Stuffing The Bird Food

GRANDMA RUTH'S STUFFING

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the mushrooms, celery, and onions until softened.
• Dampen the fresh bread cubes (not the stuffing mix), then squeeze out any excess water.
• In a large bowl, combine the mushroom mixture, bread cubes, stuffing mix, eggs, and 1 can chicken broth. Season with sage, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and mix well. The stuffing should have a rather paste-like consistency. Mix in additional chicken broth as necessary.
• Loosely pack stuffing inside turkey cavity before roasting.

STOVE TOP IN-THE-BIRD DIRECTIONS

Steps:

• Bring water and margarine to boil in medium saucepan. Add stuffing mix; stir just until moistened.
• Stuff turkey lightly with prepared stuffing.
• Bake as directed on turkey wrapper. Meanwhile, place any remaining stuffing in baking dish; refrigerate until ready to add to oven for the last 30 min. of the turkey baking time.

SAVANNAH SEAFOOD STUFFING

Steps:

• Melt the margarine in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper, onion, celery crabmeat and shrimp; cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the stuffing, bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix in the vegetables and seafood from the skillet. Stir in the cream of mushroom soup and as much of the chicken broth as you like. Spoon into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly toasted on top.

OUT OF THIS WORLD, OUT OF THE BIRD STUFFING

Steps:

• Sautee onion and celery in margarine or butter till soft.
• add 1 1/2 Cups water.
• Mix into soft bread cubes.
• Spray large baking pan with cooking spray, line pan with sliced fresh mushrooms.
• add stuffing.
• Heat 2 cans soup, milk, 1/4 Cup cooking sherry.
• Pour over stuffing.
• "Slash"through with knife to blend slightly.
• Bake 350 degrees, for 1 hour.

STUFFING THE BIRD

Steps:

• The night before, carefully cube the bread, cutting away all the crusts (and feeding the crusts to your neighbourhood songbirds and squirrels-its Christmas for them, too!).
• Place the chicken stock in a pot, and carefully simmer half the garlic and the heart, gizzard and neck meat for 20 minutes. Add the liver, and simmer 20 minutes more.
• Remove from heat, preserve the liquid, strip the meat from the neck, and cut away the meat from the viscera of the gizzard, discarding the viscera. Mince the meat to a fine paste, using reserved stock if or as necessary.
• Dice onion and celery finely. Heat olive oil in a pan and saute them and balance of garlic until tender, and remove from heat.
• Add seaoning, nut meal, minced neck, giblets,and soya sauce, stirring together well.
• Place bread bits and Bran in a bowl, and evacuate sauteed bits into the breading, mixing well.
• Moistenm with reserved stock until the mix is "damp" but not "soggy".
• Stuff into the bird's gut and neck cavity. Do notbe afraid to compress the mix "slightly", contrary to urban legend, the bird will not "explode", you'llsimply have some stuffing leak forward from the gut, where it will brown quite nicely!
• Cook your turkey until the breast meat and stuffing are about 155 degrees, and the dark meat is about 170 degrees, and remove from the oven. Evacuate the stuffing immediately and cover with foil.

SHIRLEY'S SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• In a saucepan over med. heat, boil the fresh pork sausage and gizzards, along with the margarine, onions, and celery, in 1 quart of water, for 30 minutes Strain, saving water.
• Put the onions, celery, and sausage in a lg. bowl, and set aside.
• Put the gizzards, and meat picked from the neck, in a blender, and press chop. (Do it quickly, and stop to mix meats, then pulse for 1-2 seconds again. You do not want it to be mushy). When all is chopped fine, put in the lg. bowl, along with onions, celery, and sausage.
• You may also grind the gizzards, and other meat parts in a meat grinder instead of the blender if you have one.
• Add to the sausage, onion and celery.
• When ready to stuff the bird and bake:.
• In a lg. bowl crumble your bread, crust and all, (I roll the bread between my hands to crumble it).
• Crush the crackers right in the closed sleeves, (but be careful not to push too fast or you may open the pkg). When crushed, open the sleeve and put in the bowl, along with the bread. Mix up well.
• Mix the meat mixture with the dry mixture.
• Add enough liquid from the sausage, gizzards, heart and neck stock (a little at a time), to make the stuffing to the desired consistency, of if not using these parts, use some chicken or turkey broth.
• Toss with a fork, until well mixed. Gently knead the mixture to distribute the ingredients.
• (The stuffing should have enough liquid so it holds together in a ball if you squeeze it in your hands, but not mushy, especially if you are stuffing your turkey, as the juices from the turkey make it moist as it is cooking.
• Add poultry seasoning, tasting as you go, to get it the way you like it.
• Salt and pepper, to taste.
• Stuff the bird right before putting it in the oven. DO NOT stuff the bird and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.
• The stuffing should be warm or room temperature when you are ready to put it in the bird.
• Plan to use 3/4 cup stuffing for each pound of turkey.
• To stuff the neck, first pack it loosely with stuffing.
• Pin the neck skin over the exposed stuffing with a skewer, or flip the wing tips up to hold it in place.
• Spoon stuffing loosely in the main body cavity.
• Cover exposed stuffing with a swatch of aluminum foil or a piece of bread.
• Roast turkey using desired method. I bake mine at 350, and go by the pounds on the turkey label for the hours needed to roast.
• Baste turkey with pan drippings at least 3 times during cooking time to get nice crispy skin, and help to keep turkey moist.
• Use a meat thermometer to make sure the center of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F before removing from the oven.
• Keep in mind that a "pop-up" thermometer that comes with a turkey won't tell you the temperature of the stuffing.
• Place any extra stuffing in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to bake, NO MORE THAN 8 hours before cooking the bird.
• Pour 1/2 cup turkey or chicken stock over the extra stuffing, and bake at 350, for 30-60 minutes covered with aluminum foil.
• After the turkey is done roasting, remove stuffing immediately from the bird, and place in a bowl. (I use an aluminum bowl and cover with aluminum foil to keep it nice and hot, until serving time.
• Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of taking out of the oven.
• Store leftover turkey and stuffing in shallow containers with covers, and use within 2-3 days.
• You may freeze but use within 3 months.
• Tips & Warnings:.
• Avoid pre-stuffed fresh turkeys, and DO NOT stuff birds to cook on a grill or smoker, or if you plan to deep fry.
• Always stuff a bird just BEFORE roasting.
• The stuffing should be warm, NOT hot or cold, when you pack it in the bird, otherwise the roasting time will be off, and the temperature will not reach 165 degrees F before the rest of the bird is done.
• Don't overstuff the turkey, because the stuffing will expand as the bird roasts.
• Following these simple steps is the safest way to stop airborne bacteria from invading your turkey and stuffing and making you sick.

STUFFING WITHOUT THE BIRD

Steps:

• In toaster, toast all of the bread and immediately spread generous amounts of butter on toast.
• Use entire stick of butter to do this.
• Set toast aside.
• Finely chop garlic, onion, celery, and mushrooms.
• Heat olive oil in large skillet.
• Add chopped vegetables, cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes.
• While vegetables are cooking.
• Chop parsley and almonds.
• When vegetables are tender add, parsley, almonds, and poultry seasoning.
• Stir well and cook one more minute.
• Cut toasted bread into cubes.
• Add bread and chicken stock.
• Stir until bread is softened, about one minute.
• Remove from heat and transfer to serving dish.
• Let sit covered 5 minutes.
• **Please note that I occasionally add chopped cooked apples&/or browned breakfast sausage to this stuffing when adding the bread.

TOM SZALLER'S GREAT PAN OR BIRD STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
• Place sausage in a large Dutch oven. Cook over medium high heat, stirring to crumble, until evenly brown. Drain.
• Add the bacon to the sausage along with the onions, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, mushrooms, butter, pepper, celery salt, seasoning salt, poultry seasoning, basil, garlic powder and water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 10 to 20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
• Gradually place the bread into the mixture, thoroughly blending until all pieces are coated. Transfer to a large baking dish or two medium baking dishes.
• Bake in the preheated oven 40 to 60 minutes, or until the top begins to brown.

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.

FLUFFY BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Tear bread into small pieces into a large bowl.
• Saute' the celery, onion and carrot in a frying pan with margarine until tender.
• Meanwhile, sprinkle pepper, poultry seasoning and garlic salt over bread and lightly toss to mix.
• Add sauteed vegetables, mushroom soup mixture and eggs to the bowl of bread pieces.
• Mix until blended.
• Empty mixture into a 2- quart well-greased casserole dish.
• Bake in 350 degree oven for about an hour.
• Cover lightly with foil and bake for an additional hour at 300 degrees.
• Outside will be crunchy, and while the inside is fluffy and moist.