Stuffing

Stuffing
http://savoryseasonings.blogspot.com/

1/3 cup butter or olive oil
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
¼ cup fresh sage, finely chopped (3 tsp. dried sage can be used as a substitute)
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
8 cups dry bread cubes*
3/4-1 cup chicken broth or milk

Preheat sauté pan over medium heat, then melt butter in heated pan. Saute celery and onions seasoning with some of the sage, salt and pepper. In a large mixing bowl, combine celery, onions and bread cubes. Season with remaining sage, pepper and salt. Moisten with ¾ cup chicken broth or milk. Taste cubes and add additional seasonings if needed. Continue to add more liquid until all bread cubes have been moistened being careful to not make the cubes soggy.

Spread stuffing into a greased 9x13 pan, cover with tinfoil. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour with tinfoil, then 30 additional minutes without the tinfoil.

*For bread cubes slice any stale bread and cut into medium size cubes. Place in a shallow dish and leave uncovered on counter until bread is dry. Store in an air tight container in freezer until ready to use. My favorite bread for stuffing is my Perfect Sandwich Bread recipe. I make two loaves a few weeks before Thanksgiving, then cube them to dry. Once dry I store them in the freezer until Thanksgiving Day.

*****
Stuffing is my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Growing up my Dad was always in charge of making the stuffing and I loved to watch my Dad cook. I have many fond memories of my Dad sneaking in more butter to the stuffing each year and helping me test the bread cubes as he added more milk teaching me how to get the perfect consistency of moisture and crunch.

I love the smell and flavor of sage. It’s my favorite herb and I have several sage plants through my yard to keep me well stocked with their flavorful leaves. If you have a sage plant, just snip a large handful of leaves Thanksgiving morning (even if there is snow on the ground, then leaves are still just fine) to add to the turkey, gravy and stuffing. It really does make a big difference to use fresh leaves.