Thanksgiving Turkey Stuffing?

Question

I will be cooking for twenty people. I am pretty good cook but I have never done turkey stuffing. I am also barbecuing the turkey on my weber. I need the best recipe for a turkey stuffing. Please help.

Answer 1

Stuffing or Dressing? Two different things.

When I stuff my turkey I use aeromatic herbs and veggies. I add a couple of lemons too, the citrus is incredible with turkey.

My mom used to make a cornbread dressing with onions, celery and poultry seasoning to taste. It's what Thanksgiving is all about. She'd make cornbread from a mix and let it cool. Then she'd grind onions and celery into an almost slurry. I'd say one med onion and 4 stalks celery for every cornbread mix made. She'd saute the onion and celery till the onion was translucent. She always used lots and lots of butter, again at least one cube per cornbread mix. Once the onion was clear, shed combine the veggies w/ the cornbread and use turke stock or chicken stock to make it a loose consistency. She added enough poultry seasoning to taste (varies by personal taste) and salt. She'd bake till golden on top. Very good for any poultry or pork chops.

In lieu of chicken stock you can use a nice dry white wine as well. That would add a little dimension to the dressing.

Have fun with it.

Answer 2

I make my own dressing, using plain bread cubes, eggs, stock, white wine, crumbled bacon, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and fresh never dried parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Like the first poster, I stuff the actual bird with aromatics and serve the dresssing on the side. The reason is that for the dressing to be cooked to a safe temperature, it has to reach 180 degrees internal; and if your white meat gets that hot it will be bone dry. I try to cook my bird so that the dark meat gets to 180 but the white meat is closer to 165 or 170. You can't do that if it's stuffed.