Crunchy Bread Dressing With Bacon Leeks Recipes

CRUNCHY BREAD DRESSING WITH BACON & LEEKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, fry the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy and golden, 4-6 minutes. Meanwhile, grease the baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter.
• While the bacon is frying, prepare the vegetables: Cut the carrots into ¼-inch dice. Cut away and discard the dark green tops of the leeks and slice each in half. Rinse to remove sand and grit, then slice crosswise into ¼-inch slices. Set aside the carrots and leeks.
• Remove thyme leaves from stem by pinching the sprig at its tip and sliding your fingers down to the other end. Set aside. Trim the end of the garlic clove, then smash with the flat of your knife to remove the peel. Mince the garlic and set aside.
• When the bacon is brown and completely crisp, use slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pan. Set the bacon aside. Over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons butter to the bacon fat. Add carrots and leeks; use a wooden spatula to scrape up the browned bits, or "fond," on the bottom of the pan as you stir the vegetables. Continue to sauté until leeks are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, and sauté 1 more minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper (but remember that the cooked bacon will add more salt to the final dish).
• In a large stock pot or bowl, add the toasted bread cubes, followed by the leek-carrot mixture and the cooked bacon. Gently mix to combine. Add half of the stock and all of the thyme, then use your hands to toss and combine. Add remaining stock and continue to toss. If the bread still seems dry, add more stock as needed: the cubes should be moist but not falling apart. Finish by adding the chopped green onions and giving a final toss. Transfer dressing to the prepared baking dish. Bake until crispy and golden, 45-60 minutes.

HERBED BREAD, CRACKER AND LEEK DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Spread bread on 2 large baking sheets. Bake until just dry but not brown, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Transfer to very large bowl.
• Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add leeks, onions and celery and sauté until tender but not brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to bowl with bread. Mix in cracker crumbs, herbs, salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Butter 2-quart baking dish. Mix milk into dressing. Reserve about 6 cups dressing for turkey. Mix 1/2 cup broth into remaining dressing and transfer to prepared baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake dressing in covered dish alongside turkey for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden brown on top, about 20 minutes longer.

CRUNCHY BREAD DRESSING WITH BACON AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Directions: Preheat an oven to 375ºF. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Spread the bread out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside. In a large fry pan over medium heat, fry the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy and golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside. In another large fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks, carrots and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine the bread, bacon, the leek mixture, the 1 cup stock, milk, thyme, green onions, salt and pepper and stir gently to mix. If the dressing seems dry, add more stock as needed. Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish and bake until crispy and golden, about 1 hour. Serves 10 to 12. Note: If desired, you can pack the dressing loosely in the body and neck cavities of the turkey. Secure the neck flap with kitchen string or pin it to the back with toothpicks or trussing pins. Tying the legs together will help hold the stuffing in the body cavity. For turkeys weighing 16 lb. or less, add 30 minutes to the total roasting time. For turkeys weighing more than 16 lb., add 1 hour to the total roasting time.

BUTTERED STUFFING WITH CELERY AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Using your hands, tear bread, crust and all, into 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces. (Alternatively, you can cut the bread with a knife, but I prefer the way the craggy bits toast and soak up the goods.) Place chunks on a rimmed baking sheet, and let sit uncovered at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. If you're short on time, you can toast the chunks in a 300-degree oven instead, tossing occasionally, until lightly crisped, but not browned, on the outside.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine olive oil and 4 tablespoons butter. Once butter has melted, add the garlic and leeks. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are bright green and totally softened, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add celery, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until bright green and tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Add white wine, and cook until reduced by about three-quarters, 3 to 4 minutes. Add red-pepper flakes, if using, and remove from heat.
• Whisk together broth and eggs in a medium bowl. Place bread in a large bowl (you want a lot of room for mixing, so go big), and add the leek and celery mixture, parsley, chives and marjoram. Stir to coat so that everything is evenly distributed, trying not to totally crush the bread. Pour the egg mixture over everything and toss a few times. Let sit a minute or two and give another toss. Repeat twice until all the liquid has absorbed and evenly distributed to each and every piece of bread.
• Transfer mixture to a 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish (a 9-by-13 pan also works), making sure not to pack it too tightly. (You want to keep the bread in the stuffing as light as possible.) Dot the top with the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, making sure to pay extra attention to the corners, where the stuffing will get the crispiest.
• Cover with foil and bake until the stuffing is sizzling at the edges and completely cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. If it's not yet time to serve, remove stuffing from oven and set aside. (If you are nearly ready to serve, proceed directly to the next step and continue without pausing.)
• When ready to serve, remove foil and increase temperature to 425 degrees. Bake stuffing until crispy, crunchy and impossibly golden brown on top, 20 to 25 minutes. Scatter with celery leaves, if using, and serve.

CORNBREAD, BACON, LEEK, AND PECAN STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven for 7 minutes. Let cool slightly; coarsely chop. Mix together pecans and cornbread in a large bowl.
• Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Cook bacon in a large high-sided skillet over medium-high heat until almost crisp, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; add celery and leeks. Cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in thyme and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt; season with pepper. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Return skillet to medium-high heat, and add stock; bring to a simmer, scraping up brown bits and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add to bowl with bacon-vegetable mixture. Stir in eggs. Gently mix in corn bread mixture. (Do not overmix.) Transfer to baking dish. Dot top with butter. Bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

LEEK, MUSHROOM AND BACON STUFFING WITH TARRAGON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread bread cubes on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake until bread is almost dry, about 15 minutes. Cool. Transfer to large bowl.
• Sauté bacon in large pot over medium-high heat until crisp, about 12 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Reserve 6 tablespoons drippings in pot; discard any remaining drippings.
• Add leeks and button mushrooms to same pot. Sauté over medium-high heat until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add shiitake mushrooms and saute 4 minutes. Add celery and sauté until leeks and mushrooms are tender but celery is still slightly crisp, about 6 minutes longer. (Bread, bacon and sautéed vegetables can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately. Store bread at room temperature; refrigerate bacon and vegetables.) Mix bacon, sautéed vegetables and tarragon into bread. Season generously with salt and pepper. Mix eggs into stuffing.
• To bake stuffing in turkey:
• Loosely fill main cavity with stuffing. Add enough broth to remaining stuffing to moisten lightly (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup, depending on amount of remaining stuffing). Generously butter glass baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 25 to 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• To bake all of stuffing in baking dish:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 15 x 10 x 2-inch . Add enough broth to stuffing to moisten (about 3/4 to 1 cup). Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with butter foil, buttered side down; bake until heated through, about 30 to 35 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes longer.

STUFFING WITH MUSHROOMS, LEEKS AND BACON

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Trim the crusts from the white bread and cut into 1-inch cubes; if using corn bread, coarsely crumble it. Spread the bread pieces out on one or two large baking sheets. Toast in the oven, tossing occasionally, until very dry, about 30 minutes for white bread, 1 hour for corn bread. Transfer to a large bowl to cool. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon strips until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the leeks to the bacon fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until mushrooms are tender and most of their juices have evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the sage and cook 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates, about 2 minutes.
• Spoon the mushroom mixture over the dried bread. Stir in stock. If using white bread, stir in the cider. Add parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. The mixture should be moist and very soft. If you like your stuffing extremely moist, add enough stock to make it seem slightly soggy but not wet. (Think pudding.) Crumble bacon and stir it in.
• Transfer the bread mixture to the prepared baking pan. Drizzle 3 tablespoons melted butter over the stuffing. Bake until golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

BREAD STUFFING WITH MUSHROOMS AND BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread bread cubes on 2 baking sheets. Bake until bread cubes are dry and crisp, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Transfer bread to large bowl.
• Sauté bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels and drain. Pour off all but 1/4 cup drippings from skillet. Add chopped leeks and celery to skillet and sauté until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Pour mushroom mixture over bread cubes. Add bacon and toss to blend. Mix in 2 cups broth. (Stuffing can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Beat eggs and baking powder in small bowl to blend. Mix eggs into stuffing; moisten stuffing with more broth if stuffing is dry. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake stuffing until cooked through and golden brown on top, about 1 hour.