Thanksgiving…

Hi everyone, we celebrated Thanksgiving on the 10th of October in Canada. South of the border, our US neighbours celebrate their Thanksgiving on Thursday November 24th this year.

For both countries this is a special celebration because, typically, families and friends get together for a traditional turkey feast and to give thanks. Thanks for all that’s important to each person.

Traditional turkey dinner

A traditional turkey dinner usually includes Turkey, stuffing (also known as turkey dressing), mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, vegetables, and for dessert, pumpkin pie and apple pie.

Stuffing is the Turkey’s super important sidekick! Whether you cook the stuffing inside the turkey, or on its own the way our family likes it, the point is, without stuffing, it just isn’t a traditional Thanksgiving feast.

Stuffing varieties

There are so many versions of stuffing. I’m not sure we could find the original version if we tried. Also, over the years, many families have given their own cultural twist to this popular side. My mom used to do a meat based stuffing with the turkey’s gizzards. I loved it, but I know gizzards wouldn’t fly with Liz and the kids 🙂

This version I created uses our eldest son’s favourite ingredient… bacon! I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Also, using fresh herbs really elevated this dish. Judging by how quickly this stuffing disappeared, I’d say it was a real crowd-pleaser. Liz said it was no sidekick; that in her opinion, it held its own as a main dish. She also reminded me that I don’t have to reserve this dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners–and she’s asked me to make this again, soon.

Celebrate your Thanksgiving feast and all your important occasions surrounded by people you love, and always eat well, friends!

Thanksgiving Stuffing with Fresh Herbs and Bacon

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

This Thanksgiving stuffing recipe gets a special twist with bacon and fresh herbs. This stuffing is the perfect sidekick for your turkey feast!

Author: Nelson Cardoso

Recipe type: Side

Cuisine: North American

Serves: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

• 200 g or 7 oz bacon, cooked crispy, cooled and chopped
• 10 cups soft sourdough loaf (or other favourite dense bread), cut in cubes
• ¾ cups unsalted butter
• 1 medium cooking onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 stalks celery (about a cup), chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
• 3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3 large eggs, beaten

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 275 ºF.
2. Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
3. Once the croutons come out, increase the oven temperature to 350 ºF.
4. In a large frying pan, heat the butter on medium high.
5. Add onion, celery and garlic.
6. Saute until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.
7. Add salt, pepper and herbs, and cook for about 2 minutes.
8. Add the chicken stock, stir and increase the temperature to high until boiling point is reached.
9. Decrease the temperature to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
10. Cool the broth mixture until it's just warm.
11. Cool the croutons.
12. In a large bowl, toss together the croutons, eggs, broth mixture and bacon.
13. Grease a large baking dish.
14. Pour in the tossed bread cube mixture and distribute evenly.
15. Place the baking dish in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 35 minutes.
16. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.

Notes

This can be made ahead. From the fridge, simply add ½ cup of chicken broth, re-toss and place in the oven for about 15 minutes. Add more broth if it's a little dry.

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