Stuffing (Dressing)

I recently made stuffing for the first time. Though now that I've done it, I feel as though I've been wasting bread all my life letting some of it mold and go to waste!  For this stuffing I have a mixture of some Whole Wheat rolls, some Honey Wheat, some Cornbread, Sourdough and some Ginger Bread.  This is an excellent use for all those bread ends.  Pop them in the freezer in anticipation of a delicious homemade stuffing!

Officially this is a dressing recipe as it will not find its way inside of a turkey. Therefore we can't really call it stuffing. But to alleviate the confusion that I might be drafting a recipe for something to gussy up a salad, I used both monikers.

You will need:

Old getting stale bread. No mold, please! You want the bread to be a little stale so it will soak up the liquid ingredients and hang on to the moisture without getting mushy. If you have bread you want to use, but it's not stale, stick it in the fridge overnight.

• 8 C of diced, torn up, piecy breads. Any flavor that suits your palate.
• 2 eggs beaten or use 1/2 C egg beaters
• 2 C chicken stock (or veggie or what have you) If you use plain water, you might want to add some additional flavor elsewhere.

Combine the above in a large mixing bowl. You can adjust the liquids. You want the entire mix to be moist and to be able to absorb the entire volume of liquid without any reserve (or you'll be making bread pudding, but that's another show). None should be very dry or you might be crunching at the table unintentionally. Save those fillings!

lightly saute or sweat:

• 1/2 to 1 onion (depending on your preferences)
• 2 T of butter (could probably use less, but would you want to?)
• celery (You could use more or less and the heart with its leaves are welcomed here) (could put right in dressing without softening, depends on the texture you want)
• Salt and Pepper (Kosher salt is really where it's at and freshly ground pepper. You wouldn't believe what a difference it makes from the table/preground variety. In fact, we no longer have the regular table variety and put grinders on our table... but to each their own)

Once the onions are translucent, add to the afore mentioned mix and place in a glass lasagne pan (9x13, what else is that pan called?). Or whatever will hold it's mass without spreading it too thin or too thick. Casarole pan, roasting pan? Is that what it's called? Anyway, use what you've got.

along with:

• 2 T chopped parsley (flat or curley)
• 1 T something else that you have fresh
• 1.5 T poultry seasoning
• If'n you likes sage, throw in some sage. You really can't mess this up.
• More Salt and Pepper

Actual volume of seasoning is really to taste. These are approximate. I used a combination of fresh and dried. Fresh thyme, fresh parsley, and fresh oregano 'cause I had them.

Now, you should have your oven at 325 or 350. Depending on whether you're making it share. We were making this for Chicken and Stuffing so it cooked nicely at 350. This will be baking for 40 minutes to an hour. You are looking for the entire mass to be hot and tasty.

To cover or not to cover. Depends on the texture you want. If everything needs to stay soft, then cover as it will keep the moisture from leaking out. If you want some crispy bits in there, leave uncovered (or some combination thereof). What we ended up doing was leaving uncovered, but then covering after taking it out of the oven. It softened some of the crispy bits while still allowing for a variation in texture.

Makes a bunch.

Enjoy!