Making stuffing for your Christmas turkey can be a creative, fun and even a rewarding experience when your guests rave about how good it tastes! Don’t be afraid to experiment with seasonings this holiday season. You’ll begin to feel like a real chef or an artist working on a masterpiece when you let your imagination take over the process.
With a variety of stuffing recipes to choose from, you are certain to find an idea or two to incorporate into your own personalized stuffing recipe. Here are some ideas and recipes that are well worth trying.
Mighty Melba’s Turkey Stuffing
(Yields 9 cups stuffing. Enough for a 12-lb. turkey)
1-3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
2 red peppers, chopped
1/2 cup butter
9 cups soft breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons dried sage leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
In a large skillet, stir onion, celery, and red pepper in butter. Cook until onion is tender.
Next add about one-third of the bread cubes. Turn the mixture into a large deep bowl, add remaining ingredients and toss together, mixing thoroughly. Stuff turkey just before roasting.
Granny’s Southern Cornbread Stuffing
One of the most flavorful stuffing recipes that originated in the 0ld South is corn bread stuffing. Making stuffing with this recipe will bring memories of years gone by if you’re from that region of the country.
First, let’s start by making the cornbread from scratch.
Fresh Cornbread Recipe:
1-1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cups buttermilk or kefir milk
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Pour wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds.
Pour into a square baking pan, 8x8x2 inches. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool bread thoroughly before slicing or cubing.
You may want to double the recipe so you have fresh cornbread with butter for a meal and also the cornbread stuffing. Bake the cornbread the day before making stuffing so that the cornbread can easily be cut into cubes without crumbling. Substitute the cornbread for the breadcrumbs in the above recipe.
Variation 1: Add giblets to the cornbread stuffing. To do this, cook the heart and neck of the turkey 1 to 2 hours in a pot of water, simmering until tender. Add the liver during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Drain giblets, chop and add to the remaining ingredients in the above recipe.
Variation 2: Another variation of making stuffing with either recipe above is by using holiday cranberries. To the recipe, add two cups dried cranberries or 1 cup fresh cranberries to the stuffing ingredients.
You may also substitute the cranberries for 2 cups breadcrumbs, decreasing the breadcrumbs from 9 cups to 7 cups. And for a sweeter recipe, add 3 cups diced apples and 3/4 cup raisins.
Variation 3. For those who are in love or want to be more romantic, consider adding oysters to the stuffing. Simply decrease the total breadcrumbs from 9 cups to 8 cups and add 12 ounces chopped fresh oysters. If unable to find fresh ones, two 8-ounce cans will do. Just drain the oysters, chop finely and mix into the other ingredients.
See how fun making stuffing can be? No matter what type of stuffing you choose for your Christmas Dinner, any of these recipes will compliment a variety of vegetables or dessert.
