Thanksgiving Turkey Stuffing

The stuffing is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving dinner. This is the recipe that my mother always made, but with one option added.

When my mother made Thanksgiving dinner, the neck and giblets got tossed as if they were poison and NEVER got used for any part of the dinner. I hate to pitch anything without getting the most out of it so I started slowly sauteing them in a sauce pan with butter to render out any fat and flavor to use as the starter for my turkey gravy.

If you use the giblets of a commercially grown turkey, you know that there is a very distinct aroma when cooking them and that they have a pretty strong flavor. One year, we bought an organic, free range, locally grown turkey from a neighbor who raised them, and when the giblets were simmering they had a totally different and much more appealing aroma, and further, they tasted wonderful. From that time on, we only buy locally farmed chemical-free turkeys and once the giblets have lent their flavor to the gravy base, I mince them and stir them into the turkey stuffing.

Since this is my mother's original recipe, the giblet piece is not included in the formal recipe, but don't be afraid to try it as I've described here..

Step by step for cooking the stuffing base before mixing with bread and broth. Final image is ready to bake in the bunt pan.

THE RECIPE

2 onions diced

4 stalks celery diced

2c mushrooms diced (optional)

1 lb sage seasoned breakfast sausage meat

1 stick of butter

1 quart of chicken or turkey broth / stock

Lots of stale bread in chunks 8 to 10 cups

Bell's poultry seasoning

Sale / pepper to taste

Extra sage -- optional to taste

Melt the butter in a big pot and saute the sausage until cooked and all broken up

Add the vegetables and saute until cooked on the crisp tender side

Add the seasonings and mix well.

Remove from heat and fold in some of the bread.

Alternately add the broth and more bread.

Ultimately you want the bread to be moist but not totally soggy and well mixed with the sausage and vegetables.

I generally double this recipe, but please note that the amounts are just estimates. I do it mostly by feel and taste.

I do this at least a day ahead of Thanksgiving and refrigerate it. When I stuff the bird, the stuffing is cold and less likely to breed bacteria.

What ever stuffing doesn't fit in the bird gets baked separately in a pan with a few thin pads of butter on top. If you want to get really fancy, you can butter a bunt cake pan and bake the extra stuffing in that. When it come out of the oven, gently loosen it with a bendable spatula and invert the pan onto a serving plate.

For an even fancier presentation,once on the plate, fill the center hole with whole cranberries or cranberry saucy.

Tips....

• Getting back to those giblets, you can forgo using them to start the gravy, mince them, and cook with the sausage. You can still use the neck for your gravy.

• I, in addition to buying bread to 'stale up' in a low oven on cookie sheets, save bread ends throughout the year in a freezer bag. It can be any not sweet variety (bread, rye, white, multigrain, pumpernickel, Italian, French, anything). If I don't use them to make my own breadcrumbs during the year, I throw them on the cookie sheet too. I hate throwing bread ends out, but I hate even more finding French toast made out of them, so this is a great way to ensure that John doesn't get to them for weekend French toast.

• As I mentioned the amount as really estimates because depending on the kind of bread the texture changes; more broth or butter may be needed. Seasonings are also estimates and should be adjusted to your tastes.

The real key here is to have enough stuffing for Thanksgiving and the traditional leftovers, but to also have enough for the Glop as it's one of the primary ingredients.

There are some other fun things you can do with leftover stuffing. If you have a Belgian waffle maker, you can press stuffing on and make waffles which are great under an over-easy egg for brunch. If you don't want to hassle of cleaning the waffle iron, you can do as my friend Sarah does and press the stuffing into patties and fry them for breakfast or brunch.

Last year, I decided that Sarah's way was much more appealing than cleaning the waffle iron and I actually froze a bunch of the patties to serve later. Any other great leftover stuffing ideas welcome!