Here's a very traditional stuffing recipe adapted from a recipe by my student and teacher, David Rosengarten. He was a student in my wine classes at Cornell, and I call him my teacher becuase he since became a famous chef, one of the first hosts of FoodTV, author of several cookbooks, and I have learned immensely by listening to him and reading his work. He travels the world, reports on his culinary adventures, and creates amazing, complex recipes for his Rosengarten Report. I was shocked when I saw him publish this recipe because it is so simple and easy. But great chefs like Rosengarten don't mess with a classic.
He says "I like to cook this stuffing outside of the bird in a separate pan; the chunks of bread achieve a terrific crunchy, chewy texture. This is almost like a delicious bread pudding!"
Makes. 12 servings
Preparation time. Let the bread dry overnight, assembly takes 20 minutes, baking takes 1 hour.
Ingredients
2 pound loaf white bread, sliced
1/2 pound loaf whole wheat bread, sliced
1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup peeled and chopped apple
3 cups chicken stock, turkey stock, or water
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tablespoons of dried thyme)
30 sage leaves, stems removed and the leaves cut into thin strips (or 2 tablespoons dried crushed sage, or 1 tablespoon sage powder)
1 cup dark raisins
2 tablespoons salt
Several generous grinds of fresh pepper
Do this
1) The night before cooking, spread all the bread out in a single layer on sheet pans or towels and allow to dry out overnight.
2) The next morning, break the bread into coarse 1 1/2 inch pieces in a large bowl. Precision not required!
3) Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the celery, onions, and apple, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the stock or water. Increase the heat to moderate and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 3 minutes.
4) Pour the mixture over the bread. Add the thyme and sage to the bread mixture. Add the raisins, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
5) Put the mixture in a large roasting pan and cover with foil. If baking separately, bake the stuffing in a 375F oven, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake for another 30 minutes, and serve alongside roast turkey.
Optional. Instead of putting the stuffing in a roasting pan, put it in buttered muffin pans so everyone has their own muffin-size serving with even more crunchy stuff.
This page revised 10/29/08
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