Thyme Stuffing Recipes

BASIC STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Melt 1 stick butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cups each diced onions and celery, 2 chopped apples and 1 tablespoon each minced sage and thyme; season with salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add 3 cups chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Whisk 2 eggs with 1/4 cup chopped parsley in a large bowl; add 16 cups cubed stale country white bread, then pour in the vegetable-broth mixture and toss. Transfer to a buttered 3-quart baking dish and dot with more butter. Cover and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden, 20 more minutes.

THE BEST STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon and breaking up any clumps, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer the sausage with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
• Add the wine to the skillet and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the skillet, and then add the mushrooms. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms brown and have cooked down to about half their original volume, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the sausage.
• Melt the remaining 7 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Then add the celery, onions, sage and thyme and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer.
• Beat the eggs and parsley in another large bowl. Add the bread cubes and toss. Add the reserved sausage and mushrooms and toss together. Pour in the vegetables and broth and toss again until evenly coated. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and continue to bake until golden, about 30 minutes more. Garnish with celery leaves if using.

SHALLOT-THYME-BLACK OLIVE STUFFING

Steps:

• Combine bacon and shallots in a large nonstick skillet. Turn heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until the bacon is crisp and the shallots are wilted and lightly browned in the bacon fat. Using a slotted spoon, lift out the bacon and shallots and set aside in a medium bowl.
• In the same pan, sear the livers for a minute or two on each side over high heat, just until crusty on the outside but pink in the middle. Remove to a cutting board.
• When the liver is cool enough to handle, chop it finely and add to the bacon mixture. Add the thyme and olives and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

CLASSIC THANKSGIVING DRESSING WITH PARSLEY, SAGE AND THYME

Steps:

• Spread bread cubes in a single layer on two large sheet pans and let dry for a few hours or overnight. Adjust oven racks to lower- and upper-middle positions. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake bread until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.
• Meanwhile, heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery; saute until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix bread, vegetables and remaining ingredients. Turn into a greased 3-quart baking dish. Cover with foil and bake until steamy, 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake until crusty, 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

CLASSIC HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, poultry seasoning, seasoned salt and pepper.
• Place bread cubes in large bowl. Add celery mixture and broth; toss gently until well mixed. Spoon into lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish.
• Bake 35 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned.

THYME STUFFING

Steps:

• Cube bread a few days ahead and allow it to go stale.
• Combine all ingredients except bread cubes in frying pan.
• Saute slowly until vegetables are slightly transparent.
• Stir in bread cubes until all cubes are coated with butter and ingredients are evely mixed.
• Stuff into bird at both ends and skewer openings closed.

LEMON & HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then soften the onions for 10 mins with the pan covered. Put the bread and herbs into a food processor and pulse until you have herby breadcrumbs. Stir into the onion pan along with the lemon zest and juice and plenty of seasoning. Set aside 250g to stuff the turkey, then press the remainder into a well buttered baking tin or dish, about 20 x 30cm, or use 2 smaller tins if that's all that you have.
• Wrap half a bacon rasher around each sausage. Score the stuffing into 8 rectangles, then sit a sausage on top of each. Cover with foil and cook for 20 mins. Uncover, then roast for 20 mins more or until the sausages and bacon are golden and the stuffing golden and sizzling.

FARMHOUSE HERBED STUFFING

Steps:

• In 12-inch, heavy skillet over moderate heat, heat butter until hot but not smoking. Stir in onion and celery, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 15 to 20 minutes. (Vegetables can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before continuing: In 12-inch, heavy skillet over moderately high heat, sauté, stirring often, until heated through, about 5 minutes.)
• Transfer to large bowl and add stuffing cubes, parsley, celery salt, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir in 1¼ cups hot stock.
• If using to stuff turkey:
• Use immediately to fill cavities and spread remainder in baking dish as directed in Classic Roast Turkey recipe .
• If baking in a casserole pan:
• Preheat oven to 350°F and butter 3-quart casserole or 9-by 13-inch baking dish. Transfer stuffing to dish and drizzle with ½ cup hot stock (stuffing baked outside of the turkey won't be soaked in the turkey's juices, so extra stock is drizzled on top to keep it moist). Cover with aluminum foil and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.
• Variations:
• Sausage and Sage Stuffing: In large, heavy skillet over moderate heat, sauté 1 pound bulk pork sausage, breaking up pieces with spoon, until meat shows no sign of pink, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl. Proceed with recipe, adding ingredients to bowl with sausage and substituting 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage for dried rosemary and sage.
• Dried Apricot and Pecan Stuffing: Dried fruit are better than fresh in stuffing because the latter get soggy with long baking. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread 1½ cups (6 ounces) pecans on rimmed baking sheet and toast, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Cool and coarsely chop. In medium bowl, combine 1½ cups diced dried apricots and hot water to cover. Soak until apricots plump, about 30 minutes, then drain well. Proceed with recipe, tossing apricots and pecans with other ingredients in large bowl.
• Test-Kitchen Tips: Warm, moist stuffing is an optimal environment for bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli to multiply, so it's important to follow safe procedures. Be sure to make the stuffing at the last minute so it can go into the bird warm. This helps it move above the "danger zone" (the optimal temperature range for bacteria growth) more quickly during roasting. Stuffing baked outside of the turkey can be spread in the baking dish and refrigerated for a few hours while the turkey roasts, but it should be prepared on the same day as baking.

CLASSIC BREAD STUFFING WITH SAGE AND THYME (AMERICA'S TEST KITCH

Steps:

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 400.
• Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the celery and onions and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Transfer to a very large bowl. Add the dried, cooled bread, broth, eggs, salt, and pepper to the vegetables and toss to combine.
• Turn the mixture into a buttered 10 x 15-inch baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until golden, about 30 minutes longer. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.