Crunchy Bread Dressing With Bacon Leeks Food

BREAD STUFFING WITH MUSHROOMS AND BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread bread cubes on 2 baking sheets. Bake until bread cubes are dry and crisp, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Transfer bread to large bowl.
• Sauté bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels and drain. Pour off all but 1/4 cup drippings from skillet. Add chopped leeks and celery to skillet and sauté until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Pour mushroom mixture over bread cubes. Add bacon and toss to blend. Mix in 2 cups broth. (Stuffing can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Beat eggs and baking powder in small bowl to blend. Mix eggs into stuffing; moisten stuffing with more broth if stuffing is dry. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake stuffing until cooked through and golden brown on top, about 1 hour.

STUFFING WITH MUSHROOMS, LEEKS AND BACON

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Trim the crusts from the white bread and cut into 1-inch cubes; if using corn bread, coarsely crumble it. Spread the bread pieces out on one or two large baking sheets. Toast in the oven, tossing occasionally, until very dry, about 30 minutes for white bread, 1 hour for corn bread. Transfer to a large bowl to cool. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon strips until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the leeks to the bacon fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until mushrooms are tender and most of their juices have evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the sage and cook 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates, about 2 minutes.
• Spoon the mushroom mixture over the dried bread. Stir in stock. If using white bread, stir in the cider. Add parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. The mixture should be moist and very soft. If you like your stuffing extremely moist, add enough stock to make it seem slightly soggy but not wet. (Think pudding.) Crumble bacon and stir it in.
• Transfer the bread mixture to the prepared baking pan. Drizzle 3 tablespoons melted butter over the stuffing. Bake until golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

LEEK, MUSHROOM AND BACON STUFFING WITH TARRAGON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread bread cubes on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake until bread is almost dry, about 15 minutes. Cool. Transfer to large bowl.
• Sauté bacon in large pot over medium-high heat until crisp, about 12 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Reserve 6 tablespoons drippings in pot; discard any remaining drippings.
• Add leeks and button mushrooms to same pot. Sauté over medium-high heat until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add shiitake mushrooms and saute 4 minutes. Add celery and sauté until leeks and mushrooms are tender but celery is still slightly crisp, about 6 minutes longer. (Bread, bacon and sautéed vegetables can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately. Store bread at room temperature; refrigerate bacon and vegetables.) Mix bacon, sautéed vegetables and tarragon into bread. Season generously with salt and pepper. Mix eggs into stuffing.
• To bake stuffing in turkey:
• Loosely fill main cavity with stuffing. Add enough broth to remaining stuffing to moisten lightly (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup, depending on amount of remaining stuffing). Generously butter glass baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 25 to 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• To bake all of stuffing in baking dish:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 15 x 10 x 2-inch . Add enough broth to stuffing to moisten (about 3/4 to 1 cup). Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with butter foil, buttered side down; bake until heated through, about 30 to 35 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes longer.

CRUNCHY BREAD DRESSING WITH BACON AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Directions: Preheat an oven to 375ºF. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Spread the bread out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside. In a large fry pan over medium heat, fry the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy and golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside. In another large fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the leeks, carrots and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine the bread, bacon, the leek mixture, the 1 cup stock, milk, thyme, green onions, salt and pepper and stir gently to mix. If the dressing seems dry, add more stock as needed. Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish and bake until crispy and golden, about 1 hour. Serves 10 to 12. Note: If desired, you can pack the dressing loosely in the body and neck cavities of the turkey. Secure the neck flap with kitchen string or pin it to the back with toothpicks or trussing pins. Tying the legs together will help hold the stuffing in the body cavity. For turkeys weighing 16 lb. or less, add 30 minutes to the total roasting time. For turkeys weighing more than 16 lb., add 1 hour to the total roasting time.