Porcini Chestnut And Sausage Stuffing Recipes

CHESTNUT AND SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 2 1/2- to 3-quart shallow baking dish.
• Spread bread cubes in a large shallow baking pan (1 inch deep) and bake in lower third of oven until completely dry, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. (Leave oven on.)
• While bread bakes, cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring, until crisp, about 10 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
• Pour off and discard all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat from skillet, then sauté onions in fat over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add celery and sauté, stirring, 3 minutes, then transfer vegetables to bowl with bacon.
• Cook sausage and liver (if using) in skillet, stirring and breaking up sausage with a fork, until meat is no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes, then transfer with slotted spoon to onion mixture.
• Pour off any remaining fat from skillet. Add Cognac (off heat), then deglaze skillet by simmering over moderate heat, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, 1 minute, and add to sausage mixture.
• Increase oven temperature to 375°F.
• Soak bread cubes in half-and-half in a bowl, tossing frequently, until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Gently squeeze excess liquid from bread, then stir bread into sausage mixture, discarding remaining half-and-half. Stir together stock and eggs and add to stuffing, then stir in chestnuts, herbs, salt, and pepper until combined well.
• Transfer stuffing to baking dish and cover with foil, then bake in upper third of oven 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is crisp, about 20 minutes more.

CHESTNUT-AND-SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Let bread cubes stand on a baking sheet at room temperature 3 hours to dry.
• Lay each chestnut flat on a work surface, and cut an X in the pointed tip of shell with a paring or chestnut knife. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Boil chestnuts 2 minutes; remove pot from heat. Remove chestnuts with a slotted spoon; peel away shells. Quarter nutmeat; transfer to a large bowl. Add bread.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Split sausages; scrape meat into a large saute pan set over medium heat; crumble with a fork. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 7 minutes. Add oil; swirl pan. Add onions, celery, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, 15 to 17 minutes. Add to bread mixture.
• Add wine to pan. Scraping up any brown bits from bottom with a wooden spoon, cook over medium heat until wine is reduced by half. Add to bread mixture.
• Add stock to bread mixture; toss. Add thyme, sage, and parsley. Add the salt, and season with pepper. Stir in eggs.
• To bake stuffing: Place stuffing in a buttered 9-by-13-inch baking dish; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; remove foil. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. To cook in turkey: Stuff as directed. Place remaining 5 cups stuffing in a buttered 8-inch square baking dish; bake as directed above.

RUSTIC PORCINI ONION STUFFING

Steps:

• Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spread bread in 2 large shallow baking pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through baking, until dry, 20 to 25 minutes total. Transfer bread to a large bowl.
• Increase oven temperature to 450°F and butter a 13- by 9-inch baking dish (3-quart capacity).
• Pour boiling-hot water over porcini and soak 20 minutes, then drain in a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, squeezing porcini and reserving soaking liquid. Rinse porcini under cold water to remove any grit, then squeeze out excess water and coarsely chop.
• While porcini soak, heat butter (1 stick) in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then cook white mushrooms, onion, and shallots, stirring occasionally, until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Add celery, carrots, garlic, and porcini and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, sage, parsley, salt, and pepper, then add vegetables to bread, tossing to combine.
• Add 1 cup reserved porcini-soaking liquid to skillet and deglaze by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Add remaining soaking liquid and salt and pepper to taste and pour over bread mixture, tossing to coat evenly.
• Spread stuffing in baking dish and cover tightly with buttered foil (buttered side down), then bake in upper third of oven until heated through, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake stuffing until top is browned, 10 to 15 minutes more.

CHESTNUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Spread bread cubes in single layers on baking sheets. Let dry at room temperature, uncovered, overnight.
• Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add chestnuts; cook until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain; let cool slightly. Peel and quarter chestnuts; set aside. Peeled chestnuts can be refrigerated in an airtight container 2 to 3 days.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and celery; cook, stirring, until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add sage; cook 3 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup stock; cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer onion mixture to a large bowl. Add remaining 4 1/2 cups stock, the chestnuts, bread, salt, and parsley; season with pepper. Toss to combine. If not stuffing turkey, transfer to a buttered 17-by-12-inch baking dish. Cover; bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake until hot and golden brown, 30 minutes more.

PORCINI BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees, and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. (The oven can be anywhere from 350 to 400 degrees, if you need to cook both the stuffing and the turkey in it.)
• Soak mushrooms in 2 cups warm water about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. Thickly slice mushrooms. Meanwhile simmer Calvados in a saucepan until reduced to about 5 ounces.
• Melt remaining butter in large pan, add onions, and saute until transparent. Sprinkle with salt if onions are browning too fast. Add sliced mushrooms, and saute 2 minutes. Add bread, mushroom liquid, chopped parsley, rosemary and sage. Stir in reduced Calvados, applesauce, raisins, nuts and enough stock so mixture is moist but not wet. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Turn into buttered baking dish. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until firm and crusty.