Old Fashioned Herb Stuffing Recipes

CLASSIC HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, poultry seasoning, seasoned salt and pepper.
• Place bread cubes in large bowl. Add celery mixture and broth; toss gently until well mixed. Spoon into lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish.
• Bake 35 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned.

ROAST TURKEY WITH OLD FASHIONED BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• For stuffing, in a medium saucepan cook celery, mushrooms, and onion in butter until tender but not brown, remove from heat.
• Stir in sage, pepper, and salt.
• Place dry bread cubes in a large mixing bowl, add onion mixture.
• Drizzle with enough broth or water to moisten, tossing lightly.
• Season body cavity of turkey with salt.
• Spoon some stuffing LOOSELY into the neck cavity.
• Pull the neck skin to the back, fasten with a skewer.
• LIGHTLY spoon more stuffing into the body cavity (place any remaining stuffing into a casserole, cover and chill. Dot with butter and bake alongside turkey for 35-45 minutes or until heated through).
• Tuck the ends of the drumsticks under the band of skin across the tail.
• If the band of skin is not present, tie the drumsticks securely to the tail.
• Twist wing tips under the back.
• Place turkey, breast side DOWN, on a rack in a shallow roastng pan.
• Brush with oil.
• Cover turkey loosely with foil.
• Roast turkey in a 325 degree oven for 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer placed into the center of a thigh (but not touching the bone) reads 180 degrees. Make sure center of stuffing reads 165 degrees.
• After about 1 1/2 hours, turn the turkey over so that it is breast side up.
• Brush breast side with oil.
• After 2 1/2 hours, cut loose drumsticks so that thighs will cook evenly.
• When done, drumsticks should move very easliy in their sockets and their thickest parts should feel soft when pressed.
• Uncover the last 30 minutes of roasting.
• To make dry bread cubes: cut bread into 1/2 inch squares.
• (12-14 slices of bread for 8 cups cubes) Place in a brown paper bag and close loosely.
• Let stand 3-4 days, mixing up by hand each day until thoroughly dry.
• OR, spread bread cubes onto a large cookie sheet in a single layer and bake at 300 degrees 10-15 minutes or until dry, stirring twice.
• Cool.
• I highly recommend using homemade white bread (by hand or bread machine) for the bread cubes.
• You will be AMAZED at the difference in texture!

OLD FASHIONED STUFFING

Steps:

• Allow the toasted bread to sit approximately 24 hours, until hard.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Crush the bread into crumbs with a rolling pin. Place the crumbs in a large bowl.
• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and celery and slowly cook until soft. Remove from heat and drain.
• Mix the eggs and chicken broth into the bread crumbs. The mixture should be moist, but not mushy. Use water, if necessary, to attain desired consistency. Mix in the onion, celery, rubbed sage, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
• Press the mixture into the baking dish. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the top is brown and crisp.

OLD-FASHIONED BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large skillet cook celery and onion in hot butter over medium heat until tender but not brown. Remove from heat. Stir in sage and pepper. Place bread cubes in large bowl; add onion mixture. Drizzle with enough chicken broth to moisten; toss lightly to combine. Place stuffing in a 2-qt. casserole dish. Bake, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes or until heated through. Top with fresh sage. Makes 12 to 14 servings.

THE BEST STUFFING RECIPE

Steps:

• Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and arrange it onto a baking sheet. Allow the bread to dry out for 3-12 hours.
• Grease an 8x8 or 2-quart baking dish with butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt 1/4 cup (or 1/2 stick) butter in a large heavy-bottomed skillet, over medium-low heat.
• Add onions, celery, and fresh thyme leaves to the skillet. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute veggies until softened slightly, about 7 minutes.
• Place the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Add in the sauteed veggies and another pinch of salt and pepper. Toss well.
• Add in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, and toss until bread cubes are moistened completely. You want the bread to be wet and softened, but not drenched in liquid or soggy. You may not use all the liquid.
• Pour the prepared stuffing into the prepared baking dish and cover with foil.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes covered. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the top is golden.

SAUSAGE AND HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
• Add bread cubes to baking dish and toast for 10-12 minutes while you cook sausage and vegetables.
• Add sausage to a large skillet on high heat and cook, breaking it apart as you cook, about 4-5 minutes until browned.
• Remove sausage, lower heat to medium and add in butter, salt, pepper, onion and celery.
• Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes until vegetables are softened.
• Turn off the heat and whisk in the chicken broth.
• Whisk in the egg, rosemary and sage until smooth.
• In a large bowl add the toasted cubes of bread, the cooked sausage and the chicken broth mixture and toss to coat.
• Pour mixture into baking dish.
• Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown.

OLD-FASHIONED BREAD STUFFING WITH SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350º. Spread bread cubes on two large baking sheets and toast for 30 minutes, stirring and rotating pans, until lightly browned and crisp. Transfer to very large bowl when done.
• Meanwhile, in large skillet, melt 1 stick of butter. Pour half the melted butter in a bowl and reserve for later, to brush the top of the stuffing. To the pan with remaining melted butter, add celery, carrots and onion, a sprinkle of salt, and cook and stir over medium-high heat until softened and starting to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer vegetables to bowl. Add sausage to skillet in chunks, and cook, breaking it up with wooden spoon, until cooked through and lightly browned, about 6 minutes.
• Return vegetable mixture to the skillet and add the sage and thyme, a little salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of stock, cook and stir up any browned bits, until stock is reduced and cooked down by half, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer sausage mixture to bowl with the toasted bread cubes. Add remaining 2 to 2½ cups of stock and toss well until bread cubes are evenly moistened. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Spread stuffing into large, buttered baking dish (about 3½ quart size) and brush with the reserved melted butter.
• Bake in center of oven until heated through and nicely browned, about 1 hour, rotating casserole halfway through. Let stuffing rest 10 minutes before serving.

CLASSIC ROAST TURKEY WITH HERBED STUFFING AND OLD-FASHIONED GRAVY

Steps:

• Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 8-inch square baking dish or 2-quart casserole. Lightly brush roasting rack with vegetable oil and place in roasting pan.
• Remove plastic or paper packet of giblets from turkey (usually in small cavity). Remove from packaging and rinse; reserve gizzard and heart; discard floppy, dark purple liver. Remove neck from large cavity. Remove from packaging, rinse, and reserve. Using tweezers or needlenose pliers, remove any feathers and quills still attached to skin (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others). Pull off and reserve any visible pale yellow knobs of fat from either side of tail (not found on all birds).
• Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water and pat dry. Loosely fill small (neck) cavity with stuffing. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with metal skewer. Loosely fill large body cavity with stuffing. Transfer remaining stuffing to buttered dish and drizzle with 1/4 cup stock. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
• Transfer turkey, breast-side up, to rack in roasting pan. Tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks loosely together with kitchen string. Rub turkey all over with softened butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Tightly cover breast area with foil, leaving wings, thighs, and drumsticks exposed.
• Transfer gizzard, heart, neck, and reserved turkey fat to roasting pan around rack. Pour 2 cups stock into pan.
• Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices (lift up foil to reach breast area) and continue roasting, basting every 45 minutes, 1 1/2 hours more (2 1/4 hours total). Baste again and, if pan juices have evaporated into glaze, add 1 cup stock to pan. Roast another 45 minutes (3 hours total). Remove foil from breast area, baste, and add stock if necessary, until instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 180°F, about 1 hour more (4 hours total).
• Insert instant-read thermometer into center of stuffing in body cavity. If thermometer does not read 165°F, transfer stuffing to microwave-safe baking dish and microwave on high until 165°F, about 3 minutes for 10 degrees. Cover and keep warm. Using turkey holders (or by inserting large metal serving spoon into body cavity), transfer turkey to large serving platter. Let stand 30 minutes before carving.
• Meanwhile, bake extra stuffing and make gravy: Raise oven temperature to 350°F. Remove giblets and neck from roasting pan and discard. Pour pan juices into measuring cup or gravy separator. Let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and reserve fat or, if using separator, carefully pour juices into measuring cup, reserving fat left in separator.
• Transfer foil-covered dish of extra stuffing to oven and bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add enough remaining stock to pan juices to total 4 cups. Measure turkey fat, adding melted butter if necessary to total 6 tablespoons. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on moderate heat and add fat. Whisk in flour, scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan, then cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in pan juice-stock mixture and bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and keep warm. (Gravy can be kept warm over very low heat, covered, up to 20 minutes. If it thickens, thin with additional stock before serving. If skin forms on top, whisk well to dissolve.)
• When extra stuffing has baked 10 minutes, remove foil and bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Pour gravy through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl, then transfer to gravy boat. Carve turkey and serve gravy and stuffing alongside.
• Test-Kitchen Tips:
• •To combat dryness, most frozen turkeys and some fresh are injected with a saline solution. This is not a good thing, though: Injected birds generally lack flavor and can have a mushy texture. For this reason, we recommend buying a fresh turkey and checking the label to be sure there aren't any additives. (Look for the words "all natural.") Don't be too concerned, though, with the many other terms that can be applied to turkeys, such as free-range, organic, or heritage. All can be excellent.
• •When buying a fresh bird, be sure to purchase it no more than two days before Thanksgiving. If you must get a frozen bird, defrost it in the refrigerator in a pan to catch drips, allowing a full 24 hours for each 5 pounds.
• •Warm, moist stuffing is an optimal environment for bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli to multiply, so it's important to follow safe procedures. Be sure to make the stuffing at the last minute so it can go into the bird warm. This helps it move above the "danger zone" (the optimal temperature range for bacteria growth) more quickly during roasting. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the middle of the stuffing to make sure it's 165°F, the temperature at which bacteria will be killed. If it's not 165°F, scoop it out of the cavity and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •More stuffing tips: Be sure not to overpack the cavities, as the stuffing will expand during cooking. Loosely fill the turkey, then spread the extra in a casserole dish (no more than 2 inches deep) and bake it after the turkey comes out (be sure to refrigerate it until then to impede bacteria growth). Drizzle the portion in the casserole dish with extra stock to make up for the juices it won't get from the turkey. If you want the stuffing that's cooked inside the turkey to be extra-moist (as opposed to having a crisp crust where it's exposed), cover the exposed portion with a small piece of aluminum foil.
• •Opinions vary on whether or not to stuff the bird-some people think it can cause uneven cooking. If you prefer not to stuff your bird, fill the cavities with a chopped vegetable and herb mixture that will impart its flavor to the meat and pan juices: Chop 1 onion, 1 celery rib with leaves, 1 carrot, and 3 tablespoons fresh parsley. Mix this with 1 teaspoon each dried rosemary, sage, and thyme. Sprinkle the cavities with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place the mixture inside. An unstuffed bird will take about 15 minutes to a half hour less to cook than a stuffed bird. When the turkey is cooked, tilt it to allow any juices that have collected in the cavity to drain into the pan. Do not serve the vegetable mixture, as it may not have cooked to a safe temperature.
• •This recipe can easily be scaled up to serve more people. Estimate about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person. Cooking times (for a stuffed bird, cooked at 325°F to an internal temperature of 180°F) will be as follows: 8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 3 1/2 hours 12 to 14 pounds: 3 1/2 to 4 hours 14 to 18 pounds: 4 to 4 1/4 hours 18 to 20 pounds: 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours 20 to 24 pounds: 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours
• •Some experts prefer to cook their turkeys to an internal temperature of 170°F (rather than 180°F, as in this recipe). If you don't mind having the meat slightly pink, this is perfectly safe and makes it more moist. However, Rick Rodgers, who created this recipe, believes that the dark meat in particular does not achieve its optimum flavor and texture until it reaches 180°F. If you choose to stuff your turkey and cook it to only 170°F, its stuffing will almost definitely not reach the safe temperature of 165°F. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the center of the stuffing, and if necessary remove it and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •Letting the turkey stand for half an hour after it comes out of the oven is an essential part of the roasting process. When meat roasts, its juices move to the outer edge of the flesh. Letting it rest gives the juices time to redistribute, making for a moister turkey. An added bonus: The resting time provides an excellent window of opportunity to make the gravy and reheat the side dishes. There's no need to cover the bird-it'll stay warm enough, and covering it would only soften the crispy skin.

OLD-FASHIONED HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.
• Place bread cubes on baking sheet; bake 10 minutes or until dry.
• Melt margarine in large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add onion, celery and carrot; cover and cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Add broth, thyme, sage, paprika and pepper; bring to a simmer.
• Stir in bread pieces; mix well.
• Remove pan from heat; set aside.
• Coat a 1 1/2 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Spoon stuffing into dish.
• Cover and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through.