Is there a difference between stuffing and dressing? It all comes down to inside the bird versus outside. Most people use the term stuffing when it is stuffed inside the bird and dressing when it is served alongside the bird. Again, it is just a matter of preference. Whether it is stuffing or dressing, it really does not matter as I can’t imagine a turkey meal without it. I use the term stuffing and dressing interchangeably. Southerners prefer the term dressing.  

Whether it is stuffing or dressing, the ingredients used varies from coast to coast.  The ingredients ranges from the kind of filling used to make the bulk of the stuffing to the aromatics for flavor. In the south cornbread dressing is especially popular. Oysters are popular in the coastal plains along with sausages. In the

When it comes to stuffing/dressing, I have done quite a few improvisations over the years.  I love wild rice dressing with cranberries and nuts, oyster dressing with sausages, cornbread with Andouille sausage. Basically I love them all! However the picky eaters of my family are traditionalist; well Steve is the traditionalist as Nick does not care for dressing at all! I usually end up making a sage dressing as that is Steve’s all time favorite.

I used to stuff the dressing in the bird but as the turkey gets bigger each year, I find it much faster to just bake it separately; however, I will at least stuff the neck cavity. Baking the stuffing/dressing in and out of the bird does make a difference as I find stuffing baked in the bird more moist and flavorful as it absorbs all the flavors from the turkey. I just make sure I add more butter and broth to the dressing if I bake it outside of the bird.

Mei’s Thanksgiving Sage Dressing 

2 loaves Italian or French bread, remove crust, cut into ½-inch cubes. “Air dry” for two days in unheated oven or toast in preheated 325ºF oven for 30 minutes

1 cup milk plus a little more

3 cups yellow onions, finely chopped

2 cups celery, ½-inch dice

3 cups button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 cups chestnuts, boiled, remove skin and roughly chopped

5 tablespoon olive oil

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter plus 6 tablespoon, divided

6 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon savory, dried or fresh

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth, to moisten

Method

Place milk in large bowl and add in the bread cubes to soak. If cubes are still too dry, add several tablespoons at a time until bread cubes are sufficiently moistened.

In large heavy skillet, heat olive oil over medium high-heat. Sauté mushroom until lightly golden brown and liquid from mushrooms have evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet melt butter and sauté onions until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the celery and continue to sauté for about 3 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to soften. Next add in the parsley, chestnuts, sage, thyme, and savory. Continue to sauté for another 3 minutes until vegetables are tender. Stir in soften bread cubes and season to taste with salt and pepper. If dressing is too dry, add in some chicken broth to moisten. If planning to stuff bird, cool stuffing completely before stuffing.

If baking in oven, place dressing in casserole dish, dot with 6 tablespoon butter. Bake covered in preheated oven at 375ºF for 30 minutes and another 15 minutes uncovered until top is golden brown.

Serves about 8

Note: Dressing can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated until ready to stuff or baked in the oven.

Herbed Oyster Stuffing

Taken from Gourmet

2 loaves Italian or French bread (1 lb total), cut into ¾-inch cubes (12 cups)

½ pound sliced bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces

2-3 tablespoon olive oil (if needed)

2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)

1-½ cups chopped celery

3 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried, crumbled

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoon dried, crumbled

1 tablespoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1 stick (2 cups) unsalted butter, melted

18 oysters, shucked, drained and chopped (3/4 cup)

Method

Preheat oven to 325ºF.

Spread bread cubes in 2 shallow baking pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until golden, 25 to 30 minutes total. Cool bread in pans on racks, and then transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, reserving fat in skillet. If bacon renders less than 1/4 cup fat, add enough oil to skillet to total 1/4 cup fat.

Cook onions, celery, thyme, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper in fat in skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to bowl with bread cubes, then stir in bacon, parsley, butter, and oysters. Drizzle with stock, then season with salt and pepper and toss well. Transfer stuffing to a buttered 3- to 3 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Bake, covered, in middle of oven 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until browned, about 30 minutes more.           
Note:  Stuffing can be assembled (without oysters and not baked) 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature and stir in oysters before baking.

Serves 8

Cornbread Dressing with Cranberries and Sausage

8 cups cubed homemade or store bought corn bread

2 cups pecans

6 leeks (white and pale green parts only)

4 celery ribs, diced

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

½ pound sweet Italian sausage

2 cups fresh cranberries

¼ cup sugar

½ cup packed chopped Italian parsley leaves

2 cups chicken broth

Method

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Place cubed corn bread on 2 large baking sheet pans and bake in middle of oven until just dry, about 20 minutes. Transfer corn bread from 1 pan to a large bowl and set the second pan aside. In emptied pan toast pecans in oven until insides are golden about 10 -15 minutes.

Remove first outer leaf off leeks. Halve lengthwise and cut crosswise into ½-inch pieces. Wash leeks well in cold water and lift from water into a sieve to drain. Heat a large heavy skillet on medium heat; cook leeks and celery in butter with salt and pepper to taste until leeks are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Remove sausage from casings and break into small pieces. Add sausage to leek mixture and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until sausage is cooked through.

Meanwhile cook cranberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until cranberries begin to burst.

To bowl of corn bread add remaining corn bread cubes, pecans, sausage mixture, cranberries, parsley, broth, salt and pepper to taste; toss together. Cool stuffing completely if planning to stuff turkey.

If planning to bake, place stuffing in shallow baking dish, bake stuffing covered in preheated 350ºF oven for 45 minutes for moist stuffing. If prefer to have a slightly crusty top of stuffing, bake stuffing covered for 30 minutes, uncover and continue to bake for another 15 minutes or until top is brown.

Note: Stuffing may be made one day ahead, chilled and covered.

Serves 8

Gravy adds extra oomph to a perfectly roasted turkey. Gravy is also like the cherry on top of an ice cream in mashed potatoes. Nothing beats homemade gravy. It starts with the drippings of roasted meats, in this case turkey, thicken with added butter and flour and then combined with wine or broth (homemade best)  produces a sinfully delicious gravy. I do recommend making your own broth to get a richer flavor. I have included a quick turkey stock recipe if you do not have time.

Quick Turkey Stock 

2 tablespoon butter

8 cups chicken broth

3 unpeeled carrots, washed and cut into three

3 celery stalks, cut into chunks

1 peeled large onion, washed and quartered

1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, stems and all, rinsed

Reserved turkey neck, heart and gizzard

Method

In a large saucepan, sauté turkey neck, heart, and gizzard over medium-high heat until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add chicken broth, carrots, celery, onion, and parsley, bring ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for about 1 ½ -2 hours. Transfer neck, heart, and gizzard to plate. Strain stock and cool. If planning to add giblet to gravy, pull meat from turkey neck. Chop up the meat, heart and gizzard. Store in container separately from broth.

Note: Stock can be made 3 days in advance.

Makes about 3 ½ cups

Thyme Giblet Gravy

1 cup dry white wine

6 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 ½ cups turkey stock, homemade or store bought

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Reserved cooked chopped turkey neck meat, giblets and heart

Method

Skim all of the fat from the roasting pan juices, reserving 1/3 cup of the fat, and add the wine to the pan. Deglaze the pan over moderately high heat, scraping up the brown bits, and boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. In a saucepan combine the reserved fat and the flour and cook the roux over moderately low heat, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add the stock and the wine mixture in a stream, whisking, and simmer the gravy, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in chopped thyme and the reserved cooked giblets and neck meat, chopped, and salt and pepper to taste, simmer the gravy for 2 minutes, and transfer it to a heated sauceboat.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

There is absolutely no reason or excuse to buy canned cranberry sauce. It is so easy to make your own cranberry sauce; just add water, sugar, and cranberries to a saucepan, bring to a boil and you know it is ready when the cranberries starts to pop and the sauce thickens. To make cranberry sauce more interesting, try adding some juice, spices, and even alcohol such as bourbon or orange flavored liqueur. Fresh cranberry relish is just as delicious with addition of fruits, either dry or fresh, with some nuts, and spices.

Orange-Flavored Cranberry Sauce

Here is a simple cranberry sauce. 

1 12-ounce bag cranberries, rinsed

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup orange juice

4 tablespoon Grand Marnier or other orange flavored liqueur 

Method

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Place cranberries in a glass 8×8 baking dish. Mix in sugar and orange juice. Cover mixture tightly with foil. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour. Uncover and stir in liqueur. Cool sauce and refrigerate.

Note: Sauce can be made up to one week ahead.

Makes 2 cups

Grandma Kieser’s Cranberry Relish

This is Steve’s grandmother cranberry recipe. I have taken a few liberties with this recipe to come up with my own version.

1 12 ounce bag cranberries

2 teaspoon orange zest

1 large orange, peeled, pith, and segmented

2 cups sugar

1 Fuji apple, pared and cut into ½-inch dice

½ cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

2 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup raisins

Method

Place cranberries, orange zest and sugar in food processor and roughly chop using on/off button. Transfer chopped mixture to a bowl and mix in apples, orange, walnuts and raisins. Cover and refrigerate.

Note be made 3 days ahead.

Makes about 6 cups