Are you now un-stuffed from the Thanksgiving Holiday? I hope so because I am about to stuff your head full of ideas about stuffing. That is assuming you like stuffing as much as I do and you too are a lazy, cheap, and won’t use a recipe, type of cook like me. That is not me calling you names. All I am saying is that a lot of you like to save time and money and are looking for a different way of doing things. See it is all in the way you look at it and how you present it that makes anything enjoyable or not; right?
Since I have always been an “out of the box” cook, let us do that very thing. Take a box of Stove Top Stuffing Mix out of the box and look at it. What you see is bread crumbs with lots of different spices and seasonings. The directions on the side of the box tell you to heat and add a liquid. So for all you non lazy cooks out there this tell you, you can use any type of dried out fancy bread crumbs you want and add in what ever spices and seasonings suit your fancy. For that matter you can add any type of liquid you want also. You could even try a nice dry white wine if you wanted to beef up your turkey dressing.
Notice I switched from calling it stuffing and referred to our mixture as dressing. The only difference is that stuffing you stuff into or onto something. While dressing you serve as a side dish. It is the same stuff no matter if it is stuffed or dressed. Here is something else you may or may not know. You should not stuff your turkey before you cook it because the poultry juices run into the stuffing while cooking. This means you should cook your turkey to 180 to make sure the stuffing is at least 165. A turkey cooked to 180 may be a little dry. To do it right you should pull the bird out around 155 and then put the stuffing you have already cooked into the turkey cavity. Cover the bird and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
Stuffing and/or dressing is not just for turkeys or chickens. There are all kinds of different stuffing’s that compliment almost any main course. Remember stuffing is nothing more than bread crumbs, something for flavor, and a liquid. Let your mind run free. Why, I even tried oyster stuffing once. I must say that even though I do like oysters, I have to be in the mood to eat them. So when I was served oyster stuffing in a Thanksgiving turkey I was less than impressed. That was until a few years later while sitting at a bar with a couple of my buddies we decided that Jack Daniels and us needed a little food. What we did was order one serving of every appetizer the restaurant bar had. One of the orders was 6 stuffed mushroom caps. The stuffing was some type of seafood stuffing that I later found out was oyster dressing. I found that I liked oyster stuffing or dressing when served with Jack Daniels, but not so much when served with Thanksgiving turkey.
With this in mind I set out to try my luck at different combos of stuffing. However you have to understand these findings are based on my taste and we have already determined I am lazy and cheap.
Starting with the bread crumb thing, I have found that once you dry out the bread, add in all that liquid and flavoring, no matter how fancy the bread was to start with bread crumbs all taste the same. So I stick with the cheap, quick and easy stuff that comes in a box.
The liquid also can make a big difference in the outcome of your stuffing i.e. dressing. Having said that I also found that while wine does add a distinctive fruity flavor so does cheaper fruit juice. Next to water, remember I am cheap; my most used liquid in stuffing is chicken or vegetable stock.
As for the flavoring I try to match it with the main course of the meal. My version of seafood stuffed mushrooms caps is made with a box of Stove Top Stuffing Mix, vegetable stock, and a can of Chunk Light Tuna packed in water. I add in the whole can, water and all, with a palm full of Grated Parmesan Cheese. This stuffing I place in the mushroom cap, sprinkle on some more grated cheese and put everything under the broiler until the mushroom darkens and the cheese melts. The shot of Jack Daniels is optional but one that I prefer.
Now a favorite of; Stuffed Sausage Burger on a English Muffin.
Start by mixing one third 80/20 hamburger with two thirds sweet Italian sausage. Mix and press into thin patties and fry.
The stuffing I make with my Stove Top, water, and some vegetables that I have chopped very finely in the food processor. The vegetables can be anything I have on hand; onions, peppers, celery, eggplant, or what ever.
Now on a toasted English muffin I spread on some homemade 1000 island salad dressing, one sausage burger patty, my stuffing mix, Cheese of choice, and another sausage burger patty. In this case the lettuce and tomato are optional as well as the Jack Daniels.
There you have it; Stuffing 101 as per little old me. Keep in mind when it comes to stuffing and/or dressing you can never go wrong. After all if you do happen to screw up you can always cover up your faux paw with lots and lots of gravy.
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