Dried Fruit Stuffing Recipes

DRIED FRUIT AND TOASTED NUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Arrange bread in a single layer on a baking sheet and let stand overnight, uncovered, at room temperature. (Alternatively, bake bread in a 300-degree oven until dry but not browned, about 15 minutes.)
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot, and celery until tender and translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer mixture to a large baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until top is golden brown and stuffing is firm, about 15 minutes more.
• Serve with Mushroom Gravy (optional).

DRIED FRUIT STUFFING

Steps:

• Prepare stuffing mix according to package directions, adding dried fruits when adding contents of stuffing mix. Just before serving, stir in almonds.

CRANBERRY-DRIED FRUIT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet. Toss with bread cubes in a large bowl. Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven, tossing once, until golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Pour 1 cup boiling water over dried fruit in a bowl; stir to submerge. Set aside until fruit has softened, about 30 minutes. Drain; reserve soaking liquid.
• Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, ginger, and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and soft, about 15 minutes.
• Add onion mixture to bread cubes. Return skillet to medium heat. Add Marsala, and cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until liquid bubbles. Pour over bread mixture. Stir in dried fruit, 1/2 cup soaking liquid, walnuts if using, quinces, and cranberries. Stir in spices and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Stir in eggs.
• To cook stuffing in turkey: Stuff as directed (see Roast Turkey with Quince Glaze recipe). Spoon remaining stuffing into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish; dot generously with butter. Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degrees oven until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. To bake all of the stuffing in the oven: Spoon it into a buttered 13-by-9-inch baking dish; dot generously with butter. Bake as directed above.

MULTIGRAIN STUFFING WITH NUTS AND DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a 3-quart baking dish. Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, apples and thyme, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried blueberries and dried cranberries. Add the broth and bring to a simmer.
• Whisk the eggs and parsley in a large bowl. Add the bread, then pour in the broth mixture and toss.
• Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden, about 30 more minutes.

HERB STUFFING WITH DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a shallow 3-quart baking dish. Cut or tear the bread into bite-size pieces. Divide between 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread into a single layer. Bake until slightly dry and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.
• Meanwhile, melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the dried fruit, sage, thyme, apple, onion, celery, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and parsley and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl.
• Add the toasted bread to the onion mixture and toss until evenly moistened. Stir in the egg. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and evenly spread without packing the stuffing down too much. Bake until the top is crusty, about 40 minutes. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and drizzle over the top. Continue to bake until the top is crisp and golden, about 20 minutes more. Garnish with parsley and thyme.

MIDWESTERN WHOLE WHEAT DRIED FRUIT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250°F. Arrange bread slices on oven rack and bake until very dry but not brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer bread to very large bowl.
• Coarsely crumble bread. Mix in cherries, raisins, currants and prunes. Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and sauté until golden and tender, about 15 minutes. Add to stuffing. Mix in thyme. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) Mix in eggs.
• To bake stuffing in turkey:
• Mix 3/4 cup broth into stuffing. Fill main turkey cavity with stuffing. Mix enough broth into remaining stuffing to moisten (about 3/4 to 1 cup broth, depending on amount of remaining stuffing). Spoon remaining stuffing into buttered baking dish. Cover with buttered foil. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is crisp, about 15 minutes.
• To bake all stuffing in pan:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. Mix 2 3/4 cups broth into stuffing. Transfer to prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil and bake until heated through, about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is crisp, about 15 minutes.

CORNBREAD STUFFING WITH FRESH AND DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• Cut bread lengthwise into 1-inch-wide slices. Place on baking sheet; cover with kitchen towel and let dry overnight. Cut bread slices into 1-inch cubes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add apples and celery. sauté until celery begins to soften, about 10 minutes. Scrape contents of skillet into very large bowl. Add prunes, apricots, fennel seeds, salt, pepper, and thyme; toss. Add dried bread cubes and toss until evenly combined. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Pour broth evenly over.
• Bake stuffing uncovered until heated through and top begins to form crust, about 40 minutes.

WINTER FRUIT AND NUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears; sprinkle with sugar. Sauté until pears are golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to very large bowl; mix in cinnamon. Melt remaining 10 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium heat. Add onions and celery; sauté until golden, about 15 minutes. Add wine and next 5 ingredients. Simmer until liquid is reduced almost to glaze and mixture is soft and moist, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Mix into pears. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat to lukewarm before continuing.)
• Mix bread and pecans into fruit mixture. Season stuffing with salt and pepper.
• To bake stuffing in turkey:
• Loosely fill main cavity and neck cavity of turkey with stuffing. Generously butter baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover dish with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish - alongside turkey or while turkey is resting - until heated through, about 25 minutes. Uncover stuffing in dish. Bake until top of stuffing is slightly crisp and golden, about 15 minutes longer.
• To bake stuffing in dish:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Bake uncovered until heated through, about 35 minutes.

WHOLE-GRAIN STUFFING WITH KALE AND DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put bread on a baking sheet and toast, turning once or twice, until golden and dry, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool a bit.
• While bread toasts, put a large pot of water to boil and salt it. Fill a large bowl with ice water. When pot comes to a boil, add kale; let it wilt for about a minute, then drain and plunge it into ice water. When cool, squeeze kale dry and roughly chop. Put kale, oil, vinegar, figs, dates, shallot, sage and nuts in a large salad bowl. Sprinkle with salt and lots of pepper and toss to coat.
• Fill a bowl with tap water and soak bread for about 3 minutes. Gently squeeze a slice dry and crumble it into salad bowl. Repeat with remaining slices. Toss well to combine stuffing and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes or cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Before finishing, taste and adjust seasoning.
• Place stuffing in bird and bake. Or to bake it outside of bird, grease a 2-quart or 9-by-13-inch baking dish and fill it with stuffing. Dot top with bits of butter if you like. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes; then uncover and finish baking until crisp, another 10 to 15 minutes more.