultry seasoning and a little salt and pepper. Fry chopped onions in butter, add mixture to the bread crumbs...stir to moisten. Very simple, but delicious! I end up eating a lot of it before I even stuff the bird...though I'm thinking, after reading some of the comments, that I may cook outside the turkey next year (and I say next year because I'm from Canada and our Thanksgiving is done and over). I think I may need to expand my stuffing horizons – so thanks everyone for all the great ideas and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! :)
Down home Southern corn bread stuffing for me. Can't eat the white bread at all.
Admin...some white bread absorbs the flavors ...and no longer tastes like white bread, lol...think of it like water chestnuts..no flavor till cooked with something...
The best stuffing is made with Saltines. Try it!
what is with the white bread ugh!!!!!
forgot to add sage...
One of the wonderful traditions of the south is that most all of our cooking is from scratch. And THE traditional Southern Dressing in my region of Alabama is made from homemade white corn bread crumbled and combined with chopped onions and celery, sage, chicken stock to moisten, and a can of cream of chicken soup. Bake at 350 for 40 mins. Mmmm Mmmm fine.
Southern Pan Cooked Dressing....family tradition.....after harvesting all the pan drippings, combine cornbread (baked crispy), a bit of stale bread chunks, celery, onion, bell pepper, salt, pepper, turkey broth (a bit of the fat and a bit of turkey..don't bother straining it.)., eggs...bake and enjoy...Very simple base for adding other ingredients...gotta have cornbread, gotta have it cooked outside the turkey...
oooops..gotta add sage and sometimes summer savory... My family loves dressing...served with homemade cranberry relish and canned gelled cranberry sauce...
Pepperige Farms Herbed Stuffing, celery, onions, apples, raisins or craisins which is better, minced giblet meat a little more poultry seasoning and broth from cooking the jiblets mixed with a stick of real butter. I prefer my stuffing from inside the bird. It's not dry and has better flavor.
I'm absolutely famished now, thank-you-very-much.
Dice up some celery and toss it into the water that you boil for "plain old Stove Top" for a litte extra flavor and some crunch.
I voted for "other" on the first question because bacon is the must-have ingredient.
Regarding the other issue: Stuffing inside the bird, dressing outside, and I don't use the same ingredients in each (the dressing will involve mushrooms).
I put my description up yesterday and had to check back this morning. I will be having to saute onions and celery this year because there is no turkey to stuff....I loved all the wonderful ideas, the excitement, and the hope everyone expressed. Give thanks and eat stuffing!
We make a stuffing that actually does not require much cooking. It could be eaten raw but it's much better heated up in the bird. It consists of:
1 medium onion – about 21/2 inches – if you really like onion, use a bigger one or use 2 small ones.
2 medium carrots – about 6 to 8 inches long – 3/4 to one inch at the fat end.
2 stalks of celery
2 sleeves of Ritz crackers
salt and pepper to taste,,, yes you can taste it before cooking it.
per 3 pounds of bird.
Put all the ingredients through a meat grinder. You can add liquid in the form of chicken broth or water to make a loose paste, about the consistency of smooth peanut butter or spackle.
Stuff this into the bird and roast the bird as you normally do.
Any stuffing that didn't fit in the bird we usually bake in baking dish, until the top is brown.
i stuff the birds bush
Home-made, traditional and very simple. Bread cubes, herbs, onion, celery, salt, pepper and turkey broth. Toasted in the oven, outside the bird.
Bacon
While looking for a cooking app I found Turkey Timer on the Android market, its going to help me get the right timing for my Turkey, check it out.
Forgot to say the app is free :)
its all about MRS. CUBBISONS with celery onion chicken stalk and butter stuff into that gorgeous turkey mmmmmm
This year's will be the first stuffing I will ever have attempted to make from scratch. It's also my first gluten-free Thanksgiving, and that's the reason for it. I will be using tapioca bread, then the usual celery, onions, sage, thyme and chicken broth. I just hope it won't be TOO moist...or too dry!
My mother makes an excellent dressing. She uses leftover bread (white, whole wheat, and cornbread, no rye), chicken broth, egg, poultry seasoning, extra sage, onion, and celery. She's cut back a bit on celery since I hate it, but she still uses it and the dressing is still good. She refuses to put it in the bird because of food poisoning concerns; instead, she bakes it in a 9"x13" pan and it comes out crisp on top, moist inside. After it's out of the oven, she cuts it into squares like brownies and serves gravy on the side. Yum!
can't believe they did not include celery and onions as choices. Doesn't everyone add those? (even stove top)
pepperidge farm herb stuffing, sausage, lots of onion, sage, chicken broth and about a half a cup of 7 up! THE BEST!!!
I really like a traditional bread,onion,celery sage stuffing/dressing...whatever? I do usually make an additional Sausage and apple variation for people who may want something different. I also have a lovely dried fruit/rice and toasted hazelnut stuffing...but I save that for a crown roast of pork....may sound strange but it is really delicious with pork. Now, a quick question regarding the egg in the gravy mentioned earlier...does that get blended in to thicken or left in pieces? LOL That may be a really dumb question but I have never heard of the egg in gravy variety.
Ok a little disturbed by the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach. Just because you can put many different types of ingredients in a stuffing, doesn't mean you should put them all in there TOGETHER. Pick one theme (ie mushroom stuffing, sausage, cornbread, whatever) and work your other ingredients around that main ingredient. They don't all taste good in one big mess.
Saute onion and celery in vegetable oil, then mix that with stale bread tossed with white pepper, salt, thyme, poultry seasoning, sage, and parsley. Moisten with broth made from the giblets and an onion. Stuff the bird. It's simple and delicious. I've had fancier dressings, but nothing tops this.
I make two pans of dressing outside the bird. One is dried white bread and cornbread mixed. I make my own chicken stock with the fat and all, standard sage, oregano, and thyme, celery and red bell pepper. I stuff my turkey with apples, limes, and onions and throw them all away when the bird is done.
The second pan is the same except with Sausage, mushrooms, and oysters added. My wife is a lot like many of you and she loves stovetop so I cook that instead of potatoes for some meals but not for Thanksgiving. Since she was a non-cook stovetop was her only choice until she married me.
Pepperidge Farm, mix of cornbread and cubes, with an egg added. Some cooked in the bird, the rest baked until the top is crispy. Never fails to make a crowd happy.
My husband makes an amazing stuffing out or 2 parts garlic bread, 1 part cornbread, and uses pureed onion and celery instead of stock to moisten it. That way the stuffing is smooth and every bite has the flavor from the vegetables. I have friends who hate stuffing that have been won over by this one!
Hmmm...I never personally have heard of egg in gravy but hey, there are a million variations.. I'm sure it's great!
And a great use for the eggs that refused to cooperate when it came time to shell them for the deviled eggs. Good-looking eggs go on the platter, ripped up eggs go in the gravy.
What about the gravy? I have always made giblet gravy using the drippings from the cooked turkey, stock made from simmering the giblets, flour and milk, then add the neck meat and the liver chopped into small pieces, and have always added a few sliced boiled eggs once the gravy is ready. My mother always did that and as far as I know my grandmother did that too. I never thought anything of that but tend to get weird reactions from people where I live now. Are the eggs a regional thing or did my mother get that out of a cookbook when she was a new bride back in 1958?
That is nearly the same gravy I've had at Thanksgiving for nearly 60 years. It is the best! We also chop up the (cooked) heart and gizzard to add with the neck meat and liver. The chopped boiled eggs immediately identify it as "the good stuff."
My family has made giblet gravy for as long as I can remember(born in '51). However, most of the younger generation do not like it, so we also make a good turkey gravy with the pan drippings, flour to make a roux, homemade turkey stock and a splash of white wine. We have to make two kinds of dressing as well – one recipe (my husband's grandmother's) of sausage, chestnuts, stale bread, onion, celery, poultry seasoning, sage and chopped green olives with egg and broth to moisten and one simple dressing of onion, celery, herbs and bread cubes for the less adventurous!
1 recipe cornbread cooked in a huge iron skillet
1 recipe home made biscuits
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
broth from a chicken boiled until it falls off the bone
Chop chicken and mix with crumbled cornbread and biscuits. Add vegetables and broth (mixture should look like you're making cornbread again). Stir in salt and pepper to taste along with 2 tbsp poultry seasoning. Pour into huge baking dish and bake at 375 degrees until the top is browned.
Serve with gravy:
1 stick butter
3 tbsp flour
1 boiled, chopped egg
1 can chicken broth
melt butter, stir in flour and STIR. Cook for about 1 minute. Pour in broth, add chicken and chopped egg. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Been serving these to my family for over 30 years and they're still coming back for more!
My mother made hers with Ritz cracker crumbs and that's my favorite – very moist and flavorful.
I don't think it's a good idea to stuff a cold turkey with warm/hot stuffing. It shouldn't be warmer than room temp and immediately put in the oven. Tepid temperatures are a breeding ground for bacteria, and the time it takes for the turkey to get to the temp of the stuffing will cultivate millions of nasty microbes. Honestly, you may have done it a million times that way but...it only takes once to make someone really ill.
It's always the Pepperidge Farm in the blue bag. I use chicken stock instead of water and always make the stuffing on the dry side so that it will soak up extra turkey juices without turning the stuffing soggy. I also put the stuffing in the bird while the stuffing is still hot, but not too hot to handle and then immediately pop the bird in the oven. I have never had a dry bird and the stuffing is delicious.
I don't want to gross everyone out but I think the blood from the turkey is what gives the stuffing it's great flavor.
1/2 Pepperidge Farm Herb Dressing
1/2 Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Dressing
Celery
onions
Breakfast Sausage
butter
chicken broth
Parmesan Cheese (This from my Sicilian Great Grandmother)
Stuffing – a mixture of white bread, wheat bread, and pumpernickel (with the pumpernickel cut from an unsliced loaf so that it can be cut into larger chunks than the white and wheat breads), onions, sage, a touch of garlic, and white wine. Pack the bird full, cover tightly and (contrary to what the article says) you'll have a nicely done, moist bird with everything up to a safe temperature.
Dressing – the same, except cooked in a loaf pan until it has the consistency of a brick. Chisel into chunks and serve... but first make sure that you have your dentist on speed dial :-)
My grandmother first made egg bread, then made dressing from the egg bread. It took hours for her to make it. It was elaborate. It was delicious. Nothing else compares.
I start with Pepperidge Farm Herb mix. We like giblets in our dressing. I boil them with lots of seasoning and use the resulting broth in the dressing and giblet gravy. I also use black olives, onion, celery, mushrooms, chopped boiled eggs, and fresh herbs.
White Castle sliders, not slyders. I don't know if you're trying to fancy it up, but "sly" has nothing at all to do with the origin of the name. Slide? But of course. I wouldn't use them for stuffing/dressing, but I'd eat them while the bird was cooking.
White Castle trademarked "Slyder" in 1993 an an attempt to get away from the greasy connotation of "slider."
OK, but, so, what the heck IS a White Castle Slyder? Never heard of 'em.
OK, so, never mind. I just went to the White Castle website and found out that's what their basic little burger is called. a slider. I had them once when I was young. They're kinda cute, like a soft little fried onion cookie, as I recall, but you'd have to eat a dozen to feel like you ate anything...
I use stovetop Chicken flavor with apples and spinach and goat cheese.
nothing makes creamy dreamy stuffing like goat cheese (plus, hey, more calories!)
Making two kinds of stuffing this year. One traditional for my husband's family – dried bread cubes from the store (not Pepp. Farms, but siimilar, just a large cube) butter, onion, celery and ck broth. Then another batch with a slight variation on the bread cubes (just seasoned differently) with some sausage and mushrooms, onion, celery, butter and ck broth. Thinking about adding some apples after reading all of these posts!
Add jalapenos for a kick!
Rice a Roni Wild Rice – 2 boxes, onions, spicy sausage, sliced almonds, mushrooms and onions. It's stuffing and it goes IN the bird (as much as possible anyway), the leftover goes into a shallow pan. It's very popular and goes fast.
100% homemade, cubed white bread tossed with melted butter, vermouth, onions, sage, margerum, poultry seasoning, all spice, and all the giblets and neck meat you can throw at it. Im sure I am missing something, but cant remember 100% right now :)
Add that inside a big bird with 2 heads of roasted garlic mixed with butter under the skin and roast in the oven (or even better on the grill mmmmm), then make traditional gravy (using the fat from the drippings to make a rue, then blending in the other drippings to make your gravy) with that lovely garlicly browned butter mmmmmmmm OK I know what I am doing in two days!!!
Sour dough bread makes an excellent stuffing.
olives, it's gotta have olives
I actually dont care for stuffing at all. I just heap my plate with turkey, creamy mash potato and lots and lots of gravy
Except for giblets (I avoid organ meats, generally) any ingredient in stuffing adds a really nice dimension since bread isn't flavorful enough to carry a sidedish. Combining opposites like apple and sausage can create a nice end result. Be creative by using up tiny leftover ingredients (a few pieces of onion, four pieces of bacon from breakfast, etc.)
My stuffing is chicken-apple sausage, onion, celery, butter and assorted croutons (garlic, herb, butter) moistened with low-sodium chicken broth and baked outside the turkey.
My stuffing is made from white bread cubed, margarine, celery. onions apples and spices. My family has followed that recipe since we arrived in 1916 from Poland.
As I am also Polish,Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
I am Polish as well. Makes for a good combination with my Irish boyfriend! Hello RichardHead!
We have two different kinds of dressing, one for my dad (from north Louisiana) and one for my mom (from south Louisiana). Cornbread dressing – with cornbread, onions, celery, chicken stock, seasoning, etc – placed around the turkey in the last 1/2 hour of cooking, and Rice Dressing – rice, liver, seasoning – in a seperate dish.
What? NO Gator Dressing?
We stuff a hollowed out pumpkin. Stuffing consists of: Sauteed onion and celery, whole wheat blend stuffing mix (1 or two packages), 1 can pumpkin, 1 can campbell's cream of mushroom soup, 1 can campbell's cream of celerly soup, 8 oz. sour cream, 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, salt, pepper, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme to taste. Enough chicken broth to moisten. Add any extras you want (giblets, sauteed mushrooms, etc.). Bake in oven at 350 degrees an hour or so until browned on top and pumpkin is fork tender. About half mixture goes in pumpkin, other half we put in baking dish. Only fill pumpkin about half full.
Genius! I learn something new everyday on this site. Thank You.
wow interesting, but with all the canned cream soups canned pumpkin etc it sounds really gloppy.
Mine is celery and onion sauteed in butter, egg, wheat bread, apple chunks, raisins and sliced almonds. And of course poutlry seasoning, thyme and all those spices. It sounds weird but it's soooo good. I stuffed a 4 pound chicken for myself and my boyfriend and ended up with way too much stuffing. He's a harsh critic of the stuff and there were no leftovers.
Also, it's called stuffing because it goes inside the bird. INSIDE!
White Castle Slyders? Ok. My Ex-husband had never had White Castle. He talked about it for YEARS. Finally I let him pickup some sliders. He spent the next two days in the bathroom. My Dad cracked up and said "Why did he think they called them Slyders?!?".
White Castle stuffing? ROFL... Yeah, when I'm dead.
Mom's recipe: Diced celery, onions sauteed in butter with salt, pepper, and sage until thoroughly cooked. Add to a bowl with diced bread and mix it together with warm water until only moist. Then, "stuff" it into the bird. 'You talk about delicious. The turkey smells and tastes better because the celery and onion have cooked inside, etc. Everything is moist, moist, moist. All you Pepperidge Farm stove top dressing afficiendoes should try it the traditional way this year. You will never go back.
I found a great stuffing recipe in a magazine a number of years ago. It uses sour dough bread, sausage, goat cheese, mushrooms and leeks. My family loves it and we've never used another stuffing receipe since I found this one. My own mother made a wild rice dressing and my mother in law puts green peppers in hers.
Having had to go gluten free 9 years ago, my father's recipe saw a brown rice mix exchanged for the traditional sour dough french bread, SF style. Into this is added onions, mushrooms, celery, sausage, oysters (all cooked), seasoning, butter, and eggs to hold it all together as it cooks. Yum!
I don't care wether it's inside or outside of said bird,if you call it stuffing or dressing, as long as it's there and plenty of it, I'm happy. My only complaint is that my Aunt Anna always makes weird stuffings, like with chestnuts or sausage or what ever, and I am a traditionalist...bread, onion, celery, broth and seasoning. So this year I am bringing along a big batch of basic stuffing, just in case. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Growing up it was cornbread dressing with Cubbison's dressing mix, spicy sausage, onion, celery, and bell pepper, cream of celery, cream of chicken, and chicken broth. It made a wet dressing but was baked for over an hour (half of the time covered, half uncovered) and it was moist with a nice crust and was served with giblet gravy.
I make cornbread dressing with sage sausage, apples, onion, celery, and green bell pepper with just enough chicken broth to make it moist. I then top it with melted butter and parsley and bake. Onion, celery and bell pepper are dressing must haves for me.
Stuffing is unappetizing to me (I'm just stating what I feel, I do not want to offened anyone) due to the fact that it is cooked in the bird. The thought of nuts and rice in dressing also sounds iffy, it must be a regional or cultural thing. No disrepect intended.
Must must must have Bell's seasoning. I'm a Mayflower descendant and I'm pretty sure they used it at the first Thanksgiving. Cook outside the bird. More convenient and less likely to end in the dinner party ralphing up their pumpkin pie.
I grew up on Stove Top for just a dinner side but on Thanksgiving my Mom would do it up making it from scratch, thus I do as well as the boxed variety is vile in comparison.
sourdough or white bread, sweet Italian sausage, leeks, celery, granny smith apples, dried cranberries and rosemary are the main ingredients (ok butter, poultry seasonings, chicken stock, salt/pepper too) and sometimes if I feel like mixing it up I add mushrooms, onions, may be sage and parsley... All I know if I make a huge amount and it goes faster than most the other dishes. Oh, outside the bird. Unless you have 7 turkeys that need stuffing cause it's a lot.
Onion and celery sauteed in butter and combined with dried white bread cubes and poultry seasoning. Can't do without it!
This is how I make it too, buty I add egg and chicken broth too.
I have no idea how my family usually makes the stuffing that goes inside the bird as I never eat that. We do have 1 or 2 others though that don't go near the turkey. Usually one made with regular white bread and some other variation if someone brings it. Last year my cousins who are vegetarians brought this great vegetarian stuffing that was make with pastry/philo (sp ?) bread and dried cranberries. It was great.
the stuffing i grew up on was stale white bread, butter, onion, celery, and poultry seasoning. it was made on the stove, then put in a bowl and stored in the fridge overnight. the bird was then stuffed, and if there was extra, it was put in foil and baked beside the pan in the oven. basic, tastey, and the only stuffing i actually like. you can have your bagged/boxed stuffing, homemade is the only way to go!
My family always made Canadian Pork Stuffing; ground port butt, onions, celery, Bell's Seasoning, Pepridge Farm Herb (white) bread stuffing. Brown the pork, add oinins, celery, add watter. Let cook slowly for 30 minutes, tgen add bread. Let sool, stuff into bird.
I'm sure every family has its own variation of this. Ours has potato instead of bread. No celery. Onions sauteed in bacon drippings. The seasonings are celery salt, cinnamon, poultry seasoning, cloves, salt & pepper. Simmered for hours.
I grew up with homemade dressing. My Mom always made the cornbread (we live in Florida) and then proceeded from there. I now do the same. Just my opinion, but Stove Top is not what I consider dressing making material. Try making a pan of cornbread the day before and crumble. I always add about 5-8 (depending on how many people) slices of good ole white bread (or wheat). Onions, celery, poultry seasoning, eggs, broth. Wah la. Homemade dressing.
Finally a voice of sanity! Sounds like you had what my grandmama made – cornbread with some day old white bread, celery onions, chicken stock, a bit of sage and some other stuff I don't know. Always cooked in a pan, it was better than the turkey itself!!
I never even knew about boxed "stuffing" until I visited my husband's family in the Midwest for Thanksgiving. That stuff is nasty – I don't care how you doctor it up!!
I'm with you Sophy, Stove Top is definitely not stuffing, yuk. I tried packaged Pepperage Farm once, never again, besides, I like the bread in both big and small pieces for texture..
I break up white bread in pieces and set aside for a day to dry. A day ahead, cook the giblets in a pot of water with the neck and when it is all tender refrigerate it.. I prep everything I can the day before so on Turkey day I just have to mix it. On turkey day I cook celery and onions in a skillet with butter.until tender. Mix together salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and sage (careful with that, too much sage can be a disaster,so can too much salt). Mix the bread, seasonings, celery, onions and the butter they were cooked in plus an egg or two (lightly beaten) Pour in broth from the giblets and some melted butter to moisten, and mix it all up. I use my hands to mix it .Smooth salt around the inside of neck and rear cavitiees in the bird and put the stuffing in. I cook my turkey in a granite ware roaster in the oven or in my electric roaster...depending on the size of the bird. (
I've seen string bags to put the stuffing in inside the cavity and I may try that, supposed to make it easier to get all of it out. If I want more stuffing than I can get into the turkey I'll bake it in a separate pan, add a little more moisutre and cover it tightly...It won't take nearly as long as the turkey so don't put it in right away!
Hope y'all don't mind my writing out the whole thing. I got this recipe from my mom and now my kids and my grandkids are making it for their families! Now I'm hungry!!!
I forgot to say that I use the rest of the giblet broth (I use a lot of water to cook them in), along with turkey drippings to make the gravy. And that is, I think, all I have to say about that!
My family recipe Too! I use your exact same combo-except since moving east-for seasoning I have switched to Bell's seasoning. Oh my it's good. It smells like Thanksgiving in a little box! I grew up in kansas & missouri and don't ever recall even seeing Bell's seasoning at the supermarket. But any bagged or boxed stuffing?? Shameful! Yum I can't ait until tomorrow!
I do a seafood dressing that none of these can touch!
Growing up we always mixed the Pepperidge Farms Herb Seasoned Stuffing mix added to my grandmother's bakery bread cubes seasoned similarly. As an adult, I have switched to chorizo cornbread stuffing and still enjoy both.
I had a boyfriend in my teens whose mother used to put oysters in her stuffing. (We are from a landlocked state and the oysters were questionable.) While I think they are delicious and that the recipe is a really good one, I think it is only fair to be warned that there are oysters in the stuffing! Quite the surprise to someone not expecting an oyster in their Thanksgiving dinner!
And despite the proper terminology, in my family it is almost universally called "stuffing" although it is almost never in the bird.
Its giblets cooked with onion, celery and herbs in turkey fat, mixed with white bread cubes and stock to moisten, stuffed inside the bird. Just what I grew up with. Packaged stuffing? Ugh!
My regional variation (this is New Mexico, after all) includes hot green chile and toasted pinon. My base is Mrs. Cubbison's DRESSING mix (not stuffing) with sauteed onion, celery and chopped garlic (the sautee is a combination of olive oil, butter, white wine and chicken stock) + raw grated carrots and more chicken stock to make it moist. I'm rather proud of my recipe. However, everyone to their own - everything I read here sounds de-lish!
My grandma's stuffing recipe is sort of a family tradition - dad makes it every year, I learned it, and eventually it'll get passed to my daughter. White bread cubes, giblets - the liver in particular is an absolute necessity and we've been known to add extra chicken livers - a crapton of green onions, ground pork (you CAN use mild sausage, but ground pork means you can mess with all the other seasonings more freely), and water chestnuts. No fruit, no extraneous vegetable matter, no frills. It's crazy simple and crazy good. Stuffing should be discrete, too - I should be able to see all the ingredients in my stuffing rather than it turning into a mound of conglomerated starchy foodness. The recipe makes a ton so we cook it both inside and outside; I like the stuff cooked inside the bird better.
I add, celery, onions, giblets (chopped up), I use chicken stock, mushrooms, sometimes chopped up squash and some frozen corn. It is baked in the oven along side of the bird (I don't think I've EVER had it inside the Turkey) and it is called stuffing folks... no matter what!
We use white and rye bread, add celery, raisins, sunflowers seeds or almonds and depending on who's making it mushrooms. Plus plenty of spices and butter. I've had it in the turkey and out but I prefer it made out of they turkey. Some family members like to add gravy to it. I personally like it with or without the gravy. It tastes good either way. And we call it both in my family. No one really cares... Dressing is the same as stuffing and stuffing is the same as dressing. At least in my family.
I make the best stuffing ever! - potato bread cubes, apples, country pork sausage, celery, onions, flat leaf parsley....
That does really sound good. Recipe?
I just tried to say Kerfuffle 3 times fast and it didn't sound right. sausage stuffing outside da Bird!
My first chopping gig was helping my Dad fix stuffing/dressing on Thanksgiving. I have to use celery in mine for that reason. I do not go overboard, but it is important. Onions are also essential. I do vary his recipe with apples and by using eggs to set the dressing/stuffing. Other things may come and go, but the dressing has to be there.
At Thanksgiving... it's gotta be inside the bird!
Our's pretty much had the kitchen sink in it, but we did both stuffing inside and outside the bird. Mom just made sure to put the stuff that was in the bird in its own pan and cook it longer.
My mother always makes an apple sausage stuffing that is exquisite. The sausage crumbled into the mix really brings out the flavor of everything else. love love love love love love love it
I add lots of celery, onion, and carrots to my stuffing and skip the step of adding butter. I've been using StoveTop for years but am thinking of trying another brand. Can anyone recommend one low in fat but high in flavor that is easily prepared with the vegetables? Stuffing is my favorite part of Thanky-G!
"Thanky-G"...
I think that is a first for me to hear...!
Pepperidge Farm Cornbread stuffing, with cooked turkey liver, celery and sage, cooked inside the bird.
It is stuffing, it is StoveTop and it is outside the bird.
Yup, gotta be outside the bird.
It's called "stuffing" for a reason...it gets stuffed inside the bird to keep the breast meat moist. I make enough to have some outside the bird, as well, I love it all.
If you read recipe sources (particularly America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated), you'll learn, based on scientific experimentation, that stuffing the birs will actually have the effect of DRYING OUT the breast meat. That's because to be safe, the stuffed bird ahs to cook longer, which generally causes the breast meat to dry out before the stuffing and the breast meat reach a safe temperature.
@Mike – I was always under the impression that basting the turkey was the main thing to keep it moist an evenly browned. I don't even baste mine, I use a pastry brush to make sure the entire thing gets some coverage. Plus, letting the turkey set for about an hour after cooking helps. I'm not denying that the stuffing wicks out moisture (it makes sense) but if my turkey's too dry... well then it's just stuffing for dinner and who's gonna complain? :)
EC, actually cooking the stuffing inside the bird dries out the meat rather than keeps it moist.
Hard to imagine how you might be mis-cooking the bird if you manage to dry it out. Never had a bird come out less than perfect. If you're concerned about temperature with a stuffed bird (as you should be), first heat the stuffing in the microwave to as hot as you can stand to handle it (at least 120+), then stuff the bird. Use two digital thermometers, one in the thigh and one at the center of the stuffing.
Im with ec and everyone else too, stuffing goes in the bird. But we like it so much, we make a second pan outside the bird, then blend the two together in a mixing bowl, the moist ineer stuffing with the drier pan stuffing. We just save the heals from bread loafs and dry them out all year, so its a mixed bag of bread for the stuffing, then celery, onion, butter, poultry seasoning, thyme, etc. stuff the bird, then put whatever is left in a foil covered baking pan and cook that for 45 min or so towards end of bird, then mix and pig out :)
Are you my mother-in-law by any chance? Everything she makes on Thanksgiving comes in a box or a can or is pre-cooked in some way. Straight from the microwave to your plate. Stovetop stuffing at Thanksgiving is a crime.
Sounds like my mother in law too. Literally everything from a box, can, or bag. The only thing close to homemade was the dessert, but it was the same thing every single year. Thank goodness we never go there for the holidays anymore.
I do like Stove Top but for Thanksgiving I'm going with Pepperidge Farms Onion and Sage stuffing.
I like Pepperidge Farms herb stuffing.
Pepperage Farm is the best. With just onion, celery and butter, water the best there is.
Absolutely correct. Onion, celery, and butter with P. Farm is quick and easy and vastly superior to other offerings.
better if you use chicken stock and throw an egg in there...: >
Absolutely on the onion and celery–can I come to your house Thursday? The poll said to list 'other' in loving detail, but didn't leave a space. What are we to make the stuffing out of–bread, only? I also use organic chicken stock instead of water–it helps the stuffing that's not in the turkey taste more 'stuffed', and it's convenient and cheap, not salty like the cubes.
I don't cook with water. Try a little apple juice and chicken stock together. Then a splash of brandy. Starting with the "real" Pepperidge Farm, for me, is the only way to go. Customize later.
Yep, Pepperidge Farms (herb, cubed) plus celery, onion and mushrooms. Simmer the onion and celery in the BROTH for 10 min before dumping on the cubes and butter so they'll still have a little texture. I'm assigned the dressing every year!
Chicken stock when you have glorious turkey stock cooking out of the turkey? Lazy people!
Put some bread in the turkey when you start cooking it. After a while, take the bread out and put that in the dressing. Easy peasy.
Pepperidge farm plus biscuits plus cornbread plus chicken stock and drippings from the turkey or goose.
Seasoned dried Bread cubes, Swanson Chicken Stock, Cooked celery and onions.
definately got to have the onion and celery, and some garlic, chicken broth, black pepper, poultry seasoning or bells (not availabe in the south) little cayenne and butter never margarine its not the same flavor by any stretch of the imagination.