Home-made Christmas Stuffing

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25TH, 2009

3.5 stars (out of 5 - good, but a bit mushy after I left it for too long!)

Silly me! I went to make my Christmas dinner (veggies, mashed potatoes, turkey rolls with stuffing) and realized that I had forgotten to buy the stuffing! With the stores closed, I resorted to measures seen only in previous generations: I made my own from scratch. It actually turned out well!

Ingredients:

4 cups bread crumbs (stale - leave out overnight)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp thyme (to taste)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 - 1 cup chopped celery

1. First, I broke the bread pieces up into small bite-sized pieces...


2. ...and added them to a large bowl. You can then leave them out for the day, to make them stale.


3. Because I hadn't planned ahead, I didn't have the opportunity to leave my breadcrumbs out overnight (or during the day), so I simply baked them in the oven at 350F for about 3-5 minutes (check on it - our oven takes longer to do things than most!). When they were a bit crispy, I took them out and let them cool.


4. I heated the butter on medium heat until it was all melted, and then added the onion and celery.


5. I then stirred everything together and cooked for about 8 minutes.


6. After the celery was tender and everything was mixed together well in the pan, I removed it from the heat, added the bread crumbs, and stirred well.




7. I then greased a shallow casserole dish, and added the stuffing (about 1-2 inches thick), covered it with foil, and cooked it for 25 minutes. You can serve it right away or leave it for a while.




In the end, it turned out very well. The only suggestion I have is to eat it right away. I left my off to the side for a while and it got pretty mushy. I really like the crisper pieces that were on top of the casserole dish. Next time!

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