Written By Michael Vyskocil
Next to the turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be complete without the stuffing. What makes stuffing an essential component of the Thanksgiving feast? When you consider its table companions: various cooked or baked vegetables, gravy, and biscuits, stuffing might appear to offer nothing more to the menu than another side dish.
But unlike other side dishes, stuffing is a culinary grab-bag; each bite you take offers a slightly different combination of ingredients. Also, stuffing brings together the best of the tastes and aromas of the holiday feast: onions, herbs, nuts, fruit and juices from roasted turkey.
Although most of the Thanksgiving dinner menu remains fairly similar from one area to another in the United States, stuffing is much like language or accents; the ingredients vary from family to family and town to town. Some cooks prefer a sage and sausage variety, while others prefer corn bread and vegetables. And there are those who insist on adding oysters to their stuffing.
If your family likes variety from year to year, try a new stuffing recipe this holiday season.
Here are a few points you should know about stuffing: Although you can use ingredients such as rice or mashed potatoes to make stuffing, bread is perhaps the most commonly used base. If you plan to cook your stuffing inside the turkey, avoid using fresh bread. The soft texture will quickly turn to mush from the turkey juices. Toasting it for a few minutes in the oven will help to harden the texture, giving you a heartier stuffing. However, if you enjoy a soft, extremely moist stuffing, use a fresh, sturdy loaf of bread. Corn bread makes a great choice for stuffing; even when used fresh, it will not lose its chewy texture.
To add flavor to stuffing, seek out fresh vegetables. Celery and onions are natural choices, but you can also add roasted garlic, carrots, bell peppers or other seasonal ingredients. Sauting the vegetables before combining them with the other ingredients will give you a softer-textured stuffing. If you’re cooking the stuffing inside the turkey, add the chopped, raw vegetables to the rest of your ingredients and let them cook slowly inside the bird.
Many 19th century stuffing recipes include oysters in the medley of ingredients. During that time oysters were plentiful, inexpensive and regularly enjoyed by people who treated them more like snack foods. Today, oysters are still treasured by some who pick up a dozen or two each Thanksgiving for their stuffing, simply because Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the oyster stuffing.
We have put together four different stuffing recipes designed to satisfy a range of tastes. A traditional bread-and-vegetable stuffing benefits from a sweet addition of dried cranberries. For those southerners at heart, two stuffing recipes feature cornbread: One melds the flavors of pear and vegetables, while the other combines sausage, vegetables and rice for a tasty treat. Finally, an oyster-and-oatmeal bread stuffing is sure to become a favorite recipe in your family.
Whichever stuffing you choose, be sure to make plenty, allowing at least one and a half cups of stuffing per person.
Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries
Makes 10 cups
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 large onions, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
14 celery stalks, diced into 1/4-inch sections
4 large fresh sage leaves, chopped
5 cups homemade or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 loaves stale white bread, crust on, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley (about 1 1/2 bunches)
1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery, and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the sage leaves, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add about 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the skillet and stir well. Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by half.
Add the onion mixture from the skillet to a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining chicken broth, bread cubes, salt, pepper, parsley, walnuts and dried cranberries. Stir well to combine.
Note: If baking outside the turkey, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread in a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake until crusty and slightly browned, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Spicy Pear Stuffing
Makes about 10 cups
3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1 eight-inch square Sweet and Spicy Cornbread
(recipe follows on page 77)
1 cup uncooked regular white rice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 medium pears, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup homemade or canned low-sodium chicken broth (see “Note”)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, washed well, dried and roughly chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Cut the cornbread into 3/4-inch cubes and spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake, stirring bread occasionally, about 15 minutes, or until slightly brown on the edges. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Place the rice in a medium saucepan and add water to cover. Cook over medium heat until the rice is tender, about 30 to 35 minutes. Drain the rice and transfer to a small bowl; set aside.
Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pears; cook until slightly soft, about 8 minutes. Add the scallions and raisins; cook until the scallions are soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the reserved hazelnuts and rice; cook for 2 to 4 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth and cook until the broth is absorbed, about 4 to 6 minutes.
Pour the pear mixture over the cornbread in the mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Add the oil and chopped parsley; mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let the stuffing cool completely before stuffing turkey.
Note: If baking outside the turkey, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Add the remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth, and bake in a buttered 9 by 13-inch baking dish until crusty and golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Oyster Stuffing
Makes 6 cups
12 slices oatmeal or sourdough bread, sliced 3/4 inch thick
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 1/2 dozen shucked oysters, 1/2 cup oyster liquor reserved
1/2 cup milk
1 cup finely chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the oatmeal bread into 1-inch cubes. Spread on a large baking sheet; bake until dry and slightly golden, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the nutmeg and oyster liquor; cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the oysters and milk; cook about 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove the skillet from the heat.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the toasted bread, oyster mixture and parsley. Let the mixture cool completely before stuffing the turkey.
Note: If baking outside the turkey, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake in a buttered 9 by 13-inch baking dish until crusty and golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes.
Southern Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
Serves 10
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for baking pan
5 cups Sweet-and-Spicy Cornbread (recipe right), crumbled
3 cups cooked long-grain white rice, chilled
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 stalks celery, strings removed, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 pound sweet sausage, casing removed
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
3 to 3 1/2 cups homemade or canned low-sodium chicken broth
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornbread and rice; set aside. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter. Add the carrots and saut until they begin to soften, about 4 to 8 minutes. Add the onion and celery and saut until the onion is translucent, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add the green bell pepper and saut for 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the cornbread mixture and stir well to combine.
In the same skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat, until browned and cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the skillet with a slotted spoon; add to cornbread mixture, along with sage, salt and pepper. Discard fat from the skillet. Add the broth, 1 cup at a time; mix well. (You may not need to add all of the broth.) The stuffing should be moist, but not thoroughly soaked.
Transfer stuffing mixture to prepared baking dish. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter and drizzle over the top of the stuffing. Bake until the top is golden and the stuffing is heated through, about 50 to 55 minutes.
Sweet-and-Spicy Cornbread
Makes 1 eight-inch square. This cornbread, if used for stuffing, should be made one day ahead.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup milk
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet green bell pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Set aside.
Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix together milk, bell peppers, cayenne pepper, eggs, sugar and 8 tablespoons melted butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cornbread from the pan; let cool completely on a wire rack.
