Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

The blessing of dressing

There are no rules for making turkey's top side dish or for what it's called (stuffing, anyone?). So it's easy to find something to suit everyone.

I don't know anyone who doesn't like stuffing.

Or dressing. Or whatever you call it at your house.

But I know lots of folks who are particular about what goes into their stuffing.

With Thanksgiving days away, you may already know how you'll prepare the beloved bread melange. If not, rest easy. Whether using fresh or store-bought bread cubes, stuffing is one of the simplest dishes to tailor to your family's tastes. And because the ingredients are tumbled together, you don't have to worry about precision styling.

I grew up in a celery-onion family. The mention of oysters in stuffing made my mother shudder. Sausage was for breakfast. Quivering cranberries were served with ridge marks. Apples were for pie, usually store-bought. Chestnuts, hazelnuts and pine nuts? No, no and no.

The bread cubes came courtesy of Pepperidge Farm, whose cooks were kind enough to season them just the way we liked them. Or, at least, the only way we knew. Nevertheless, we all loved it, and I still do.

Mom always made extra stuffing, which we nibbled on before it was baked - What? Us worry about raw eggs? - and later when it was cold. We needed ample amounts for the Grossest Turkey Sandwich ever: turkey, stuffing, cranberry and mayonnaise on a sourdough roll. Oh yeah.

We thought we were innovative, but I see that combination periodically on deli menus now. Thanksgiving on a bun.

We called it stuffing, never dressing, which seems fancier and is more mannerly, when you think about it. That's because my mother stuffed the bird, a practice that's fallen from favor for safety reasons and a general decline in cooking knowledge.

The difference between stuffing and dressing is how it's cooked. Stuffing is cooked in the bird; dressing is baked separately. In the South, the savory bread dish is called dressing and more often than not made with corn bread.

Regional differences include more than the name, says Mike Zeller, corporate executive chef with Johnsonville in Sheboygan, Wis. Around Wisconsin, for instance, bratwurst and sausage, even chopped, cooked turkey giblets, are added to the mix.

"In New Jersey, they use a lot of sage," he says. "In South Carolina, it's corn bread stuffing. Louisiana likes andouille sausage. New Mexico uses blue corn bread with pine nuts, and New England loves oyster stuffing. And in Texas, they always serve a big pan of stuffing."

In Minnesota, land of many lakes and wild rice, stuffing sometimes doesn't mean bread at all but the earthy grass harvested from dugout canoes.

Stuffing is the word Zeller uses, too, even though he doesn't stuff the bird. That's the term he grew up with.

"It takes longer to cook the bird if you stuff it," Zeller says. "Why overcook the bird to get the stuffing done? Cook the bird perfectly and pour the juice over the stuffing."

If you stuff the bird, it's just one more temperature to remember. To kill bacteria that may have been transferred from the raw turkey to the uncooked bread mixture, the stuffing must reach 165 degrees. The breast meat is done at 170 degrees and the dark meat at 180.

Too much math for me.

John Pivar, executive chef of the Renaissance Vinoy Resort, doesn't like to stuff the turkey because he wants his stuffing to have lots of crispy bits. Baking it separately will get you that crunchy top and soft underlayer.

Rachael Ray of the Food Network makes "stuffing muffins" by mounding uncooked stuffing in greased muffin tins and baking them until crispy. Each diner will get plenty of the caramelized top in an individual serving.

If you use store-bought, seasoned bags of stuffing, the packages will have lots of suggestions to jazz them up. Options include dried or fresh cranberries; cooked sausage; nuts, including hazelnuts and pistachios; dried fruits; fresh apples; bacon, and mushrooms.

For enhanced flavor, saute vegetables before adding them to dry bread cubes. You want the veggies to have crunch but not be raw.

Use any kind of bread except airy white to make fresh bread cubes. Let the bread sit out uncovered overnight to dry. Or place slices on a baking sheet and dry them in a 225-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes. A mixture of bread, such as french, wheat and even hamburger rolls, makes an interesting stuffing.

I made a bushel from day-old Cuban bread using a recipe for Bacon, Apple, Sage and Caramelized Onions Stuffing. It was worth the effort, even if the 9-year-old turned up his nose, thankful only for the existence of Stove Top.

Forget his young taste buds, I thought it was good. How could you go wrong with a recipe that starts with 1 pound of bacon?

The one thing I would change is the 3 tablespoons of fresh sage cut in thin strips. Next time, I'll use 11/2 teaspoons of dried sage or maybe even the same amount of poultry seasoning. Sage for sure is the smell of Thanksgiving, but a bite of pungent leaf can be unpleasant.

This stuffing was even better the next day.

Additional tips for making stuffing/dressing from Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook by Leo Pearlstein and Lisa Messinger (Square One Publishers, $14.95):

You can use butter, margarine and vegetable oil (not olive oil) interchangeably according to your tastes. However, butter will deliver the best flavor.

Lightly grease the baking dish to prevent sticking. This also makes cleanup easier.

Meat must be thoroughly cooked before adding to mixture.

1 pound of bread makes 12 cups of bread cubes.

Plan on 3/4 to 1 cup of stuffing per person.

Leftover stuffing should be eaten within two days. Freezing is not recommended because texture and flavor will be compromised.

No doubt, stuffing rivals turkey as the star attraction on Thanksgiving. It's a bonus that stuffing can be as good out of the box as it is from scratch.

And that's the truth no matter what you call it.

Janet K. Keeler can be reached at 727 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com

1 pound bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips

6 medium onions, sliced thin (about 7 cups)

Salt

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups) (See note)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped fine

3 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, cut into thin strips

12 cups dried French or other white bread cubes

1 cup homemade turkey or chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cook the bacon in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp and browned, about 12 minutes.

Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Discard all but 3 tablespoons of the rendered fat.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook the onions until golden, making sure to stir them occasionally and scape the sides and bottom of the pan, about 20 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring more often to prevent burning, until the onions are a deep, golden brown, another 5 minutes.

Add the apples and cook 5 minutes.

Transfer the contents to a large bowl.

Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, the pepper, parsley and sage to the bowl and mix to combine. Add the bread cubes.

Whisk the stock and eggs together in a small bowl.

Pour the mixture over the bread cubes.

Gently toss to distribute the ingredients evenly.

Spread in greased 9- by 13-inch baking dish, dot with butter and cover with greased foil.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake until a golden brown crust forms on top of the stuffing, about 15 minutes longer.

Makes about 12 cups.

Source: "The New Best Recipe" by "Cook's Illustrated" magazine editors (America's Test Kitchen, $25).