The Old Folks Home

[Beer can]

We call it stuffing cooked in a pan, regular bread, I've heard it called both
I like it dry and crunchy but I put gravy or drippings on it.

 

[Latestarter]

Hmmmm much to consider. I make stuffing, not dressing. It's been many decades since I had "dressing" and nearest I can recall it was very dry, hard, and essentially tasted like funky flavored cornbread...

I like cornbread, specially with just plain butter on it, but the dressing I had... not so much, sorry

Sorry, but really unimpressed with polenta as well.

Mine (stuffing) goes in the bird (also gets eaten raw

which leaves less room for eating when the meal is done). Any extra will go in a pan with either butter, turkey grease (gravy) or excess skin from the bird on top for flavor and then gets baked. Decades and decades ago when I was a kid, my mom would cook/dice up the innards to add to the stuffing, but switched over to using lean hamburger to add flavor and save time, so that's what I use now. I've never really been a fan of the texture or flavor of cooked guts. I do use them to make soup/stock along with the necks then they go to the dogs. The dogs love em... but then dogs love a LOT of things that I wouldn't eat....

I start by staling a large loaf of bread for 3-5 days before turkey day. Soak about 1/2 - 3/4 of stale bread in very cold water till squishy, then squeeze as much water out as possible, crunch/crumble up the remainder of the stale bread and mix in (not to dust, but leaving almost like crouton size). More crumbs = dryer stuffing, less = moister. You can (I often do) also use different breads for different textures/flavors. Add in diced celery, diced onion, poultry seasoning (or combinations of sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, touch of nutmeg), little garlic powder, parsley, salt (I use celery salt for part), pepper, cooked ground beef (seasoned with onion powder and garlic powder), 4-6 raw eggs (binding agent). When it's all said and done, the stuffing is about 1/2 bread and the remaining 1/2 is mostly the veggies and hamburger. When cooked inside the turkey to perfection, it should come out moist but not soggy, and the celery should still have just a bit of "crunch" to it. All the herbs add flavor to the bird as well.

The gravy is made from the turkey drippings and all associated stuff in the pan (stuffing over flow etc.). Take some white flour, whisk in boiling water, then add to the drippings in the turkey pan and heat to boiling on the stove top, whisking continuously while cooking. If there's a lot of "big" stuff, I'll strain out the gravy, otherwise the whole batch gets poured into a bowl and Yummm! It gets used liberally on just about everything on the plate!

Hope everybody was able to leave the table with full bellies yesterday! We have a lot of blessings here to be thankful for. SCG, Hope you and BF get a chance to sit down to a "Thanksgiving like" meal sooner rather than later. Thanks for working holidays and looking out for our Veterans!

 

[chickadoodles]

Wow it sounds like everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Scg I did not cook a dinner either. Since it was just us 2 we went to Ryan's for dinner. They had everything you could have wanted.

If it is just us for Christmas I will cook something up.

Scg and dsqard It sounds like your next project will be very pretty.

We finished up dinner last night and while we were in T-town I wanted to pick up some fabric to save money on shipping. I found some pretty pieces.
DH picked up some minion's fabric.

 

[perchie.girl]

@Wisher1000

How about chopping egg seperately then putting it in the hot dressing as it comes out of the microwave. Oh wait is it fluffy or is it set like a pie..

we use Mrs Cubbisons. http://www.mrscubbisons.com/products/traditional-seasoned-stuffing.php And follow the instructions on the box.

deb

 

[chickadoodles]

Bunnylady your pie does look wonderful!

 

[bamadude]

Thats what bunnyman said

 

[Bunnylady]

Thats what bunnyman said

Hey, you didn't think he puts up with me just because of my sense of humor, did you?

 

[Wisher1000]

Behave, Dude......

Look at my new table runner! It is beautiful and goes perfectly on my breakfast table. It is a gift from a friend and will have a special place in my home and in my heart from now on!

There's a smaller one just like it that I have on a small table. It looks nice there but may get moved. So pretty!

 

[Alaskan]

I like my dressing moist.. No crisp anything (the multiple sticks of butter help ) I make it just like my dad's mom made it... She was fifth generation Texas German from the hill country of Texas.

Wisher... I couldn't save "just for eating"cornbread... Since I tend to make it more spoon bread than cornbread, with cheese and whole corn and jalepeno juice. None of those types of cornbread would be good for dressing. Dressing needs plain, nothing fancy, cornbread.

 

[getaclue]

I will be cooking most of our Thanksgiving meal tonight, and we will have it tomorrow. Dh usually works holidays, and it's pointless to celebrate without him. For cornbread dressing, cook the cornbread several days ahead of time in a cast iron skillet, and let it dry out. Dried out stale bread works better too. When they've dried out, they absorb more broth, thus better flavor. I think stuffing is cooked outside the bird, and dressing is inside, however, the bird only holds so much, so we always put the rest of the stuffing around the outside of the bird, about half way up the roasting pan and it absorbed the juices too. My grandfather, and I were always the only ones that like the inside dressing, while the rest of the family ate the outside stuffing. Of course, it could be the other way around, stuffing inside and dressing outside, and we were calling it the wrong thing all these years. Just so it tastes good, and isn't dried out, I don't care what you call it. Wouldn't it be funny if it was stuffing until cooked, then it became dressing? For the green bean casserole, instead of using just cream of mushroom, I like to add a can of golden mushroom too. I've made it several times just using the golden mushroom instead, and it is excellent. I use golden mushroom for several things, but it really adds to the flavor of green bean casserole.