Peppercorn Press

Stuffing is one of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.  In my mothers family, they don’t actually make stuffing but instead create what they call cornbread dressing, but what it really is, is a pasty brick of grit that is so over seasoned that it isn’t edible.

In my wife’s family, they make stuffing that is delicious — if you want to risk eating it.  The flavor is always wonderful, but it usually comes out of a bird that has been undercooked, conjuring up images of holiday trips to the emergency room for me.

Now I have no doubt that I will receive an abundance of e-mails for saying this, but I just can’t stomach the idea of eating stuffing that has been cooked in a birds chest cavity.

When I go about cooking a turkey, goose or chicken.  I love to prepare stuffing in a baking dish, and to tell you the pure truth; no one has ever noticed a difference.  Since it isn’t actually stuffed into a bird, it is probably dressing, but either way it is delicious.

Here is one of my favorite recipes.

Ingredients

A one pound day-old loaf of French baguette cut or torn into ¾” pieces and dried over night

1 stick of real butter, not margarine

2 cups yellow onion, diced

4 celery stalks, diced

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup apple cider

½ cup chopped pecans, toasted

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thymes leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sages leaves

2 ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups turkey or chicken stock (if you don’t make your own, I recommend Kitchen Basics)

1 cup dried cranberries, optional

Preparation

Place bread into a large mixing bowl.

In a large saucepan, melt ½ of the butter.  Sauté onions and celery stirring constantly until tender.  Pour over the bread.

In the same pan, melt the remaining butter and add the apples and sugar.  Sauté the apples until tender.  Pour the apples over the bread too.

Return the pan to the heat and add the apple cider to deglaze the pan.  Simmer the cider until it is reduced by about half.  Add the remaining ingredients tot eh pan and simmer for about 2 minutes.  Pour the mixture over the bread mixture.  Mix gently.  Set aside for about 5 minute to allow the bread to absorb the liquid.

Add more salt and pepper to taste, and if stuffing is too dry, add more stock so that it is fairly moist.  Remember the stuffing will dry as it bakes.  Place the stuffing into a large buttered baking dish and bake uncovered at 375 degree for 50-55 minutes.