If I Could Have Stuffing Every Day

Why do we only eat stuffing once a year? Everyone says it's their favorite part of Thanksgiving, and yet we starve ourselves.

It's bread pudding, and that gives you a clue right there. I love bread. I love pudding. Pour on the butter and let's have a party.

I make two stuffings, one traditional and one for the vegetarians, although that's a bit of a joke because the carnivores eat all the veggie dressing too.

I used to buy loaves of bread and dry them out before cutting them into cubes by hand, but I decided that is not where the labor-intensive hours count. Instead, I support buying unseasoned bread crumbs ahead of time. The key is UNseasoned. Seasoning is an area where you can make your homemade stuffing shine.

Buy fresh herbs. Actually, if you live near me, come over and get some for free, because I have enough parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme to sink a dingy off of Plymouth Rock.

Just cooking up  fresh herbs in butter and garlic is enough to set the whole day right. Saute them with your onion, your celery, and if you want my other secret, diced fennel bulb. YUM. You can even skip the celery entirely if you want.

My famous star of the stuffing comes next:  I chop up oysters and saute them... more butter, please!  I love the taste of shellfish in poultry dressing. Of course you have the sizzling ground sausage mixed in there as  as well... pork, shellfish, and turkey flavors cannot be beat!  Sometimes I add baby shrimp, too.

I'm big on nutmeats. Pecans. I have a Cajun feel for stuffing. If I could come up with 'gator meat to throw in, I bet it would be heaven. Brazil nuts, or pine nuts work alright too, but remember this is NOT a candy bar. Peanuts and almonds are not your friend in the stuffing department.

I like raisins. I like capers. I like to throw everything in but the kitchen sink as long as I think it will harmonize.

I always buy a separate package of giblets and livers to cook, just for the stuffing. You can't get enough of that stoned turkey flavor.

I learned a great lesson from a Cauldron cooking class I took at Mariquita Farm: the most flavorful part of any bird comes from the gelatinous body parts. That's why chicken feet are the quintessential flavor orgasm of any hen. More than anything you can do to enhance your chicken stock, it's the feet that make it POP.

During class, we cooked in an enormous witch-size iron cauldron, so I cleaned about 100 chicken feet. Nasty things they are, especially for a sheltered city girl like me!  They made me think, "so this is what dinosaur toes must have looked like."

But the flavor of the broth was off the hook. I don't blame you if you use canned broth, but if you're determined to make homemade stock, get some of those feet from the butcher. Just a handful will make you a shaman in the kitchen.

What do you like in your stuffing? Are you a purist, or surrealist when it comes to additions?

I hope you are taking a slow weekend with family and friends, whether you're munching on bird or Sushi or Cadbury bars! I'm very thankful for all your support and good words this year, and I look forward to more of the same!

Some mad satire for you:

"Pardoned Turkey" to be He Held at Guantanamo

Scenes from a Bush Thanksgiving

Comments

[etho]

My mom never bothered cutting the bread into perfect cubes. It works just as well to simply tear the bread into chunks, and requires about 1/10th the effort. If you have small kids, it's a good way to involve them in the cooking without having to worry about sharp objects, hot things and spilling.

Also, I've had a Thai style stuffing (yes, it was odd) that included peanuts. It was pretty tasty. But in standard american stuffing, probably not the best bet.

Mmm... I can't wait for Thursday.

[B.D.]

I love oyster stuffing as well, but my partner doesn't. My mother would make a batch up on Thanksgiving just for my grandfather, herself, and I. I do miss that.

We're having at least 10 people over for the holiday this year. Come Wednesday I'm going to be a busy, happy cook. Right now, I'm in panic mode with so much to clean and organize around the house and no time to do it as I'm heading into work.

Enjoy your stuffing and thanks for the ideas! (Never thought of putting capers into my stuffing before).

[DJ Poptart]

Thanks to my pal NOLA Bean, I'm not cooking cooking this year, but I just baked a pan of her cornbread/andouille (sausage)/turnip green dressing and ate a couple of scoops with a shallow dish of her turkey/andouille gumbo and hereby declare Thanksgiving on!!

Greens in cornbread dressing is a great idea. The potlikker effect is sublime.

Really, though, all you need for a pan of great dressing is really good cornbread -- coarse, not sweet -- and just enough sage to set off the other ingredients.

Now for a piece of pecan pie.

[Sarah]

Apple cranberry stuffing is my favorite!

[minstrel boy]

my absolute favorite maple bread pudding. . .
Now, that I've vented and spouted off, let's get into the bread pudding. It's a great way to manage leftover or stale bread. It's essentially a custard that gets poured over bread cubes. Anything more and you start to to lose all perspective. Traditionally it is served with a Bourbon or a Hard Sauce. I like a nice light warm caramel sauce though. It's a nice counterpoint to the maple flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups stale bread cubes
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup maple syrup (the real stuff, from a tree in New England)
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (this is about half a whole nutmeg grated on a microplane)

In a mixing bowl, mix everything but the bread cubes and milk together. The breadcubes should be put into an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan that's been buttered or sprayed with a nonstick spray.
Scald the milk and pour it over the other ingredients, mix it well, and dump over the bread cubes. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.

Served warm, with whipped cream, or your favorite dessert sauce (taking care not to overpower the beautiful maple flavor) or, in a bowl, microwaved to warm, with cold milk for a wonderful breakfast.

[minstrel boy]

i'm doing oyster/chestnut stuffing on a personally shot wild turkey this year. it will be epic.

[Steve]

I had stuffing once with prunes it in. Fabulous!