Do you know the difference between dressing and stuffing? There’s very little. It depends on how you cook it but people use the term interchangeably unless you are in the South. Then apparently it’s “dressing” no matter how you cook it. Stuffing is dressing that’s “stuffed” into the turkey and cooked. Dressing is cooked in its own dish, technically speaking, but they are virtually the same.
Whether you call it stuffing or dressing, there’s always a place for the side dish on my Thanksgiving table. One of my favorite ways of eating leftover stuffing/dressing is to layer it with mashed potatoes, turkey and gravy in a bowl. Yum!
I’ve made a variety of stuffing and/or dressing recipes over the years: Cornbread and sausage (stuffing that wasn’t stuffed), slow-cooker (stuffing), and bacon and biscuit (dressing).
This year’s recipe is from Penzey’s magazine and sent to me by my grandma. It’s classic really. Sour dough bread, sausage, herbs, onion and celery.
ingredients.
- 2 sourdough baguettes, cut into large 1-1 ½-inch cubes (about 9 cups)
- 12 to 16 oz bulk pork sausage (I used hot)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 2 c. turkey stock (chicken or vegetable is fine too)
- ½ c. buttermilk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 T. fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp. dried Thyme)
- 1 T. fresh sage leaves, chopped (or 1 tsp. rubbed sage)
- 2 T. Italian parsley, chopped (or 1 T. dried parsley flakes)
- 3 sprigs rosemary, removed from stalk and chopped (or 1 tsp. cracked rosemary)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
directions.
- Preheat oven to 250°. Spread the bread cubes out on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake the cubes to dry them out for about 40 to 50 minutes.
- In a large skillet, cook the sausage, onion and celery until the sausage is browned.
- In a medium bowl, combine the turkey stock, buttermilk, egg, herbs, salt and pepper. Pour into the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add the dry bread cubes and mix. Spread in a lightly greased 9×13 glass pan. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°. Stir the stuffing gently if it looks dry. Bake the dressing, covered, for about 45 minutes, then remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes longer to brown the top. Vary your time if you need to adjust the temperature based on other dishes you are baking. Check the temperature to ensure the mixture is 160 degrees.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 