Old Fashioned Herb Stuffing Food

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.

CLASSIC HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• 1. 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.
• 2. Place bread cubes in large bowl. Add celery mixture and broth; toss gently until well mixed. Spoon into lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish.
• 3. Bake 35 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned.

HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• In a saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and allow to warm. Then add the celery and onions. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring with a spoon, for 15 minutes. Once cooked, remove the pan from the stovetop.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Put the Texas toast cubes in a 12-by-18-inch roasting pan. Add the celery mixture, stock, sage, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Gently mix and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. During the rest, stir gently again with a spoon, ensuring not to break the bread apart. After resting and marinating the bread, cover with foil and bake until set, 30 to 45 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and serve.

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.

RUSTIC HERB STUFFING

Steps:

• Technique One: Outside the Bird.
• Convenience and concerns about undercooking have made baking the stuffing in a pan the default for many cooks. The payoff? Crispy topping and more stuffing (you can fit more in a pan than in the bird).
• Technique Two: Inside the Bird.
• If you want to stuff a turkey, it's best to brine it-that way, the stuffing can cook to a safe temperature without drying out the bird. Start with your favorite brined-turkey recipe, then follow the steps below. You'll end up with moist stuffing that's infused with flavorful turkey juices.
• Preparation: For Rustic Herb Stuffing Cooked Outside the Bird.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Spread bread on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bread is dry, about 15 minutes. Cool.
• Melt 10 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and next 8 ingredients; sauté until celery is tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add Swiss chard and toss until wilted, about 3 minutes. DO AHEAD Bread cubes and vegetable mixture can be made 1 day ahead. Store bread cubes airtight at room temperature. Cool vegetable mixture slightly, then transfer to microwave-safe bowl; cover and chill. Rewarm vegetable mixture in microwave before continuing.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Generously butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place bread cubes in very large bowl. Add warm vegetable mixture; toss to combine. Whisk eggs and 3/4 cup broth in medium bowl. Add egg mixture to stuffing and toss to coat. Mix in Parmesan, if using.
• Add more broth (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup) to stuffing if dry. Transfer to dish. Cover with buttered foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake until golden, about 30 minutes.
• For Rustic Herb Stuffing Cooked Inside the Bird.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Drain turkey. Rinse under cold running water; pat dry.
• Place stuffing in glass bowl. Microwave on high until instant-read thermometer registers 130°F, stirring occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes. Fill cavities loosely with warm stuffing (do not tie legs). Place remaining stuffing in baking dish; moisten with up to 1/2 cup broth. Chill while turkey roasts.
• Place turkey on rack in roasting pan; brush with olive oil. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into stuffing registers 165°F (thigh will register 170°F), adding water to pan to prevent scorching, about 3 1/2 hours.
• Let turkey rest 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bake chilled stuffing until golden, 30 minutes.

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.

CLASSIC STUFFING

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onions and celery, and cook over medium heat until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add sage, stir to combine, and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1/2 cup stock, and stir well. Cook for about 5 minutes, until liquid has reduced by half.
• Transfer onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients, including the remaining stock; mix to combine.

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.

FARMHOUSE HERBED STUFFING

Steps:

• In 12-inch, heavy skillet over moderate heat, heat butter until hot but not smoking. Stir in onion and celery, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 15 to 20 minutes. (Vegetables can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before continuing: In 12-inch, heavy skillet over moderately high heat, sauté, stirring often, until heated through, about 5 minutes.)
• Transfer to large bowl and add stuffing cubes, parsley, celery salt, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir in 1¼ cups hot stock.
• If using to stuff turkey:
• Use immediately to fill cavities and spread remainder in baking dish as directed in Classic Roast Turkey recipe .
• If baking in a casserole pan:
• Preheat oven to 350°F and butter 3-quart casserole or 9-by 13-inch baking dish. Transfer stuffing to dish and drizzle with ½ cup hot stock (stuffing baked outside of the turkey won't be soaked in the turkey's juices, so extra stock is drizzled on top to keep it moist). Cover with aluminum foil and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.
• Variations:
• Sausage and Sage Stuffing: In large, heavy skillet over moderate heat, sauté 1 pound bulk pork sausage, breaking up pieces with spoon, until meat shows no sign of pink, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl. Proceed with recipe, adding ingredients to bowl with sausage and substituting 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage for dried rosemary and sage.
• Dried Apricot and Pecan Stuffing: Dried fruit are better than fresh in stuffing because the latter get soggy with long baking. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread 1½ cups (6 ounces) pecans on rimmed baking sheet and toast, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Cool and coarsely chop. In medium bowl, combine 1½ cups diced dried apricots and hot water to cover. Soak until apricots plump, about 30 minutes, then drain well. Proceed with recipe, tossing apricots and pecans with other ingredients in large bowl.
• Test-Kitchen Tips: 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. Stuffing baked outside of the turkey can be spread in the baking dish and refrigerated for a few hours while the turkey roasts, but it should be prepared on the same day as baking.