Holiday Stuffing or Dressing

imho, it needs more seasoning, I use poultry seasoning and a lot of parsley for some color, S&P if needed after the Chicken stock...........ChefBillyB

This is very similar to my own, an old family recipe.  Except i use the giblets cut up and browned in butter before adding the celery etc; i like bigger pieces of celery to bite into - not that big but a little bigger than yours; and I add a special ingredient, a mashed potato or two - it gives the stuffing a softness and kind of holds it all together.

if i use herbs, they would be thyme or marjoram - too many herbs cover the taste.  But i usually use just salt and lots of pepper.  Sometimes, more recently, i've added an apple or some prunes, which are not bad with turkey. 

Nice, thank you for posting. Tutorials like this should be posted as wikis/articles. There is a comment interface there. You can post it as a "How-To"

Do you ever use cornbread in place of the pre-made bread? I also like adding some sage sausage.

Your recipe and pictures are pretty much how turkeys looked when I first learned how to prepare one as a kid... taught by my Grandmother.  BUT... she NEVER used any "prepared" bread... though I really don't have any problem with it.  She'd get a loaf of "day old" bread and kinda spread slices out in a BIG bowl the night before.  A few of us grandkids got the job of ripping it up early on Thanksgiving or Christmas morning.  She put the neck and other "presents" in a pot of water while washing out the bird... let it simmer.  Would chop up a LOT of celery and onions (don't think she ever used garlic, tho that sounds fine to me) in a LOT of butter and generous shake of Bell's Seasoning.  Then she would pour the soft onions/celery over the bread.  Once it was cool enough for US to handle... we mixed away with our hands... she supervised the washing of said hands like a HAWK!  If stuffing was too dry, she'd use some of the broth from neck & friends to moisten.  Would stuff as much as the bird could possibly hold... in both ends, tho front didn't hold all that much.  Anything that wouldn't fit went into a casserole.  She always made more than could possibly go IN the bird, cuz everybody loved stuffing.  Any left-over broth either moistened casserole or was dumped into gravy.

I don't remember her EVER doing anything with the carcass once all the meat was picked off??  I just CANNOT toss bones without making stock.  Easy to do, only "costs" some celery, onion, and carrot, and ya end up with a very good alternative to water for things like rice and veggies.

I start a week ahead and make stock and meat with turkey necks. Reduce the stock so it is very rich. Dried bread cubes, diced onion and celery, poultry seasoning (penzeys), more sage (penzeys) and 1 egg per 2 quarts bread.

Mix the bread and veg in a large bowl, add the meat you picked off the necks and the eggs and mix that in. Start adding stock until the bread just starts to stick together when squeezed. Bake in the turkey and the rest in the pan around the turkey.

Buonasera Tas,

Though it is a bit early ( 22nd July ) to be thinking of Thanksgiving, I have made note of your post.

I prepare our´s with dried fruits, chapata ( for crunch ) bread made in Spain; celery, majoram, thyme, salt and freshly ground black pepper, Granny Smith Apple for tartness to offset the sweet dried fruits, and a pinch of sage and the refined broth from the stock of Giblet, Neck and Turkey parts. I like mine with a little Pancetta too ... It is my Mom´s recipe.

In Puglia, we have not yet celebrated Thanksgiving.

Kind regards.

Margaux.

I make my stuffing with sour dough and corn bread I prep the day before so it's dry.  I cook some sausage and remove from the pan and reserve some of the fat.  I cook onion and celery in the drippings then let those cool some to handle.  Then I start mixing them together with some toasted pecans, parsley, sage and turkey stock till I like the consistency then adjust the seasoning.

I never stuff my turkey and always cook the stuffing separately so there is a more consistent finish to it.