Welcome again to the Rantburg Test Kitchen™, where the elite meet to eat. With the grueling days of Ramadan (and several dozen pork recipes) behind us, we now turn our attention to the upcoming holidays. I'd like to begin by thanking everybody who contributed the last time around. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without your help. In another week or so, I'll be publishing a master index to the Rantburg Ramadan recipes.
On with the show. This time around, it's no holds barred. Pork is no longer the central theme and it opens up the subject matter in a big way. Even though nostalgia ain't what it used to be (sniff), just for old time's sake I'm going to begin with a recipe that uses sausage. Not just one or two, but three different types of sausage. This recipe is a tradition that I have kept for almost two decades. I'm confident that my neighbors would break down my door with pitchforks and torches if I didn't bring around the usual bowls of it like I do every year. Please be sure to try this if it seems to your liking. You will be in for a very pleasant surprise.
Triple Sausage, Red Wine and Sourdough Stuffing
Thanksgiving Turkey Dressing
Preparation Time: 2 Hours
Serves: 10-20 People
Ingredients:
2 Lbs. Chicken or Turkey Giblets
2 Loaves Sourdough French Bread*
2 12 oz. Packages Thomas' Sourdough English Muffins*
1 12 oz. Package Jimmy Dean Sage Recipe Sausage*
1 12 oz. Package Hillshire Farms Beef Li'l Smokies*
2 6 oz. Packages Swift's Premium Beef Link Sausages*
2-4 Large Eggs
Å“ -1 Lb. Button Mushrooms
4 Cloves Garlic
4 Shallots
3-4 Ribs Celery (plus leaves)
2 Sticks Butter
1-2 Yellow Onions
1 Bunch Italian Parsley
1-2 Tsp Salt
1 Bottle Red Wine
1 Tsp Ground Celery Seed
1 Tsp Ground Sage
1 Tsp Ground Thyme
Å“ TSP Whole Peppercorns
Å“ Ground Black Pepper
Dash of Crystal hot sauce*
Fresh herbs or BellÂ’s Poultry Seasoning
* Do not substitute these products
Preparation:
Make the croutons:
This may be done the day before. The croutons may be made days in advance if needed. Preheat your oven to 250°F for twenty minutes. Cut the bread and English muffins into cubes smaller than half an inch. Cover a cookie sheet with a thin layer of bread cubes and bake until they begin to brown slightly. Remove from the oven and cool completely before storing. Continue until all of the bread is toasted.
Make giblet stock:
This may be done the day before. Cook the giblets and those from the bird, including the neck, heart and gizzard in a large pot with 1-2 quarts of canned stock or just water plus a teaspoon of salt. DO NOT use the liver when making the stock, it will contribute an off flavor. Feel free to add a clove of garlic, a spoonful of chopped onion and some peppercorns to the broth. Reduce over a fast simmer until a few cups of liquid are left. If the giblets are very tender after cooking some of them may be chopped up and used in the stuffing. Tinned chicken broth may be substituted but it will not have the rich flavor of freshly made stock. Strain off the stock and reserve it for later use.
Cook off the sausages:
This may be done the day before. Crumble the Jimmy Dean sausage into pieces the size of marbles and fry until golden brown. Remove the fried sausage and add the whole Swift's Premium link sausages to the grease and fry until browned. When draining any of the sausages, do not press down on them as this will leave them too dry. The little smokies should not be cooked before hand or they will lose a lot of their moisture. When the sausage is finished cooking, drain off the grease and add the red wine to deglaze the pan. Use a good quality wine. A zinfandel like Ravenswood Vintner's Blend or Sutter Home will do nicely. Reduce the wine to half its volume so that you have about two cups remaining. While the wine reduces, scrape the pan in order to deglaze it. Pour off the wine and reserve it for future use.
Prepare the stuffing:
Preheat a pan over medium heat and add half a stick of butter. Thin slice the mushrooms and add to the pan. Continue to cook the mushrooms until they have released a lot of liquid. Pour off this liquid and reserve it for later use. Add more butter to the mushrooms and continue to sauté until lightly browned. While the mushrooms cook, parboil the celery. When prepping the celery, detach a rib from the bunch, grasp the leafy top of the rib and bend backwards to snap it, then pull down along the back of the rib to remove the strings from it. Chop the ribs into medium thin slices and parboil them. Use some of the giblet stock and briefly cook the celery until it is no longer crisp. Be sure to add some of the leaves from the heart of the celery bunch. They will carry a delightful perfume into the stuffing.
Once the mushrooms are finished cooking, transfer them into a very large bowl. Peel and chop the shallots and onions. Place them in the frying pan with a little butter if needed. Cook them until they are translucent and then push them to one side and add the chopped or crushed garlic. DO NOT brown the onions or the garlic as this will ruin the stuffing. Cook the little smokies in a small saucepan with a pat of butter and a bit of water. Heat the sausages until they are plump, then immediately add a little over half of them to the stuffing mixture. In the large bowl begin to combine the other ingredients. Coarsely chop the link sausage and add it to the mushrooms with the crumbled sausage. Add the minced parsley as well. Once the onions, shallots and garlic are finished add them to the bowl too. Add the spices and fold the mixture to evenly distribute them. The use of fresh herbs is strongly recommended. Buy two bunches. One for the stuffing and one for inside the bird. Avoid breaking up the crumbled sausage too much.
You are now ready to add the croutons. Before doing so, crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat them well. Fold the croutons into the mixture and be careful to avoid breaking up the ingredients too much. Combine the reduced red wine with a stick of melted butter, 2 cups of the giblet stock and the liquid from the mushrooms. Drizzle this over the stuffing until everything is evenly moistened. At this point, the stuffing may be held at room temperature for a few hours if needed. If you add the eggs to bind it, you must begin cooking it right away. I do not recommend refrigerating the stuffing as this congeals it and can add an undesirable density it.
After binding the stuffing with the beaten eggs, wipe the interior of an over proof pot with melted butter or oil. Fill it with the stuffing but avoid packing it down in any way. Scatter the top with more of the smokie links. If needed, use two pots to accomplish this. Bake for ~30-45 minutes covered and then remove the lid or foil and allow it to brown for another fifteen minutes. For best results, dot the surface with bits of butter during the browning.
Note: I do not recommend filling the turkey with stuffing. Too often, the bird's juices will make the dressing soggy and leaden. For the best results, rub the bird's exterior and interior with a mixture of salt, pepper, ground thyme, ground sage, garlic and onion powder plus some ground celery seed and a dash of sugar. Before cooking, fill the bird's cavity with one or two peeled potatoes, onions, shallots, carrots, cloves of garlic and ribs of celery or the celery heart. If you have used fresh herbs, toss in a small bouquet of them as well. These ingredients will perfume the turkey while it roasts. The bird will roast more evenly and the cooking time will be shorter due to the lack of filling. This will give you moist, juicy and tender results every time. The bird is done when the internal juices run clear and very little to no pink is present in the meat. A meat thermometer should indicate 180°F when inserted away from any bone. Stop roasting a few degrees short of the finished temperature to ensure perfect cooking. DO NOT roast at a temperature of less than 325°F.
Remove the neck and giblets from the bird’s cavity. The giblet sack is often stored in the neck area, do not miss it. Fold the wing tips underneath the bird’s body to prevent them from burning. Be sure to baste your bird with melted butter. Start the roasting process with a pint of stock in the pan. Use a wire rack to keep the turkey up out of the liquid. DO NOT use a roasting bag. You will steam your bird and the results will be mushy. Periodically use a baster to transfer all liquid from the cavity back into the roasting pan and then replenish it with fresh stock from the pan. Loosely cover the bird with a foil tent until the last 30-60 minutes of roasting, depending upon size. Remove the foil and decrease the heat by 25-50° F. Baste frequently during the final hour, about every ten minutes. Alternate between melted butter and stock from the roasting pan. This will give you brown crispy skin with an intense savory flavor.
Turkey Hints: Buy a hen turkey, they are usually much more moist. Place the bird in your oven with its neck facing towards the back. This will keep the bulk of the turkey in the hottest region of your oven. After roasting, be sure to allow the turkey to rest for a minimum of 10-20 minutes before carving it. This allows the bird to reabsorb the juices that were released during the roasting process. While the bird rests, separate any fat from the pan drippings, use the stock to make the gravy and finish baking the stuffing. When carving the bird, do not miss the "oysters". They are underneath the bird, in between the legs and the body along the back. These two small golf-ball sized pieces of meat have the very finest flavor of any cut from the entire fowl.
This recipe continues to receive rave reviews from all who taste it. People who do not even like stuffing have tried this preparation and were instantly won over. If you are pressed for time on the big day, merely make the ingredients ahead of time as the recipe suggests. I have done this quite often and the end product does not suffer in the least.