One year when a family member
had to avoid bread (wheat allergy), I improvised on my mom’s traditional
stuffing recipe by replacing the bread with brown rice, wild rice and chopped
rye crisp crackers. It was good! We all liked the rice and rye flavor so much
that when bread no longer needed to be avoided, I kept the rice and rye bread ingredients and incorporated them
in this new stuffing recipe. I have been using it ever since.
Ingredients:
1 stick real butter
3 cups diced celery
9 T. chopped fresh parsley – if you’re lucky, there is still
some from your garden
(4 ½ T. dried
parsley may be substituted)
½ cup chopped onion
12 slices of bread, cubed.
(I like a mixture of a good rye,
whole wheat (Manitowoc Ovens Hunger Filler is a favorite for this), and a
white, such as Manitowoc Ovens English Muffin bread or a nice potato bread. The
bread should have some body to it, not that soft, cottony type.
Freshly ground pepper—a few turns of the grinder do it for
me
½ # (pre-cooked weight) wild rice – cooked (you can do this
ahead of time)
1 # (pre-cooked weight) brown rice – you will need to cook this too before assembling
¼ cup roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 to 1½ teaspoons
dried marjoram
½ to 1 teaspoon
ground sage (to taste, some people do not like sage)
*Optional: sliced mushrooms, coarsely chopped pecans, chopped
apple, etc.
Preparation:
In a large frying pan, melt the butter and gently sauté the
onions. Add the celery until translucent. Add the bread and remaining
ingredients and mix together. Taste it to make sure all is well.
I make my stuffing the day before Thanksgiving and keep it
refrigerated in a plastic bag.
DO NOT pre-stuff the turkey the day before. I have heard
this is a no-no because of possible bacteria build up.
When you are ready to bake the bird, spoon stuffing loosely into
the cavity and pin/truss shut. The remaining stuffing can be put into a greased,
covered casserole dish. I put this extra stuffing in the
oven to bake closer to meal time for about 30 to 45 min. Baste it with some of the cooked turkey
juices and stir the basting juices into the stuffing. (The turkey should be
almost done now). Be careful the extra stuffing does not get too browned or the
rice will get hard. When you scoop out the stuffing from the turkey, you can mix it into this extra stuffing in the casserole dish.
FYI: When I cook
rice, I cook up a large batch and then freeze it in smaller amounts (for my
family, 1-2 C. for brown and ½-1 C. for wild). This really helps when preparing
meals that require some cooked rice. Sometimes, just the thought of having to
cook the rice first can be rather defeating.
I do not cook my brown rice as long as the directions tell
you. I put the rice into a large pot with plenty of cold water and start it
cooking. About 20 to 30 minutes is usually sufficient. I then drain it and
rinse. Brown rice is infinitely more nutritious than white, and I think it is
tastier too.
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