Don’t forget the stuffing (dressing)
Is it just a potato-potahto thing, or is there a meaningful difference between Thanksgiving stuffings and dressings?
Depends on whom you ask.
The answer cited most often by chefs, cookbook authors and other Thanksgiving enthusiasts is one of avian physiology: it all comes down to inside the bird versus outside.
“A lot of people will say that ‘stuffing’ is cooked inside the bird, and ‘dressing’ is served alongside,” says Rebecca Hays, managing editor at Cook’s Illustrated. “But I don’t think there’s technically a right or wrong answer.”
The inside-outside theory does fall apart quickly. Hays says her New England-based magazine uses “stuffing” whether the dish — usually some blend of bread laced with seasonings, vegetables, maybe meat — is cooked inside or outside the bird.
Slip below the Mason-Dixon line and the terminology flips: it’s always ‘dressing’ regardless of how it’s cooked.
Could it be the ingredients? A traditional Northern stuffing begins with sturdy white bread while the most common Southern dressing is based on cornbread. But even those generalities can be challenged, and elements of the garnish vary so widely across the country that it’s unlikely ingredients determine “stuffing” versus “dressing.”
“ ‘Stuffing’ was not a pleasant word,” says Eve Felder, associate dean at the Culinary Institute of America, who grew up in Charleston, S. C. “So you always called it ‘dressing.’ It’s like ‘grits’ was not a pleasant word. So even though we lived on grits, we called it ‘hominy,’ because it’s a gentler word.”
This classic stuffing recipe calls for a standard bag of seasoned stuffing cubes. But if you’d rather start from scratch, cut 1 pound of white sandwich bread into z-inch cubes. Leave the cubes out, uncovered, overnight to dry, then use as directed.
Basic Bread Stuffing
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 medium celery ribs with leaves, chopped
1 bag (15-ounce) cubed seasoned
stuffing
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 1/2 to 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
In a large skillet over medium, melt the butter. Add the onion and celery, then saute until the onion is golden, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables and butter to a large bowl. Add the stuffing and parsley. Stir in enough of the broth to moisten the stuffing, about 2 1/2 cups. Season with the poultry seasoning and mix well.
The stuffing can be added to a turkey and roasted, or placed in a buttered baking dish, drizzled with an additional z cup of broth, then covered and baked until heated through. Makes 10 cups.
Sausage apple stuffing variation:
In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, brown 1 pound pork sausage (casings removed), breaking up the meat with a spoon, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add the meat and 1 cup chopped dried apples to the above recipe just before adding to the turkey or baking dish.
Oyster stuffing variation:
Drain two 8-ounce cans of oysters, reserving the juices. If the oysters are large, cut them into 2 or 3 pieces. Add to the recipe above at the same time as the bread. Add enough broth to the reserved oyster juices to make 2 1/2 cups of liquid and use this mixture in place of the broth called for.
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