Posted on 11/11/2022 11:30:00 AM PST by mylife
Whether you call it stuffing or dressing, the broth-soaked bread dish is a Thanksgiving must-have. Though it’s not advisable to stuff the turkey with anything, it’s commonly agreed upon that “dressing” is always made with cornbread, and “stuffing” is usually made with a white bread of some kind—usually sandwich bread. But no matter what kind of bread you start with, it has to be ready to receive liquid, and that is accomplished by either drying or staling. A lot of recipes recommend you stale your bread rather than dry it, but I think fully-dried bread gives your stuffing a better texture (and it takes less time).
What’s the difference between drying and staling? Drying is the simple act of removing as much moisture as you can from your bread, usually in a low-temp oven, resulting in cracker-y, crispy cubes. Staling is a little different: Moisture does evaporate, but it also migrates from swollen starch granules into the airy spaces in the crumb and into the bread’s crust. Those starches then realign and recrystallize without the moisture, resulting in bread that is dry, but not crisp. Instead of crispy little cubes, you get leathery, chewy pieces that are less able to absorb broth, which is not what I personally want in my favorite bread-based side dish
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Aw, heck, not so close to suppertime! Now it's...craving...must have turkey samwich...must have...
don’t forget the gravy!!
Gesundheit, and never sneeze over food prep. Seriously though, that Post #46 recipe sounds delicious.
For the past few years I've been making a huge pot of soup using the turkey bones, unused giblet stuff and leftover meat approaching it's unsafe date. Simmered most of a day before the bones and inedible parts are strained out and meat replaced. Adding corn, rice, peas and carrots with sage, paprika and poultry seasoning finishes it off. Chicken broth mixed in to lighten density if needed.
Suck on that, "Progresso" John Lithgow.
My mother used to cook up the giblets and Turkey neck with onions, celery, thyme, bay leaf and sage and then use this broth to moisten the stuffing and make the gravy. You can cut up the cooked giblets and add them to the stuffing if you like. I have modernized this by using my pressure cooker to make the broth. My grandmother added baking powder to the stuffing before putting into the bird to make the stuffing fluffier.
added baking powder to the stuffing before putting into the bird to make the stuffing fluffier.
I have never heard of this.
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