Aunt Blanches Turkey Stuffing Recipes

STELLA'S TRADITIONAL TURKEY STUFFING

Steps:

• Combine turkey innards, diced celery, diced carrot, and bay leaf in a pot. Season with salt and pepper and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 hour, removing liver after 30 minutes. Remove and discard neck, tail, and bay leaf. Remove remaining innards and put with the liver to cool. Keep broth in the pot.
• Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard grease.
• Combine bread cubes, beef, chopped celery, apple, walnuts, poultry seasoning, oregano, sage, thyme, and rosemary in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
• Chop cooled innards into small pieces. Add to the bread mixture and mix until everything is evenly distributed, adding in broth mixture (including cooked celery and carrots) and oil to moisten the dressing to desired texture. Stuffing is ready to bake in the oven or stuff in the bird.

TURKEY WITH STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the turkey into a deep, high-sided bowl on its end with the stuffing end up. Set aside.
• Heat the chicken broth in the microwave in a large microwave-proof container. Place mushrooms in a glass bowl and pour heated broth over them. Cover and allow to sit for 35 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl toss the onion, celery, and green pepper with the oil and salt. Place the vegetables on a sheet pan and roast for 35 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, spread the cubed bread over the vegetables, return to the oven, and continue cooking.
• Drain mushrooms, reserving 1 cup of liquid. Chop the mushrooms and place in a large
• microwave-proof bowl with the vegetables and bread, reserved chicken stock, cherries, pecans, eggs, sage, parsley and black pepper. Stir well in order to break up pieces of bread. Use your hands to combine, if necessary. Heat the stuffing in a microwave on high power for 6 minutes.
• While the stuffing is heating, rub the bird with oil. Working quickly, place the stuffing into the cavity of the turkey to avoid losing heat. Place the turkey into a roasting pan, on a rack, and season with salt and pepper. Place the roasting pan on the middle rack of the oven. Roast for 45 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and cook for another 60 to 75 minutes or until the bird reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. Serve immediately.

TURKEY AND STUFFING

Steps:

• For the turkey: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Transfer the turkey to a roasting pan, fitted with a roasting rack if desired, and soak the cheesecloth in the butter. Season the bird with salt and pepper. Brush any remaining butter on top of the bird and cover the breasts with the cheesecloth to prevent the top skin from burning before it is cooked. Place the celery, onions, garlic, sage, bay, and rosemary in and around the turkey in the roasting pan - these will be used to make the stuffing when everything is roasted.
• Place the roasting pan in the center of the oven. Cook for about 12 minutes per pound. After about 2 hours of cooking, remove the cheesecloth from the top of the breasts and return the turkey to the oven to cook for 1 more hour. If the tips of the wings start to get too dark, cover with foil to prevent them from burning.
• For the gravy: Place the neck and the chicken stock in a pot and simmer gently on top of the stove as the turkey finishes cooking. The stock should reduce by about half. Season with salt and pepper.
• How do you know when the turkey is done? The temperature of the thigh meat (where the meat is thickest and takes the longest time to cook) should register 165 degrees F when tested with a thermometer. When done, remove the bird from the oven, transfer it to a flat surface (or serving platter), and allow it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before removing the vegetables for stuffing and carving the meat.
• For the stuffing: Heat a large skillet and add half a stick of butter. Add the sausage and cook until brown and crispy. Reserve any grease and set the sausage in a large bowl with the roasted vegetables from the turkey tray. Add the remaining butter to the pan. Add the cubed sourdough bread and cook, stirring, until they toast golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Toss and season with salt and pepper before adding to the bowl with the vegetables. Stir everything together and taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary.
• For the gravy: Unless the bottom of the roasting pan is burned, you can make delicious gravy. Place the roasting pan over the burners of the stove, add the mustard and marsala to the pan, and warm it over low heat. Scrape the bottom to get the drippings and tasty bits off of the pan as the marsala reduces. Strain the neck out from the stock and pour about 1/2 cup into a small bowl. Whisk the flour into the bowl, taking care there are no lumps. Reduce the marsala until there is almost no liquid. Add the remaining chicken stock and the flour mixture to the roasting pan. Whisk to blend. Taste for seasoning. Reduce until the mixture thickens. Transfer to a gravy boat.
• Allow the turkey to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Serve sliced turkey with stuffing (dressing) on the side.

MY FAMILY'S MEAT STUFFING FOR A TURKEY

Steps:

• First, have a very large bowl or pot close to stove top so you can put ingredients in as they are cooked.
• Second, you need a good sized fry pan, preferabley with deep, straight sides.
• Third, a good pair of tongs and spoonula.
• Fourth, are the ingredients. These are estimations, I don't really measure.
• Fifth, you might want to do the prep ahead so as to be able to cook and stuff all at once. Or not!
• *you could use just ground pork but the sausage gives a better taste.
• Heat fry pan and oil lightly with a pat of butter.
• Fry 1/2 the beef and 1/2 the sausage together. Make sure to break it all up and mix it well until all is cooked. Dump it all into the pot/bowl you have waiting. Juices and all.
• Do the same to the rest of the beef and sausage. Mix thoroughly.
• Melt 1/4 cup (4 Tbs) butter in fry pan and saute the celery until almost cooked. Dump it all into the pot/bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Melt 1/4 cup (4 Tbs) butter in fry pan and saute the onion until wilted, but not brown. Dump all into the pot/bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Add seasonings at this point. Use the amount that is to your liking. Mix very well.
• If it seems too dry at this point, melt more butter in the fry pan and add to the mix.
• Finally, add the 1 box of croutons and mix several times over the next 15-20 minutes.
• There should be little or no liquid in the bottom of the pot/bowl after this time. The croutons should have absorbed it. If not, add more croutons and repeat.
• Now you can either put the stuffing in a casserole dish, roaster or other baking pan , and cook separately from the turkey.
• I stuff my turkey, both neck and cavity immediately, while the stuffing is hot, and put it into the oven to roast. The extra stuffing goes in a separate pan to cook along side the turkey.
• If you use a spearate casserole to do cook the stuffing, you may want to use some pan drippings to mix into the casserole and give it more flavor.
• With this we serve mashed potatoes, peas, my special turnip/carrot mash, cranberry sauce, and Polish rye or sisal bread. Of course, the gravy, too!

TURKEY SAUSAGE AND CHESTNUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Core the apples and dice them into 1-inch cubes. Dice the onion into 1/2-inch cubes.
• Over medium low heat, sauté the apples and onion in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil melted together with the unsalted butter. Cook for 10 minutes, until softened. Add the wine, cranberries, salt, and pepper, and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool; set aside.
• Over medium high heat in a large pan, heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil and add the turkey sausage removed from the casings. Cook until browned well, breaking the pieces up with a wooden spatula or spoon, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl combine the sautéed fruit/onion mixture, cooked sausage, chestnuts (whole or chopped), cornbread, and red pepper flakes (if using). Toss gently but well. Add the chicken broth and 3/4 cup of the Parmesan and toss again (may add another 1/2 cup broth if you feel the stuffing is too dry).
• Oil a large casserole dish (8.5 x 8.5 inch) with olive oil or pan spray, then pour stuffing into dish. Be gentle when spreading it in the pan, you don't want to smash the bread cubes.
• Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan, and dot with the butter pieces.
• Bake in 400 degree F oven on middle rack for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is golden brown.

AUNTIE'S STUFFING

Steps:

• Saute rice, celery and onions in margarine over medium heat until lightly browned.
• Gradually add water and seasonings and bring mixture to a boil.
• Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 4 minutes.
• Stir in cereal and mix well, being careful not to make mushy.

AUNT BLANCHE'S TURKEY STUFFING

Steps:

• Spread bread on a cookie sheet - single layer. Toast very lightly in a 275 degree oven. Let dry overnight. Chop onion and celery into 1/4 inch chop. Saute in a little butter until crisp tender. Add bullion to chicken broth. Beat eggs slightly. When prepped, add to Bread. Add seasonings, stuff turkey cavity... bake left over stuffing in oiled casserole dish. Dressing should reach internal temp of 165 degrees and top should be slightly toasted.