Do you have an awesome stuffing/dressing recipe?

[LB]

Would you like to share it with me, please? 

[Outdoor Girl]

Mine is extremely simple but my family all loves it.

14 cups bread crumbs - Mom used the stale heels of loaves or any sort of bread out of the freezer that had been in there too long and ground it all up in a hand crank grinder, and then the food processor when she got one.
2 to 3 onions, chopped finely
6 to 8 tablespoons summer savoury, homegrown and dried since Mom didn't like the commercial stuff
1 tbsp seasoned salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp sage
pinch of thyme

Make it up the night before so you can adjust the seasonings, if needed, before stuffing the turkey.  The mixture should loosely compact into balls when you squeeze a handful together.  If it doesn't, add a little water until it does.  We have one person pass over the dressing balls to the person stuffing the turkey, to keep the turkey hands out of the dressing.  That way, leftover dressing can be frozen for the next time.  Since we have turkey at Thanksgiving in October, at Christmas and sometimes, even at Easter, it isn't in the freezer too long.  We sometimes have a small turkey just for the heck of it and use the bones and leftover meat to make soup.

[sparksals]

What is summer savoury, OG?    My recipe is similar, but I add tonnes of Sage and Thyme.

[SleepyKitty]

Does anyone have a recipe that doesn't go into the turkey? I love, love, stuffing that isn't super moist, or even stuffing that gets baked a little after it's made in order to give it a kind of crunchy-ish texture. The only time I've ever had that is by tossing left-over Stovetop into the oven when I'm reheating leftovers, though.

[CakeBeret]

I made bacon stuffing last year and it was a huge hit. It can be baked in the bird or in the oven; I did it in the oven. It was so delicious and the bacon added some nice flavor.

http://www.food.com/recipe/bacon-stuffing-438596

[Harriet Jones]

What is summer savoury, OG?    My recipe is similar, but I add tonnes of Sage and Thyme.

Thyme can be used as a substitution for summer savory.

[Outdoor Girl]

What is summer savoury, OG?    My recipe is similar, but I add tonnes of Sage and Thyme.

Thyme can be used as a substitution for summer savory.

Not according to my mother!     She didn't even like the taste of commercial summer savoury so we always had to grow our own.  It looks a little like a cross between rosemary and tarragon when growing but it has a very distinctive aroma.  You should be able to buy it on the spice rack and I buy MacKenzie seeds for it every spring to grow my own.  The aroma is so distinctive that when one of my nephews was little and visiting my parents, my Mom got him to help her strip the savoury after it was dried.  She'd put it in a plastic bag then roll over it with a rolling pin to take the leaves off, then pick out the stems.  My nephew opened the bag, took a big whiff and said, 'Hmmmmm.  Smells like turkey!'

SleepyKitty, I've successfully cooked my dressing outside the bird once when my brother sprung a vegetarian guest on me last minute.  I just put it in a casserole dish and covered it with foil.  It did get a little crispy around the edges.  (He did ask - his neighbour would have been alone, otherwise, so I was happy to do it.  Made a veggie gravy, too, and the guest elected to ignore the lard in the pastry of the raspberry pie for dessert.  I did tell him so he'd know.)

[Missy2U]

Don't laugh at me - we made this one year - it was really good.

[magicdomino]

I haven't measured anything in years, so amounts are all approximate, and subject to changing due to whim or refrigerator contents.

Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

Half a pound of sausage, crumbled and browned.  Reserve sausage grease in the pan. (I prefer hot Jimmy Dean or Bob Evans, but the extra sage varieties work too.)

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced onion

2 to 4 cups of bread cubes, dried

Half a skillet of cornbread, crumbled and dried (I don't use sugar in cornbread.  If you do, or if you use a mix, try to use as little sugar as you can stand.  Sugar isn't usually a good thing in stuffing.)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon of salt, depending on how much salt is in the other ingredients.

1/2 teaspoon each of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons if fresh.  Actually, I think that last batch got a couple of tablespoons of fresh parsley.  Parsley is good for you.     ).  Add or subtract according to taste, but remember that the sausage has some herbs and spices in it, too.

3/4 cup chicken/turkey broth

1/4 cup of water that will be used to deglaze the sausage pan.

Butter either a 9 x 13 pan or a turkey, whichever you are using.

Saute onion and celery in sausage grease until slightly cooked, but the celery is still crisp and green.  Dump all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix.  Dump the onion and celery in the bowl and mix.  Add the water to the frying pan and swish around until the brown sausage bits come loose.  Yes, it's ugly but it tastes good.  Add sausage water and broth to bowl o' dry stuff and mix.  If it is too dry for your tastes, add a little more broth, especially if you are cooking in a pan.

If using a turkey, stuff it in.  Cook turkey according to the usual instructions.

If using a pan, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees (325 degrees in a convection oven) for 20 to 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes or so, until it is just a little crisp around the edges.


Bonus recipe:  Turkey Stuffing Casserole

Follow the above recipe, adding 2 to 3 cups of cooked, chopped turkey to the dry ingredients.  Bake.  After the foil has been removed, and the edges have begun to crisp, heat a jar of turkey gravy, and pour it over the top of the casserole, as evenly as you can get it. 

[jpcher]

No laughing from me . . . It really is good! 

It's become tradition at xmas in our house. I use it to stuff cornish hens.

[juanita]

Google crockpot cornbread dressing from food. Com. Made it this thanksgiving. It was fabulous !!! Lots of compliments : ) I used dried bread cubes instead of the day old bread. I added some chopped up chicken and extra poultry seasoning.  Loved being able to free up the oven space.

[Valentines Mommy]

Chorizo and cornbread stuffing

1 white onion, chopped
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1 lb pork or beef chorizo.
4 cups cornbread, crumbled
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
Salt and pepper to taste (if needed)
1/2 cup chicken stock (if needed)

Sauté the chorizo for 5 min. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery and cook until the vegetanles are soft and the onion is translucent (about 5-8 min.). Remove from heat and add cornbread. Stir to combine, adding the cilantro. If dry , add chicken stock. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 min or until browned on top and hot all the way through.