Christmas Or Thanksgiving Dressing Recipes

THE BEST TURKEY DRESSING (STUFFING)

Steps:

• Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan. Add onions. Cook over medium heat until onions are quite soft and tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer onions and butter to a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Melt another 6 tablespoons butter in the same frying pan. Add apple. Cook over medium heat, until lightly colored but not mushy. Transfer apples and butter to mixing bowl with onions.
• Crumble sausage into frying pan. Cook over medium heat, until lightly browned. With a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to mixing bowl. Reserve fat. Add remaining ingredients, except eggs and stock, to mixing bowl. Mix well. Add eggs. Mix. Add enough stock to bowl to make a moist, but not runny, mixture. Add fat to stuffing if desired. Stuff a 20-lb. turkey. If cooking dressing separately from turkey, pour fat over dressing in casserole. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked through.

STUFFING FOR CHRISTMAS OR THANKSGIVING

Steps:

• If you're using bread, toast bread in a large shallow baking pan in middle of oven until just dry, 25 to 30 minutes.
• If you're using stuffing mix, you can skip this step.
• Cook onions, celery, and herbs in butter in a large heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until celery is softened, about 10 minutes.
• Stir together bread or stuffing mix, vegetables, broth, and salt and pepper to taste, then cool completely, uncovered.
• Freezes extremely well.
• Stuff in the turkey or bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

NANA'S THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS PAN DRESSING

Steps:

• First, prepare your cornbread which is the base of this dish:.
• Heat oven to 450°F; grease 9-inch cast iron skillet or 9-inch square pan.
• Put it in the oven to heat. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into greased pan, scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
• Set prepared cornbread aside to cool. When cool, remove from pan and in a large 4 quart mixing bowl, cube into 1 inch cubes or you can just crumble it with your hand (which is what Nana would do).
• Carefully de-bone the chicken and shred/chunk. You want to end up with at least 3 cups of chicken. More is fine too.
• Finely chop celery and small chunk the onion. In a heavy bottom skillet, combine drippings or cooking fat and 4 TB of stock . Add onions and saute on medium heat, stirring and scraping bottom of pan often until onions are beginning to become clear but not yet limp (about 3-4 minutes). Add more broth at any time you feel you need it- to prevent burning. Add celery and cook about 3 minutes longer until celery is crisp tender and onion is clear and limp and perhaps beginning to caramelize. Remove from heat, stir in all seasonings and set mixture aside for now.
• Grease (or spray with nonstick) your disposable pans. You can use glass and line with foil too. Set aside.
• Combine the cubed or crumbled cornbread and cut/shredded chicken in the same big 4 qt or larger bowl. Add reserved celery and onion mixture.
• In a small bowl, beat the 6 eggs until frothy. Then, add to cornbread, shredded chicken,and cooked celery mixture. Stir minimally. Add 6-8 cups of chicken stock 1 cup at a time until the texture is still bready yet pourable. Take your time because the cornbread will absorb liquid over the course of a few minutes. If you overdo the liquid, add some of your torn whole wheat bread. Nana says: "You want it more moist than dry, ok?" Don't mix until you've let it sit for a few minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• After allowing the cornbread to set for 2 minutes, mix to combine, but don't over-handle.
• Pour (if you can't pour you need more liquid)into your greased and disposable or foil lined glass dishes and bake for 45 minutes or until set and browned on top. If edges are done to a couple of inches in, then the center is probably done enough too.