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Side dish is nearly as important to annual feast as the big bird itself
By Lisa Abraham
Beacon Journal food writer
POSTED: 02:02 p.m. EST, Nov 18, 2008
Call it stuffing, call it dressing or call it filling — just make sure you've got plenty of it when you call everyone to the table on Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is turkey's day to shine, but the stuffing competes for star billing in this annual meal of meals.
There are as many ways to prepare stuffing as there are families with traditions.
For some families, not an ounce of sage can differ from year to year in the recipe. For others, the dressing changes with the times and who is preparing it that year.
Chef David Russo, owner of Russo's Restaurant in Cuyahoga Falls, and his wife prepare Thanksgiving dinner each year for 20 to 30 relatives, friends and strays.
He always has two kinds of stuffing on the table, but they vary depending on his mood.
''Basically, we do an Italian version that we grew up with and a Southern one, a cornbread dressing that everybody eats the heck out of,'' Russo said.
His cornbread dressing varies from year to year. One version that was a big hit involved roasted eggplant, shrimp and tasso, a Cajun ham.
Russo, a North Hill native who spent 11 years honing his skills in New Orleans kitchens, said stuffing recipes in Louisiana can get unusual. ''They use a lot of different things down there. A lot of people in Louisiana use oysters,'' he said.
As a nod to his Italian heritage, Russo has experimented with meat stuffings, including one with veal, spinach and mushrooms, seasoned with Parmesan cheese, which also works well in duck. But typically he ends up making a bread stuffing with chestnuts to please the traditionalists in the family.
''It's all about the stuffing,'' Tom Loraditch, executive chef for Akron's West Point Market, said of the Thanksgiving holiday. Loraditch said he looks forward to stuffing more than turkey.
He admits that stuffing is one of the dishes he doesn't get a lot of questions about from customers. Most have standard recipes they've been using for years.
''That's one of those things that are a family tradition, a recipe or technique is passed down from generations. This is the way my mom did it and that's the way she learned it from her mom, and so this is the way we do it,'' he said.
This year, he's turning the store's signature 10 Grain Bread and mild Italian sausage into a stuffing studded with chestnuts.
As a shortcut, Loraditch is using Roland brand jarred chestnuts that are already blanched and peeled. ''All they have to do is chop them up,'' he said. Fresh chestnuts that have been blanched and peeled can be substituted.
Loraditch advocates not stuffing the turkey, but rather baking the stuffing separately as a side dish. He believes the turkey roasts more evenly un-stuffed and there is less chance of food poisoning from the bird not reaching a safe temperature.
Instead, Loraditch stuffs his turkey with large chunks of carrot, celery, onion and a sachet bag of herbs, which he later removes and discards.
CLASSIC BREAD STUFFING WITH SAGE AND THYME
12 tbsp. (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
4 ribs celery, chopped fine
2 onions, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp. minced fresh sage or 2 tsp. dried
3 tbsp. minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1 tbsp. minced fresh marjoram or 1 tsp. dried
3 lbs. high-quality white sandwich bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and dried (see note)
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the celery and onions and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme and marjoram and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a very large bowl.
Add the dried, cooled bread, broth, eggs, salt and pepper to the vegetables and toss to combine. Turn the mixture into a buttered 10-by-15-inch baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until golden, about 30 minutes or longer. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 12 to 16 servings.
Note: To dry bread for stuffing, you can leave the bread cubes on the counter for a few days to become stale. Otherwise, spread them on a baking sheet and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 60 minutes. Let the bread cool before using in the stuffing.
— The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
WILD RICE STUFFING WITH PEARL ONIONS, DRIED CHERRIES AND APRICOTS
6 tbsp. butter, divided
18 oz. pearl onions, cooked in boiling water 1 minute and peeled
41/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
3 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, divided
11/4 cups wild rice
11/4 cups long-grain white rice
6 oz. dried apricots
1 cup dried tart cherries
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans, toasted, chopped
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until brown, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
Bring broth and 1 tablespoon thyme to boil in a large saucepan. Add wild rice; return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add white rice; cover and simmer until all rice is tender and liquid is almost absorbed, about 15 minutes longer.
Stir dried apricots, dried cherries, raisins, and remaining 2 tablespoons thyme into rice mixture; cover and simmer 3 minutes. Stir pearl onions and remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into rice. Mix in pecans. Season generously with salt and pepper.
To bake stuffing in a turkey: Loosely fill main turkey cavity with cooled stuffing. Butter glass baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered aluminum foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 20 minutes.
To bake all of the stuffing in a dish: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-by-2 inch glass baking dish. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with buttered aluminum foil, buttered side down, and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
— The Bon Appetit Cookbook, Barbara Fairchild
TEN GRAIN STUFFING WITH SAUSAGE AND CHESTNUTS
1 lb. West Point Market Ten Grain Bread for Stuffing
8 oz. mild Italian bulk sausage
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup yellow onion, diced
2 tbsp. herbs de Provence
1/4 Roland brand blanched chestnuts (see note)
4 cups chicken stock (see note)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium high heat, chopping into small pieces. When the sausage is half cooked, add the celery, onion, herbs and chestnuts. Continue cooking, stirring frequently until the celery and onion are tender.
Place the stuffing bread in a large mixing bowl, add the sausage mixture and the chicken stock. Stir well. Place the stuffing into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, greased with butter. Dot the top of the stuffing with the remaining butter and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Note: Loraditch recommends More Than Gourmet brand nstock, which is made in Akron. He also suggests using Roland brand chestnuts, because they come in a jar already peeled and blanched.
— Executive chef Tom Loraditch, West Point Market
SHRIMP-EGGPLANT DRESSING
8 strips bacon, diced
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 lb. diced ham
3 cups diced onion
2 cups diced red bell pepper
2 cups diced celery
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
4 eggplants, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 lbs. small raw shrimp
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. Creole seasoning
3 cups cornbread, processed in food processor and dried out on a sheet pan overnight
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chicken stock
In a skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Add butter, ham, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and eggplant. Cook stirring until eggplant is soft.
Add in shrimp, herbs, and seasonings. Cook over medium heat until shrimp turns pink. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in stock, eggs, and cornbread crumbs.
Stuff into bird, or spoon into greased casserole dish. Roast turkey as usual or, if baking in a casserole, bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Makes 8 servings.
— Chef David Russo, Russo's Restaurant
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
Call it stuffing, call it dressing or call it filling — just make sure you've got plenty of it when you call everyone to the table on Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is turkey's day to shine, but the stuffing competes for star billing in this annual meal of meals.
There are as many ways to prepare stuffing as there are families with traditions.
For some families, not an ounce of sage can differ from year to year in the recipe. For others, the dressing changes with the times and who is preparing it that year.
Chef David Russo, owner of Russo's Restaurant in Cuyahoga Falls, and his wife prepare Thanksgiving dinner each year for 20 to 30 relatives, friends and strays.
He always has two kinds of stuffing on the table, but they vary depending on his mood.
''Basically, we do an Italian version that we grew up with and a Southern one, a cornbread dressing that everybody eats the heck out of,'' Russo said.
His cornbread dressing varies from year to year. One version that was a big hit involved roasted eggplant, shrimp and tasso, a Cajun ham.
Russo, a North Hill native who spent 11 years honing his skills in New Orleans kitchens, said stuffing recipes in Louisiana can get unusual. ''They use a lot of different things down there. A lot of people in Louisiana use oysters,'' he said.
As a nod to his Italian heritage, Russo has experimented with meat stuffings, including one with veal, spinach and mushrooms, seasoned with Parmesan cheese, which also works well in duck. But typically he ends up making a bread stuffing with chestnuts to please the traditionalists in the family.
''It's all about the stuffing,'' Tom Loraditch, executive chef for Akron's West Point Market, said of the Thanksgiving holiday. Loraditch said he looks forward to stuffing more than turkey.
He admits that stuffing is one of the dishes he doesn't get a lot of questions about from customers. Most have standard recipes they've been using for years.
''That's one of those things that are a family tradition, a recipe or technique is passed down from generations. This is the way my mom did it and that's the way she learned it from her mom, and so this is the way we do it,'' he said.
This year, he's turning the store's signature 10 Grain Bread and mild Italian sausage into a stuffing studded with chestnuts.
As a shortcut, Loraditch is using Roland brand jarred chestnuts that are already blanched and peeled. ''All they have to do is chop them up,'' he said. Fresh chestnuts that have been blanched and peeled can be substituted.
Loraditch advocates not stuffing the turkey, but rather baking the stuffing separately as a side dish. He believes the turkey roasts more evenly un-stuffed and there is less chance of food poisoning from the bird not reaching a safe temperature.
Instead, Loraditch stuffs his turkey with large chunks of carrot, celery, onion and a sachet bag of herbs, which he later removes and discards.
CLASSIC BREAD STUFFING WITH SAGE AND THYME
12 tbsp. (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
4 ribs celery, chopped fine
2 onions, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp. minced fresh sage or 2 tsp. dried
3 tbsp. minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1 tbsp. minced fresh marjoram or 1 tsp. dried
3 lbs. high-quality white sandwich bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and dried (see note)
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the celery and onions and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme and marjoram and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a very large bowl.
Add the dried, cooled bread, broth, eggs, salt and pepper to the vegetables and toss to combine. Turn the mixture into a buttered 10-by-15-inch baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until golden, about 30 minutes or longer. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 12 to 16 servings.
Note: To dry bread for stuffing, you can leave the bread cubes on the counter for a few days to become stale. Otherwise, spread them on a baking sheet and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 60 minutes. Let the bread cool before using in the stuffing.
— The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
WILD RICE STUFFING WITH PEARL ONIONS, DRIED CHERRIES AND APRICOTS
6 tbsp. butter, divided
18 oz. pearl onions, cooked in boiling water 1 minute and peeled
41/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
3 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, divided
11/4 cups wild rice
11/4 cups long-grain white rice
6 oz. dried apricots
1 cup dried tart cherries
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans, toasted, chopped
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until brown, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
Bring broth and 1 tablespoon thyme to boil in a large saucepan. Add wild rice; return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add white rice; cover and simmer until all rice is tender and liquid is almost absorbed, about 15 minutes longer.
Stir dried apricots, dried cherries, raisins, and remaining 2 tablespoons thyme into rice mixture; cover and simmer 3 minutes. Stir pearl onions and remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into rice. Mix in pecans. Season generously with salt and pepper.
To bake stuffing in a turkey: Loosely fill main turkey cavity with cooled stuffing. Butter glass baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered aluminum foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 20 minutes.
To bake all of the stuffing in a dish: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-by-2 inch glass baking dish. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with buttered aluminum foil, buttered side down, and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
— The Bon Appetit Cookbook, Barbara Fairchild
TEN GRAIN STUFFING WITH SAUSAGE AND CHESTNUTS
1 lb. West Point Market Ten Grain Bread for Stuffing
8 oz. mild Italian bulk sausage
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup yellow onion, diced
2 tbsp. herbs de Provence
1/4 Roland brand blanched chestnuts (see note)
4 cups chicken stock (see note)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium high heat, chopping into small pieces. When the sausage is half cooked, add the celery, onion, herbs and chestnuts. Continue cooking, stirring frequently until the celery and onion are tender.
Place the stuffing bread in a large mixing bowl, add the sausage mixture and the chicken stock. Stir well. Place the stuffing into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, greased with butter. Dot the top of the stuffing with the remaining butter and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Note: Loraditch recommends More Than Gourmet brand nstock, which is made in Akron. He also suggests using Roland brand chestnuts, because they come in a jar already peeled and blanched.
— Executive chef Tom Loraditch, West Point Market
SHRIMP-EGGPLANT DRESSING
8 strips bacon, diced
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 lb. diced ham
3 cups diced onion
2 cups diced red bell pepper
2 cups diced celery
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
4 eggplants, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 lbs. small raw shrimp
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. Creole seasoning
3 cups cornbread, processed in food processor and dried out on a sheet pan overnight
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chicken stock
In a skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Add butter, ham, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and eggplant. Cook stirring until eggplant is soft.
Add in shrimp, herbs, and seasonings. Cook over medium heat until shrimp turns pink. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in stock, eggs, and cornbread crumbs.
Stuff into bird, or spoon into greased casserole dish. Roast turkey as usual or, if baking in a casserole, bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Makes 8 servings.
— Chef David Russo, Russo's Restaurant
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
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