The Stuffing Dreams Are Made Of

I have tried them all – stuffing and dressing recipes, that is. I’ve used sausages and ground meats of all kinds, mushrooms of every variety, I’ve sweated vegetables, made home-made stock, and dried my own fruits. I’ve done extensive research on what dressing is most American, I’ve interviewed people about regional ingredients and pondered cultural differences, all for the sacrament that is stuffing on Thanksgiving. And inside the bird or cooked outside the bird? This issue weighs as heavily on me as “Momma, is Santa Claus real?” This issue is more contentious than the discussion of politics at the holiday table, and is a question to which there is no easy, no right or wrong, answer.

It’s entirely up to you.

By choice, I am in charge of the stuffing for Thanksgiving and the December holidays we celebrate. I trust no one else to construct the carbohydrates, vegetables, proteins, and lipids so as to maximize the holiday flavor. I selfishly dictate what tradition tastes like, but I make no apologies. Stuffing is my favorite part of the meal, and no one has complained about the finished product, that is, since I simplified things and stopped my search for the perfect stuffing.

After my third child arrived, stuffing from scratch was more of a romantic notion than a tradition I was able to honor. Up all night with a two-month-old, falling asleep into my food mags and having an existential crisis over dried cranberries, I was forced into simplification. I reached for the box on Turkey Day. The box welcomed me like an old friend.

Optimist that I am, I had already purchased fresh vegetables, herbs, French bread (which my son had hollowed out like a mouse), Herbs de Provence, organic, low-sodium free range chicken stock, and the best quality extra virgin olive oil I could find for making the stuffing.

Fatigued and with a rodent for a son, what choice did I have? I combined ready-made with fresh; store-bought with home-made, and got it done. No one was the wiser, and the result was a stuffing dreams are made of – easy, yummy, and better the next day.

I chopped the mushrooms, celery and onions and sautéed them in the extra virgin olive oil. I made the Stove Top™ stuffing to package directions and threw in the crust of the French Bread my son/mouse was kind enough to leave behind. With that addition, turns out I needed the extra moisture of the chicken stock. Finally, I added fresh Italian parsley and Herbs de Provence and called it done.

A new tradition had been born. I highly recommend it, whatever the reason.

All my research, all of my experimentation led me to one clear outcome – the best food comes from the need to feed others, not ourselves.

My next project is finding and making the perfect pie crust. I am enthusiastic about the process, as I expect the journey to the pie crust truth will be, undoubtedly, as delicious as the journey to the stuffing of dreams.

And isn’t anticipating the meal as delicious as the meal itself?

It’s entirely up to you.

THANKSGIVING STUFFING
1 bunch celery, diced
2 cups Cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 sweet onion, diced fine
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Stove Top or other boxed stuffing, prepared to package instructions
Additional chopped French bread, if desired
1 32 oz. container chicken stock – use as much as desired for stuffing moisture level
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence

Sautee vegetables in extra virgin olive oil until onion is translucent. Add prepared stuffing, chicken stock, extra bread, and herbs.

Note: the boxed, prepared stuffing is simply a good background for whatever other flavors and ingredients you choose to add. Have fun, and don’t stress over it.

This article was written by Samantha Gianulis for Family Food Network.
(You may not reprint this article.)

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