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Honored Contributor
Posts: 22,079
Registered: ‎10-03-2011

Re: What makes your stuffing special...


@gulf coast girl wrote:

Can somebody please tell me why the bread cubes or corn bread or whatever you use needs to be dried out or stale, what difference does it make? 


@gulf coast girl - it has to do with the texture of the end result.  Dry bread will absorb the liquid without turning to mush.  Soft bread will yield a soggy or loose stuffing.  If the cook forgets to get his/her bread ahead of time or forgets to let it dry out overnight, it can always be dried out in the oven before making the stuffing.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,254
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: What makes your stuffing special...

To Aldi's (stove top) Turkey Stuffing I add: sauted onions, celery, cooked pork breakfast sausage (hot & regular) I use turkey broth instead of water.  No salt needed, just pepper.

 

I have to bring extra for people to take home.  I bring it ready for them to take home.

 

Valued Contributor
Posts: 614
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: What makes your stuffing special...

Thanks JeanLouise, I'll make sure my bread is good and stale. 

Valued Contributor
Posts: 579
Registered: ‎12-14-2015

Re: What makes your stuffing special...

Jeanlouise beat me to it . . you want to control the moisture kind of like steaming it instead of wetting it!you guys are great!  Maryanne

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,598
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: What makes your stuffing special...

Both sides of my family made their dressing the exact same way, with a combination of cornbread, bread heels, leftover biscuits and buns.   Add a lot of onions and celery sautéed in butter and bacon drippings, chopped meat from the neck and additional wings, salt, pepper, sage, and stirred together with hot chicken broth.   The dressing is made 2-3 days in advance, then made into patties and baked.   This is the only dressing my husband and daughters will eat.   

 

My MIL cooked her stuffing inside the turkey, and always wondered why we never ate it.   My girls told their grandmother her stuffing was a mouthful of nasty wet mush.   

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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: What makes your stuffing special...


@Pook wrote:

I'm not a stuffing fan but make and like this recipe  I had stuffing at a restuarant that was made like bread pudding no onions or celery pieces but had the bread pieces and browned sausage soaked in white gravy, then the milk/egg/butter mix mixed in, seasoned with sage and parsley  and baked.  Most like the other type of stuffing with all the stuff in it though.


@Pook I've had that type of dressing. Almost the consistency of bread pudding. Bland but very heavy & dense. All white bread with lots of eggs and milk.

 

My neighbor whose husband was Hungarian and my former MIL who was Czech made it this way.

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Registered: ‎11-03-2013

Re: What makes your stuffing special...


@Snowpuppy wrote:

@Pook wrote:

I'm not a stuffing fan but make and like this recipe  I had stuffing at a restuarant that was made like bread pudding no onions or celery pieces but had the bread pieces and browned sausage soaked in white gravy, then the milk/egg/butter mix mixed in, seasoned with sage and parsley  and baked.  Most like the other type of stuffing with all the stuff in it though.


@Pook I've had that type of dressing. Almost the consistency of bread pudding. Bland but very heavy & dense. All white bread with lots of eggs and milk.

 

My neighbor whose husband was Hungarian and my former MIL who was Czech made it this way.


@Snowpuppy both sides of my family are Czech and this is very similar to what my mom used to make except she used hand grated dried bread crumbs combined with eggs, softened butter, grated onion, fresh parsley and a few dried spices.  She would stuff the turkey cavity with it and it was delicious.  I used to giggle when new people would join us for dinner as it doesn't look like anything else they had ever seen and always took the smallest slice possible but once they tasted it, it was the first thing to go . . . Smiley Happy

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Posts: 43,467
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

Re: What makes your stuffing special...


@JeanLouiseFinch wrote:

My mom's stuffing was white bread, onion, celery, sage, S & P, maybe some other seasoning, real butter, chopped apple, and chopped prunes.  I think she got it from my grandma.  When DH had his first Thanksgiving with my family, it was a bit of a surprise to him because his mom would make something out of a bag.  He prefers something more basic so my stuffing is just that.  I start with a bag of Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Crumbs, add in sauteed onion and celery, use chicken stock instead of water, real butter, a few shakes of extra sage and poultry seasoning.  It's nothing fancy, but it works for us.


@JeanLouiseFinchWe make the same stuffing!  I love it, even cold!

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Posts: 22,079
Registered: ‎10-03-2011

Re: What makes your stuffing special...


@ECBG wrote:

@JeanLouiseFinch wrote:

My mom's stuffing was white bread, onion, celery, sage, S & P, maybe some other seasoning, real butter, chopped apple, and chopped prunes.  I think she got it from my grandma.  When DH had his first Thanksgiving with my family, it was a bit of a surprise to him because his mom would make something out of a bag.  He prefers something more basic so my stuffing is just that.  I start with a bag of Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Crumbs, add in sauteed onion and celery, use chicken stock instead of water, real butter, a few shakes of extra sage and poultry seasoning.  It's nothing fancy, but it works for us.


@JeanLouiseFinchWe make the same stuffing!  I love it, even cold!


@ECBG Oh yeah!  That "day after sandwich" - fresh bread, turkey, a smidge of gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce.

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Posts: 43,467
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

Re: What makes your stuffing special...

[ Edited ]

@JeanLouiseFinchI had to laugh!  I won't eat a sandwich the next day.  I warm it on a plate because I don't want the flavors to be lessened by the bread!!!