I have tried many different styles and versions of stuffing over the years, but when it comes to Thanksgiving and turkey dinners in general, I love this classic old-fashioned taste. The sourdough bread really does add a bunch of flavor, so don't skip that if you can help it!
Oh, and obviously I am well aware that Thanksgiving is still 2 months away, but seeing as I have a few turkeys in my freezer right now... and I hope to be VERY busy around Thanksgiving without much spare time to be posting recipes, I decided to share this recipe with you right now! :o)
Simple Sourdough Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients:
1 large loaf sourdough or sourdough/wheat bread
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1-2 cups chicken or turkey stock
Directions:
Tear the bread into small bits (1/2" or so) into a large bowl. Either use stale bread for this, or tear a fresher loaf the night before (or longer!) and let it sit out, uncovered, until you need it. Dry and crusty is great for stuffing!
In a large saute pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the chopped onions and saute until translucent... about 10 minutes. Stir in the celery and about half to two-thirds of the bread crumbs. Toast, stirring occasionally, until the bread has soaked up all of the butter and is toasted golden brown.
Pour this hot mixture over the rest of the bread crumbs in the large bowl, and add in the spices, salt & pepper, and stock (1 cup if you like it drier, 2 cups if you like it more moist! I prefer mine a little on the drier side because I like to cover it in gravy, so I only use 1 cup). Stir everything together until well blended and then pour into a 9x13" baking dish.
Bake at 350º for 30-45 minutes, or until the stuffing is heated through! (If you don't like a crusty top on your stuffing, you can cover the pan with foil. Personally, the crunch top is my favorite!)
If you have room in your oven to cook this with your turkey, put the pan into the oven for the last half hour of the turkey's cooking time. (If you're not cooking your turkey at 350º, you can easily adjust this to your turkey's cooking temp... there's really no wrong way to heat this, just make sure it's heated all the way through and it's good to go!)
This is a great recipe to prep ahead the day before. Just do all the steps up to putting the stuffing into the baking dish and then cover and store in the fridge until you are ready to bake it! (You can also use some of this to stuff into the turkey, of course. I just prefer to cook my stuffing separate because it doesn't slow down the turkey's cooking time that way!)
Oh, and this makes a full 9x13" pan, so I would say it serves about 8-10 people. (Or more, if you have tons of side dishes for everyone to eat!) :o)
