I have been working on my homemade bread stuffing recipe for well over 10 years. Way back then in a previous life I was a cook at a local family restaurant for several years. During that time I learned a lot of good recipes. Some of them I have held on to and made better over the years. Others have kind of faded into oblivion. One of the recipes I have held onto is homemade bread stuffing. I make this once, maybe twice a year which is probably good considering the high number of calories it contains. I figured I would share the recipe. If you are looking for a low calorie, low fat Thanksgiving. I would not suggest trying this recipe.

This recipe makes a very large batch of stuffing. You might want to alter it to fit your needs. This will give you enough to stuff a 20 pound turkey to the point where it is spilling out (the only way to stuff a turkey) and then have some leftover to bake separately.

Ingredients:
4 loafs of white bread
1 loaf of soft rye bread – I use seedless but it doesn’t really matter
1 bunch of celery
6 – 8 yellow onions
12 eggs
2 cups milk
1 can chicken broth
1 lb. Butter
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary
Poultry Seasoning
Black Pepper
Salt
White Pepper

Start by chopping up the celery and onions. You want to dice them into medium size squares no more than 1/4 inch. Put them into a saute pan with the butter. Add your seasoning. This part is tricky. I don’t go by measure, I go by smell. I generally add an equal amount of rosemary and thyme, 3 – 6 Tbsp of each. I add about twice the amount of poultry seasoning and maybe 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp white pepper and a pinch of black pepper. Let this cook over medium heat for awhile. You want the celery and onion to get to a medium softness.

While that cooks, break the bread up into a large container that can resist heat. I use half of the turkey roaster pan. You want to break the bread up into small squares abtou 1/2 inch to 1 inch square. When you finish with the bread, check on your celery and onions. If they are semi-soft add in the can of chicken broth. Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes. At this point, you need to figure out if your mix needs any more seasoning. I usually add in more thyme and poultry seasoning here. There is no set amount. You need to go by trial and error. After a few batches you will be able to tell by the smell if you need to add more or not.

Once the mix has cooked for an extra 15 minutes or so, turn it off and let it cool for a few minutes. While it cools, add the eggs and milk to your bread and mix thoroughly.Once you have that mixed up, add in the celery and onions mixture and mix thoroughly. Be careful here because the mixture will be hot. I use a wooden spoon to mix it around until it cools off some then I mix it up more using my hands. As you mix, squeeze the bread in your hands making sure that the moisture is soaked all the way through. You don’t want any dry bread mixed in. When you are done, all of the moisture should be soaked up and the bread should stick to your hands. If you can form a ball with the stuffing mix then it is too dry and you should add some extra chicken broth. The best consistency is when the mix is dry enough that there is no extra moisture but wet enough that it will not take any form. If you tried to form it into a ball it would not hold the shape. I like to make my stuffing the night before so that it has some time to sit in the fridge and let everything just soak together.

When you are ready to stuff the turkey, pack it into the neck as tight as you can. You want to have it falling out of the neck. Then pack the cavity full. Again, you want to have it falling out of the cavity. Add an extra hour to your baking time to allow the stuffing to cook thoroughly. Take the extra stuffing and put it in a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for about 2 hours at 375. Remove the foil and continue to bake for 30 minutes. You may need to add an extra 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on how deep your baking dish is. The deeper the dish, the longer it takes to cook.

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