Bread and butter stuffing with fresh sage

1 Servings

Ingredients

QuantityIngredient
2poundsWhite bread; sliced
½poundsWheat bread; sliced
poundsUnsalted butter
cupCelery; chopped
1cupApple; peeled and chopped
3cupsChicken stock; or turkey stock/H20
8Sprigs thyme; fresh
1cupDark raisins
30Leaves sage; stems removed
2tablespoonsSalt
10Turns pepper; freshly ground

Directions

1. The night before cooking, spread all the bread out in a single layer on sheet pans or towels and allow to dry out overnight.

2. The next morning, in a large bowl, break the bread into coarse 1-½ inch pieces (Don't worry about being precise) 3. Cut the sage leaves into thin stripps 4. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat, making sure not to burn it. Add the celery, onions and apple and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the stock or water. Increase the heat to moderate and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 3 minutes.

5. Pour the mixture over the bread. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs and add the leaves to the bread mixture. Add the sage to the bread mixture.

Add the raisins, salt and pepper, and mix well.

6. Either stuff a 14-16 pound turkey with the mixture and roast immediatly, or put the misture in a large roasting pan and cover with foil. If baking seperatly, bake the stuffing in a 375 deg oven, covered for 30 minutes.

Remove foil, bake for another 30 min and serve alongside roast turkey.

NOTES : Need to taste before adding the salt - I'm not sure if I used salted butter, or if it calls for too much salt. Can use much more sage.

"We like to cook this stuffing, in particular, outside of the bird, in a seperate pan; the chunks of bread achieve a crunchy, chewy texture that way. In fact the dish seems more like a delicious bread pudding than a stuffing. The amount of butter in the recipie may raise an eyebrow or two, but at holiday time, who's counting. Amazingly, the dish ends up tasting intensely buttery without being greasy. If you love the taste of butter, this highly unusual stuffing is for you." Recipe by: The Dean and DeLuca Cookbook Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #913 by "Karrie Brothers" <K_Brothers@...> on Nov 17, 97