Midwestern Whole Wheat Dried Fruit Stuffing Recipes

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.

MIDWEST STUFFING

Steps:

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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.

FRUIT AND NUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the celery, apples and onions and cook, stirring, until fragrant and softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme, fennel, salt and pepper and cook for 1 more minute. Add the chicken broth and scrape up any brown bits that have formed on the bottom of the skillet, cooking for an additional minute. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, combine the cooled mixture with the stuffing, apricots, cherries, pecans and beaten eggs and mix well. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
• Bake until golden brown on top, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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.

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.

DRIED FRUIT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Slice bread and discard ends. Arrange bread slices on the rack of the preheated oven.
• Bake in the preheated oven until very dry, about 15 minutes.
• While the bread is baking, melt butter in a heavy, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Remove bread from the oven and crumble into coarse pieces in a large bowl. Add cherries, raisins, currants, and prunes; toss to combine. Mix in sauteed onions and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in eggs.
• Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Coat a 12x16-inch piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray.
• Stir chicken broth into stuffing mixture and transfer to the prepared baking dish. Cover with the aluminum foil, sprayed-side down.
• Bake in the preheated oven until heated through, about 30 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake until top is golden, about 20 minutes more.

DRIED FRUIT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place bread cubes in very large bowl. Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery to skillet; sauté until vegetables are tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Add Sherry, figs, cherries, apricots, sage, thyme and rosemary; cook until fruit is tender and liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup, about 7 minutes. Add to bread cubes; stir to blend. (Stuffing can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Add stock to stuffing; season with salt and pepper. Mix in beaten eggs.
• Transfer stuffing to prepared baking dish. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top begins to crisp, about 25 minutes longer.

WHOLE-WHEAT-BREAD-AND-APPLE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Divide bread between 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread in a single layer. Bake, stirring a few times, until crisp and dry, about 40 minutes. Let cool. Break a piece open to make sure it's dried all the way through; if not, bake a few more minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add onions, fennel, and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and golden in places, 7 to 9 minutes. Add garlic, apple, rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 1 minute. Pour in wine; cook until mostly evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Brush a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with butter. Add onion mixture to bowl with toasted bread; add parsley. Drizzle with stock, stirring to combine. Stir in eggs to evenly coat. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Top with buttered parchment; loosely wrap with foil. (If making ahead, refrigerate at this point until you're ready to bake.) Bake 20 minutes. Uncover; continue cooking until golden on top, about 20 minutes more. Serve, with more parsley sprinkled on top.