Stuffing/dressing is a point of pride and prejudice. I find that people get just about as intense in their defense of their family stuffing recipe as they might about politics or religion. Bread vs. rice, crouton vs. fresh, oysters vs. fruit, the possibilities for contention abound!

The American part of my family is from the Civil War south (they migrated to TX at the turn of the last century). I grew up with my grandmother's recipe, a simple but delicious corn bread affair... (and the corn bread was yellow and not sweet, the white cakelike version having for some reason been deemed an invention of Satan).

I thought that was what stuffing (or dressing) was until I got out in the world... when I discovered that there are many, many variations.

What's your poison?

I do stuffing (or more precisely, "dressing", as it does NOT go inside the turkey) with sauteed diced onions, celery and mushrooms, chopped toasted pecans, dried cranberries and cherries, a little browned sausage, chopped fresh sage, and S&P. I use cut up stale bread, a combination of white and corn. A couple of beaten eggs, all gets mixed up and baked in a greased casserole dish for about 30 minutes or so at 375. And that's it. LOL.

What an interesting combination, besotted!

I'm pretty flexible about my dressing as long as a few conditions are met: the broth used must be vegetarian, it must not be cooked inside the turkey, and no meat should be in it. Oh, and the dressing must have gobs of celery and onion. But other than that, anything goes. I generally think Thanksgiving is an excuse for eating lots of sage, but if my dining companions disagree and want raisins instead, there are plenty of other things I can put my sage in.

celery,onion,brown bread crumbs,seasoning,hazelnuts,saskatoon berries,mushrooms,
wild rice and water chestnuts,lemon zest and giblets.

I've never heard of Saskatoon berries before-- what do they taste like?

I was curious, so went searching. According to what I was able to find, Saskatoons (also called Juneberries or Serviceberries) have an unusual, delicate almond flavor.

Lots more here:


Saskatoon

The Southern way-cornbread dressing, with homemade buttermilk cornbread to start. It takes 2 days to make. :) The usual ingredients, onion, celery, eggs, chicken stock, and to finish it off 1/2 cup or so of buttermilk and a pinch of baking soda. We don't stuff the bird, the dressing goes in a pan. The secret to moist dressing is to make it the consistency of cake batter prior to baking. Oh, I can't wait...I'm thinking I'll try Vic's champagne turkey recipe too.

Oyster dressing, New Orleans style (is there any other?!).
After sauteeing 'the trinity' (chopped onion, celery, bell pepper) and mixing with browned ground chuck, I then add chopped and 'dry' bread cubes, beaten eggs, salt, pepper, a smidge of sage, and, of course.... the oysters and oyster liquer...mix well...place in casserole baking dish, cover with fine bread crumbs...and bake for about 50 minutes, at 350.

Thanks, Magdalene! I have tried various combinations over the years, but this version is the one the family seems to enjoy the most. I don't follow an actual recipe, I just add things in until it looks right to me. Inexact science, lol.

Always 'close' your bird, with a large navel orange that has been WASHED, well. This imparts a lovely aroma to the baking process, and to your stuffing, too.

Mariana and I must be related way, way back! Yes, cornbread stuffing/dressing is a 2-day affair! And buttermilk, absolutely! (In our family, however, we were greedy: double batch, half in the bird, half in a pan... )

The orange "cork" sounds very interesting, indeed! I think it might even go with cornbread!

magdalene . . . the orange goes with anything, in my opinion. Smells so lovely. Makes me think that the turkey has a little extra 'care,' before going into the oven. Try it!

I've a special old luxurious Southern family recipe in my head, since my small handritten book of personal favourite recipes was left behind in New Orleans. The base is a big skillet or a pan or two of yellow cornbread, cooled and crumbled coarsely, of course. ( To me, white cornbread and white corn tortillas are modern abominations!)

There is plenty of fresh celery, onions and parsley in the "dressing" (we didn't stuff turkeys or hens). A bit of sage, marjoram, thyme,parsley and all the herbs we grew, plus coarsely chopped pecans (we also grew) lightly toasted in butter. Plenty of butter, and a drained and rinsed can of mandarin oranges. Salt and plenty of fresh ground white pepper. Moisten with the simmering broth, place in buttered baking dish and bake partly covered for 50 minutes at 300 degrees. There is a special fruit ingredient which I don't think my grandmother would approve of my revealing, but alot of things will work beautifully in this dressing which goes well with any bird, including duck.

I cannot recall if any beaten egg bound this dressing, but I intend to make it this year. I don't recall egg, but I do remember the gently sweet, lucious, loose character of the dressing. This is the kind of dressing which goes with a golden roasted bird and a sauce almost a jus, not a thick American style gravy.

We southern belle broads all agree on YELLOW cornbread, hallelluja!

AMEN DARLIN!!!

Well! This has been an interesting bit of culinary anthropology. Growing up on California, away from my "roots," I had no idea! All I knew was, my family was the lone cornbread family in a sea of crouton devotees. My grandmother had told me, later in (her) life, the secret of the cornbread origins. Sadly, I'm the only one if my family that still uses it... and no daughter to pass it on to! Glad to hear that yellow cornbread dressing is alive and well somewhere on the planet.

Armanis: I'm going to try the naval orange plug...That sounds good. I needed some stuffing recipes and there are some great ones here...BF wants traditional but knows that he probably won't get it. Wait till he sees the orange!!!!

Ack, there wasn't a bag of yellow cornmeal on the grocery shelf yesterday. :\

Well Mariana, you need to go to another store. I bet you already did. *wink*

I NEED HELP:

I am making classic boring cornbread dressing just the way our hostess for tomorrow outlined. I think she feared I'd gussy it up with some special New Orleans panache (yes, I might have. *wink*) What I need to know is that when I've got it made and in pans, do I go ahead and bake it 2/3rd of the way done and refrigerate, then reheat at her house tomorrow.

Or can it sit unbaked in fridge until tomorrow morning? That seems a recipe for SOGGY.

Armanis - I "cork" my turkey with a lemon that's been pricked with a fork here and there.
Morticia - I would mix the dry ingredients together and carry the liquid ones separately in a carefully sealed container, then mix and bake at your hostess' house. Or completely cook the stuffing, then put in freezer over night - it will thaw in the car on the way there and then you can reheat at her house.

PS my mouth is just WATERING over that oyster stuffing (and all the others, as well)!

If you're not travelling all that far, bake it at home today, (if it's not too late.) It'll hold the heat for ages.

As for us, we're died in the wool cornbread dressing fans. It's actually the perfect way to use up leftover cornbread.

We don't use eggs in ours, just broth, enough that it's a bit soupy. Bake it until it's brown on top, and the texture is perfect.