Sage Stuffing

Oh, sage, how I love thee.  You taste amazing (especially with butter), and you look just beautiful (5 points to the first person to guess my favorite color!).  


Last year, I took my gramma's stuffing recipe and threw in fresh sage, simply because I had it on hand.  And, oh what a fantastic decision that was.  It pushed an already yummy recipe to perfection.  


I have a few tips for making stuffing:
- Opt for larger cubes and strips of dried bread to keep your stuffing from becoming a gooey paste.  You can buy bags of stuffing cubes from your grocery store bakery.  


- If you don't like mushrooms, don't use 'em.  Throw in something else!  People add all kinds of things to their stuffing; there are a million variations.


- If you don't like giblets, don't use 'em.  My gramma also used to add sausage to her stuffing, and a popular variation is to make it with oysters.  Go right ahead.


- You can prep all the veggies a few days early and store them in your fridge to save time on Thanksgiving Day.  Once you have the ingredients prepped, it only takes about 15 minutes to get it all cooked and mixed and into the pan, ready for baking. 


- You can call it dressing if you want, and we'll all still know what you mean :)


Sagey Sagey,

Sage Stuffing

1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 c. celery, diced
3/4 c. onion, minced
8 oz. mushrooms, diced
4-6 fresh sage leaves, finely minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1lb. dry, day-old bread cubes
14oz. (or more) broth from turkey giblets (or chicken broth)
Turkey giblets, optional

Optional:  Place turkey giblets into a medium saucepan with enough water to cover by 3”. Boil on low for 1-2 hours, while you’re preparing the other dinner items. Add more water if necessary, to keep the giblets well covered. Remove giblets from broth and finely chop for stuffing. Strain and reserve broth for stuffing mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, onion, and mushrooms, and sauté until nearly tender, about 3 minutes. Add sage and cook until vegetables are tender, about 1 more minute. Remove from heat.  Add salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and giblets, and then stir in bread cubes. Stir in enough broth to moisten all of the bread well, without making soggy.

Bake until stuffing is hot and the top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes.

         


       

Ingredient Lineup:

After combining the bread cubes with vegetables and sage,

add 14oz. broth, or enough to moisten the bread without its becoming too soggy.