Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Stuffing

I know stuffing's ordinary, but, let's face it, we all have to cook mostly ordinary foods every day. The trick is finding a better way to make the ordinary foods, or to create better side dishes to go with the same meat over and over. For Christmas week, I had ordered Pepperidge Farms stuffing cubes, or so I thought. Instead, I got bags of plain white bread cut into cubes. Oh, my aching ______! I could have done that with a knife if I wanted to. But, I flipped it over, and the directions looked intriguing, so I kept it. Having made it twice now, my husband has declared that it's the best stuffing he's ever had that wasn't cooked inside the turkey, and our sons agreed. Since some of them are pretty fussy, that meant this was good enough to share with all of you!

STUFFING


1 pound bread cubes, not toasted (leaving the crust on is fine!)
1-1/2 cups butter or margarine
1 large onion, minced
1 large carrot, minced
3 ribs celery, sliced thin
1/2 cup water

1-1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 cup dried parsley or fresh chopped parsley


Melt the butter or margarine in a sauce pan, and arrange the bread cubes in a baking dish. Cook the onion, carrot and celery in the butter until the celery is soft, then add 1/2 cup water and the bouillon cube. Heat until the cube is melted, and add the poultry seasoning and parsley; mix well. Pour this mixture over the bread cubes and toss until they're all dampened. This will not be as wet a mixture as Stove Top or some other stuffing. Fret not! Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes. Stir and serve.

In this picture, you can see the stuffing served with turkey breast. I poured 1/4 cup white wine over this turkey, then sprinkled it with tarragon. For the gravy, I added a bit more tarragon, about 1/2 tsp, and a tablespoon of dijon mustard. I'm not a big fan or gravy, either, but everyone else liked it. It was different from the usual gravy, but evidently quite good!

9 comments:

grace said...

there's nothing wrong with ordinary. bread and eggs are ordinary, but vital to me. the same goes for dressing (which is what i call it unless it's cooked inside a bird). pepperidge farms is good stuff. :)

Unknown said...

You are so right, ordinary is good. Yummm peas.

The stuffing looks good. I tried a new one this year and was less than impressed. Will have to try yours, although I believe our days of turkey & dressing are over! g

Paula said...

Yuuuum, stuffingggg! You know, 99.9% of all of my meals are ordinary. Not boring or blah, just ordinary. The love they are prepared with, however, makes them extraordinary (or so I tell myself!). I love stuffing and could eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. :-)

Pam said...

I wish I had this recipe a couple of days ago for my pork chops. It looks delicious and easy to make.

The Blonde Duck said...

Drooling, drooling and drooling some more. Ode to stuffing and how I love thee.

Chef Jeena said...

Happy new year Marjie.

Your stuffing looks delicious with the turkey. :-)

Ann Made Studio said...

Your stuffing looks good!
Another recipe I must try :)

Anonymous said...

I love stuffing all year as well. This looks simple and delicious. I'm sure I could eat a pound myself!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Your stuffing looks so savory. There's nothing wrong with ordinary and your philosphy is totally on que.