Thursday, November 7, 2013

Stuffing Bread


From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We have a tradition in our family that has reached ritual proportions. It began in my mother's kitchen, where my brother, sister and I would gather on Thanksgiving eve to cube bread for the turkey stuffing. In reality, the bread was torn rather than cubed, but in our very early years we were convinced that Thanksgiving couldn't happen without our efforts. My children, too, dutifully gathered in the kitchen on the eve of the feast to prepare bread and nowadays my grandsons fill the void. We take our stuffing very seriously, and like every other family in America, we are convinced that ours is the best in the land. Tonight's recipe is for stuffing bread. It adds enormous flavor to the finished dressing and it is quite easy to make. The version I make is not heavily seasoned, so feel free to increase or add seasoning at will. I make and cube the bread  three days before I plan to use it. That gives it plenty of time to stale and dry before I need it. The recipe for the bread is so simple that I felt duty bound to expand this post with the recipe for our stuffing as well. It, too, is very simple and I think those of you who try it will love it. Here is how the stuffing bread and bread stuffing are made.


Stuffing Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cup warm water
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons dried minced onions
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1) Mix water,  yeast and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in egg and olive oil.
2) Combine minced onion, parsley flakes, poultry seasoning, salt and celery salt with flour and whisk until blended.
3) Add flour mixture to yeast and beat until flour is incorporated. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is silky, smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form dough into ball and place in a greased bowl, turning dough to coat all surfaces. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled, about an hour.
4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Set aside. Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Form into a loaf and place seam-side down in prepared pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside until doubled, about 30 minutes.
5) Transfer pan to oven and bake until browned, about 40 minutes. Let loaf cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan and transfer to cooling rack. Allow to cool at least 2 hours before slicing. Yield: 1 loaf.


Savory Corn and Sausage Bread Stuffing

Ingredients:
1 pound well-seasoned bulk pork sausage
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 loaf stuffing bread or 16 slices day-old bread, cubed to yield about 8 cups
1/4 cup minced parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (14.5-oz.) cream-style corn

Directions:
1) Cook sausage in a large skillet, stirring to break up, until browned. Remove sausage from skillet. Add butter or oil to the drippings in pan to make 1/4 cup. Add onions to pan and cook until soft.
2) Combine bread cubes with parsley, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add onion mixture, sausage and cream-style corn. Toss until well combined. Makes 10 cups.

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13 comments :

Ginny Hartzler said...

Just learned something new!!! I never heard of making bread specifically for stuffing!!! We always used stale white bread.

Madonna/aka/Ms Lemon of Make Mine Lemon said...

A few years ago I started making my own bread for stuffing, but it did not have poultry seasoning etc. I am trying this. One more way for more flavor.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Putting the flavourings for the stuffing into the bread is such a good idea! No bites of bland mealy bread.

luckiest1 said...

This is such an awesome idea! I have bookmarked for Christmas!

Anonymous said...

we make our own bread for our stuffing as well only here in our part of Canada its called dressing, I never thought of adding the spices and herbs to the bread, what a great idea!

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Your stuffing must be wonderful with even the bread being homemade!

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

I love this tradition! I can see how the flavor of the stuffing would be outstanding, and how great that you were brought into the stuffing tradition at an early age!

A Sunflower Life said...

Oh I want to try this! I'll admit, I buy the bags of stuffing croutons each year. However, I remember my grandmother sitting out bread to get stale to make her stuffing. I love the idea of using homemade bread to do this. Thanks for the inspiration.

http://www.wildyeastblog.com/yeastspotting-7-22-11-page-3/ said...

toothsometeacups says she wishes that she would have thought that up all by herself!!! so very clever and time-saving! absolutely enjoy your every post! Even a great gift for busy family members! probably freezes well for the next Holiday!

SUSANNA said...

Hola Mary guapa tu

Felicitacións per aquesta recepta, te ha quedat un pa diví, et copio, gràcies per compartir la formula

mil petonets Susanna

Anonymous said...

I'm absolutely dazzled by this wonderful sfuffing bread!

Bites from life with the barking lot said...

sweet post! I'll be making it this year.

Tricia Buice said...

I love that you make your own bread and wish we had a traditional bread cubing party at my house! Love the dressing/stuffing recipe too. I can't wait!

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