Stuffing for Turkey


 

Todd R.

TVWBB Super Fan
Anyone have a good stuffing recipe they want to share? I am deep-frying one turkey, and smoking the. I am looking for something I can do in the oven.
 
Here ya go, Todd. The first is what my grandmother made with no recipe for years, that I finally had to get her to let me measure as she went. We put a lot more sage in it than I've shown here, but that's just our taste. My grandmother always chopped up a couple of hard-boiled eggs and added to the dressing as well, which I always liked and still do sometimes. The 2nd is what I'm doing for a turkey delivery Friday that's going to a Sr Citizens' apartment complex for their Thanksgiving potluck dinner. The third is one of Paula Deen's recipes that I really like.

Hope one of these suits your purposes! For the drippings you can put a pan on the lower rack and catch the juice from your bird - add a cup of water to the pan so the juices don't burn. If you brine the bird, use those juices carefully as they will be saltier than normal, but a little of those drippings stirred into or drizzled over your dressing adds a very tasty smoky note to the dressing.

Any questions, just let me know.

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time


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Basic Cornbread Dressing As I Learned It

4 cups crumbled Cornbread, your favorite recipe or my Blue Ribbon Recipe in this archive
2 cups 1-inch cubes toasted crusty white bread
10 saltine crackers, crumbled
2 cups strong chicken or turkey stock, or pan drippings from cooking turkey
3 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter
1 teaspoon dried sage (or more to taste)
Salt and ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8 inch baking dish. Combine the crumbled corn bread, toasted bread, and crumbled crackers in a large mixing bowl. Saute onion and celery in 1/2 stick butter till tender, then pour about 1 1/2 cups of the stock into the same pan with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer, remove the stock mixture from the heat and allow it to cool to just warm. When it has cooled, beat the eggs, sage, a little salt, and a little pepper into the cooled stock and add to the bread crumb mixture. Add enough remaining stock as needed to make good and moist but NOT real soupy - it may take all of it, or it may not, depending on how dry your breads are. Mix VERY GENTLY and pour into greased baking dish. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.


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Cornbread Sausage and Apple Dressing, using bagged cornbread crumbs

2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons butter divided
2 cups strong chicken or turkey stock, or drippings from turkey
2 teaspoons dry sage, or more to taste
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 large egg
2 large bags of your favorite brand cornbread stuffing crumbs
1 pound pork sausage, crumbled, cooked, and drained
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 medium apples, cored, peeled, and diced
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

In a large pot combine about 1 1/2 cups of the stock and the 2 sticks butter with sage and poultry seasoning. Heat till butter is melted, add dry cornbread crumbs and the cooked-and-drained sausage, and stir gently to moisten the crumbs. Set aside. In a large saute pan over medium high heat melt the remaining 3 Tbs butter, and saute onions and celery until onions are translucent and celery is crisp-tender. I like to cook the onions till carmelized, myself. You CAN add a crushed clove or two of garlic if you wish, but I don't. Add walnuts and saute for 1 minute. Add diced apples and saute for one minute more. Remove from heat. Combine cornbread stuffing GENTLY with sauteed ingredients, adding reserved stock as needed. Place in a lightly greased 9 by 13 by 2 inch pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, covering with foil for the first 1/2 hour so the apples don't dry out.

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I've also used Paula Deen's recipe a few times, and it is very tasty also. Here it is.

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Southern Cornbread Stuffing Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
See this recipe on air Wednesday Nov. 24 at 11:30 AM ET/PT.


Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
User Rating: 5 stars

Cornbread, recipe follows
7 slices oven-dried white bread
1 sleeve saltine crackers
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
8 tablespoons butter
7 cups chicken stock (start with 4)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage (optional)
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional)
5 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines, and mix together and set aside.

In a large skillet, saute the chopped celery and onion in butter until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour Sauteed mixture over cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, taste, and add salt, pepper to taste, sage, and poultry seasoning, and mix well. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of this mixture for the giblet gravy. Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake until dressing is done, about 45 minutes. Serve with turkey as a side dish.

Cornbread:
1 cup self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. To serve, cut into desired squares and serve with butter. Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Episode#: PA1A01
Copyright © 2003 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

This recipe on the Food Network Site
 
Wow Keri, You ever wonder how many Thanksgiving dinners you have influenced across the country! My wife thanks you because it looks like I will be doing all the cooking! Thanks for your help.
 
Keri, If I am going to follow the recipe for "Basic Cornbread Dressing As I Learned It". Is that something I can make the day before and reheat? I am deep frying turkeys all day long for people on Thanksgiving and am trying to do as much in advance as I can. Also, when cooking your smoked turkey, with the two chimneys, did you fire up two at once and dump them both in at the same time? It will just give me an excuse to get an extra chimney I guess…I want to do this the right way.
 
Todd, as far as the dressing, go ahead and cook up the vegetables and mix everything together ahead of time EXCEPT the moistening liquids. My grandmother and I have gone round and round about this, and she still wins. Since it needs to bake about 45 minutes, it doesn't really take that much longer to bake than it does to reheat. Mix everything except the stock and the eggs together, put into a big ziplock or other container and stash it in the refrigerator as much as a couple of days ahead of time. When you're ready to cook it, THEN mix the eggs and stock, and into the oven it goes. Maybe put it in as you complete one turkey, and take it out when you finish said turkey? Ought to be about the right timing. Just so it's feeling nice and crusty on top.

I've tried for some years to get Grandma Dear to tell me that I can mix it up the day before and just pull it out and cook it on the big day, but she refuses to give permission. She says it'll screw up the texture, and that the dressing should always be fresh out of the oven like the bread. To the day, I always wait till the last minute to put the rolls / biscuits in the oven. Can't abide these folks that cook their hot rolls at 7:00 am for a 2:00 pm meal.
icon_rolleyes.gif


I didn't fire up both chimneys at once as I only had one chimney at the time. I fired one full blast, dumped it in the ring, partially fired another, dumped it in the ring, and let it all catch before I put the bird on.

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
Keri, your Turkey and Stuffing were HUGE hits in my home! Thanks so much for all your help. I ended up doing the basic corn bread, and out of respect for your grandmother, my wife made it up fresh and cooked it right before dinner. We doubled the recipe and not a bite was left...even my sister who is not a stuffing person had two helpings! Thanks again.
 
Hey, Todd, glad I could help. I'll let my grandmother know that her legacy lives on in the great North West! She'll be pleased...

Keri C
 
Keri, your grandmother's recipe is stuffing as I know it. The ingredient that is new to me are saltines. What do they add?
 
This is my family's Oyster and Chestnut Stuffing. This has been in the family for well over 100 years. A turkey is not complete without this.
Take a loaf of bread-Pepperidge Farm is best cube it and let sit for a day or so.
Melt a stick of butter-NOT margarine
sautee a finely chopped sweet onion and about 3/4-1 cup of celery until barely translucent.
In another pan pour the oysters and their liquor and poach for
a few minutes until firm. Cut oysters in half and reserve.
Take chesnut and cut into 1/2 or 1/4.
Back to the veggies-add salt and pepper to taste, sage and 1 tsp Poultry. Now add oysters and chestnuts to pan and mix. Then add bread and mix with 1/2-1 cup of stock. At this point you can stuff the bird or save for a buttered dish and bake for about 30-45 min at 350.
 
Spicy Cornbread Dressing

1/4 lb Butter
3 c Onions, chopped
1 T Garlic minced
4 ea Chicken thighs, cooked, chopped
1 lb Hot and spicy bulk sausage
1-2/3 c Milk
4 T Margarine
3/4 c Bell pepper chopped
2 ea Bay leaves
1 cn Chicken broth
5 c Cornbread, finely crumbled
3 ea Eggs
2 T Creole Seasoning
1 t Oregano leaves
1/2 t Thyme leaves
1/2 t Onion powder
1 ea Cayenne to taste

In a large skillet fry the bulk sausage until brown and crumbled; drain grease. Put sausage back in the skillet, add the butter and margarine with the onions, bell peppers, (you can use chopped green chiles instead of bell pepper if you like) garlic and bay leaves. Saute until onions are clear, stirring ocasionally. Add the seasoning mix and continue cooking. Stir in the chopped chicken and chicken broth; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off heat. Add the cornbread, milk and eggs, stirring well. Adjust seasoning to taste at this point. If using cayenne pepper, use it sparingly until seasoning is adjusted to taste. Spoon dressing into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees until browned on top, about 35 to 40 minutes.
If using pressure cooker, cook chicken 30 minutes. I use a small food processor to finely crumble the cornbread.

Note: Omit the chicken and add a quart of oysters that have sauted in butter, then chopped.
 

 

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