Garden and Recipes: How To Make Turkey Stuffing

Turkey Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients:

The below recipe is a only a guideline for making your turkey stuffing. Depending on your family's taste, add or delete ingredients (onions, celery, mushrooms, and or nuts) to make to your liking. Be creative!

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 loaf day-old bread, toasted and cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 10-12 cups)
1 egg, beaten
Stock from the turkey giblets and/or chicken broth (approximately 1 to 2 cups)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
Dried crushed sage to taste
Dried crushed thyme to taste

Preparation:

To make turkey giblet stock, place the turkey giblets (giblets and neck), water, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat; bring to a simmer and simmer for about 1 hour, uncovered. Remove from heat and strain the stock into a container for use with the stuffing. Alternatively, you can use chicken stock or just plain water with this recipe.

In a large pot (large enough to hold all the prepared stuffing) over medium-high heat, melt butter or margarine. Add onion, celery and mushrooms; sauté until soft.

Mix in bread cubes and egg with enough chicken broth to moisten. Add nuts, salt, pepper, sage, and thyme; stir until well blended. The stuffing should be moist, not dry, because heat destroys bacteria more rapidly in a moist environment.

Proceed to stuff turkey in your usual way. NOTE: Do not cool the stuffing. Spoon it directly into the turkey cavity right after preparation. Stuff the turkey loosely — about 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound. Check out Advice on Stuffing a Turkey Safely.

Immediately place the stuffed, raw turkey in an oven set no lower than 325 degrees F. To cook your stuffed turkey, check out Guidelines For Roasting a Whole Turkey.

The USDA has come up with a one-temperature-suits-all for poultry safety: 165 degrees F. For safety and well done turkey, the internal temperature should be checked with a meat thermometer