Better late than never!
I know we are now past the holidays and halfway through January (how did that happen?) but I wanted to share Grandma’s stuffing with you. Now, to say it’s a recipe is a bit of a stretch. It has ingredients and you put them together and when done, you get something wonderful and delicious but as for exact measurements and times, etc. well there isn’t much of that! In fact, that’s how I got the ‘recipe’. Every time I have asked my grandma for the recipe she just says, “well you put in a little of this and a little of that.” Real helpful right? So I will share that with you and just like my grandma has told me you just taste it and adjust seasonings until it tastes how you want it to.
The ingredients.
This stuffing is a little unconventional in some of it’s ingredients but I promise you it is so good and so simple!
1/2 to 1 medium onion chopped
1/2 to 1 cup celery chopped
Stuffing bread or croutons (amount varies as to how much stuffing you want to make)
1 can sliced water chestnuts drained and rough chopped
1/2 to 1 cup unsalted cashews rough chopped
Chicken broth or stock (enough to moisten bread) I usually use at least 2 – 16oz. cans
3 to 4 tablespoons butter (more or less depending on amount of onions and celery used)
Salt, pepper and ground sage to taste
Mid-prep stages. Stuffing bread is still loose not mushy.
Saute onions and celery on medium heat until translucent. In a large bowl add your stuffing bread or croutons. When onions and celery are done add those to the bread and lightly toss. At this point you can throw in the water chestnuts and cashews and toss or add some of your broth then the other ingredients and stir. I like to add a bit of broth then my cashews, water chestnuts and seasonings and toss/stir. I find that if you add all of your broth before the other ingredients you end of with a bowl full of bread mush instead of looser stuffing/dressing. I taste, and adjust the seasonings to my liking and then pour it into a greased casserole dish and bake at about 350º for about 45 minutes or so. I like to cover mine for part of the cooking time and uncover the last 10-15 minutes but it depends on how moist or dry you want your dressing. I never stuff my bird therefore technically I am making dressing but again that’s an individual preference and you adjust your cook time of your turkey to allow the stuffing to get done.