Humble Writer Publishes Secret Famous Thanksgiving Sage Stuffing Recipe
Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010
by Marty RicKard
I am a humble person, but not when it come to my Thanksgiving sage dressing. It simply is the best I have tasted anywhere in the world. That may seem un-humble, but it is true. I will share that recipe with you now. The ingredients are listed at the end of the article for reasons of formatting.
Not only does this dressing (or stuffing) dance on your taste buds, but it is loads of fun for the entire family and in ours it has become a tradition. Children and grandkids sit around a holiday table crunch dried bread, chop, stir and mix with clean bare hands. That is a pure joy. The children also can use spoons if less fun is desired.
Before you begin, open the bottle of cabernet, pour medium-sized glass and take a drink.
Get one huge pan, one large skillet and a sauce pan capable of holding giblets.
Boil giblets in sauce pan until they say uncle. Let cool, then pick from bone, chop into pieces the size of large almonds and toss into large skillet. Drink more wine, fill glass when necessary.
Simmer giblets in the butter along with finely chopped (fc) onions, fc apple, fc celery and fc mushrooms, after five minutes add lemon juice and chicken soup, and cup of chicken broth. Now add all seasoning except sage. This would be your thyme, poultry seasoning, salt, black pepper and parsley. Mush chicken soup around a little but don't worry if it is lumpy. Let simmer another ten minutes, stir, then cool. This will be a bold flavor, but remember it will mellow in the bread. Drink wine.
The night before you will have spread the bread slices all around the house to dry out. Anyway it needs to be really dry so it will absorb your flavors. You also can buy croutons, but that's usually bland and tasteless bread which adds nothing to the flavor or texture.
Now comes the fun part, excluding the wine drinking, of course. Take a big bowl, even bigger than you think. Let the kids gather up all the bread and crumble it up into chunks no larger than a poker chip and dump them into the large pan. Add a ton of sage as you put the bread in. Mix sage throughout. Drink more wine.
Pour skillet mixture over the bread and mix well. The kids will love this part. Then add chicken broth from 32 oz. can until the mixture can be formed into sort of dry balls, better too wet than too dry, in my opinion. Now taste and add anything you feel is lacking. At this point, I usually add more sage. Try lemon juice in small amounts or vinegar in smaller amounts as a salt substitute. Taste mixture until it is perfect. Drink wine.
Now stuff turkey cavity and under breast skin. Put remainder of dressing in large greased casserole dish for baking. Bake extra at 375 for about an hour.
My feeling about dressing is that you can't make too much. Good dressing is my favorite leftover. I freeze it in small bags and thaw when I get the cravings. It lasts forever in freezer.
I don't have any secrets for cooking turkey. I pour all of the excess broth (left from dressing project) into the turkey pan and roast it breast up. I slap a little olive oil on the skin, salt it and tent it with foil. Cook more or less by the USDA rule-of-thumb, which is four to five hours for a twenty pound bird. But I always use a meat thermometer. I want the dressing or stuffing to be 165 degrees, and the thigh meat in the 180 range. The thigh joint should feel loose. Nothing is worse than a dry turkey, however. If it is too rare, you can always nuke it for a few minutes. Nuking only enhances the flavor. I remove the tent about the last hour and watch the turkey frequently to check for a nice golden brown appearance. I baste the turkey with the drippings. Save your foil tent and if the turkey gets too brown, replace the tent and tighten it over the breast.
Remove the bird, pour drippings into a big sauce pan, degrease if necessary, then make gravy. I add a little lemon juice and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard to the broth then thicken with corn starch mixed in cold chicken broth. I never use water in my cooking, always chicken broth, even in pasta, or rice. I even boil my mashed potatoes in broth and use it to make gravy. One last tip: Don't spill any of the cabernet in the dressing.
Ingredients:
2 large loaves of good bread with texture, but not seasoned with rye, etc. I like a large loaf of white and a large loaf of wheat. The white soaks up the flavor and the wheat offers its own nice texture.
1 large Granny Smith apple, skin on
1 small can mushroom bits and pieces
1 large white onion, more if desired
3 big stalks celery
2 sticks butter, no margarine
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Turkey giblets
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 large can chicken broth, I think it is 32 oz
1 bottle of cabernet sauvignon
Lots of sage. I think this is the KEY. I love a bold sage flavor in my dressing. I add to taste. In a batch this size I would use at least of a bottle or more, bottle being three inches tall and contain .5 ounce. I would have a second bottle on hand.
Optional (1 pound sausage) I have used it, but the main flavor of sauSAGE is, guess what-sage, so lately I have skipped the negatives of sausage, like grease, and opted for extra sage. If you use sausage, simmer, drain and crumble. It's great, but cholesterolly.
Marty RicKard Bio
Marty RicKard attended William Penn College , Iowa State University and University of Southern Mississippi , from which he holds a BS degree in journalism and photojournalism. He also has a Masters Degree in photography, in addition to the Craftsman, CPP, and A-ASP degrees. Marty spent two years as a technical writer for White Motor Company, and has worked for the Charles City Press, Mason City Globe-Gazette, and Davenport Times-Democrat. He was co-owner of the weekly New Sharon Star, where he was twice named Iowa Master Columnist for his article, which was syndicated in twenty Iowa newspapers. For more than a decade Marty's regular column appeared in the Professional Photographer magazine. He has been published in many other magazines and newspapers, including Writer's Digest, Writer Advice, Golf Digest, Resource Magazine, Picture, Range Finder, and Darkroom. In addition to his writing credits, Marty has won numerous photography awards, has lectured in 48 states, and has traveled internationally as lecturer, and judge. He was one of thirty from the U.S. to participate in the first cultural exchange with China in 1986. He currently is a regular columnist for Lens Magazine, and a full-time writer of fiction and poetry. He is the author of two poetry books and one volume of short stories. He is an entertaining speaker. And an avid cook.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Welcome back, Marty! I haven't seen you in a while. Your article had me laughing and checking the calendar to see how long until Thanksgiving. Well done.Dear Lorrie: Thank you for the nice comments. I've been working for the Tea Party, so have been pretty busy. I think we are winning, however. Best, Marty RicKard
I'd say you are an entertaining chef, also, Marty! This is a fabulous read - in fact it felt more like a short movie! Thanks.Dear Jennifer: My dressing (stuffing) is more like a long movie. I always make lots of it because I love the left overs. I actually need a dressing "fix" about once a month. Grab a baggie from the freezer, nuke it and wow. Great with chicken or pork chops. Bless you, Marty RicKard
My, my, my - a fun article! When were you at Iowa State? I do apple in my dressing and occasionally some apple cider... yum! By the way - humility is being willing to be known for who you are - strengths and weaknesses! Having been pulled feet first out of a bottle about 25 years ago I will pass on the wine drinking part of this recipe. GRIN.Dear Marijo: Nice to hear from you. I have long been your fan. I attended Iowa State long before you were born.It was 1957 and '58. God Bless you, and the wine is not mandatory. I understand. Keep up your excellent work. Best, Marty RicKardI think you are all too kind - I was born in 1946 and at ISU in 1964=1966! My younger sister graduated from ISU in 1970 - I changed majors and schools. My nephew and brother-in-law are ISU grads too. As my hubby said recently "we're too YOUNG to be this old!"
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