There is a lot of controversy about whether or not you should stuff your bird. If you know how to roast a bird, the stuffing should never cause any food-borne illnesses. The key is to ensure your bird is completely thawed, and that you cook it long enough at a low enough temperature to cook the stuffing and the bird completely. The flavors of stuffing cooked in the bird and of a stuffed bird cannot be replicated! You will not regret doing things the old fashioned way. But you must follow directions - do not use modern variations to try and accomplish old-world flavor!
A lot of our food traditions are regional. For instance, many southern families have never known the kind of stuffing that originated in the mid-west among Germanic and Scandinavian families. The recipe I use is a variation on my great-grandmother's recipe. The slow-cook method also comes from her.
One thing is for sure - you should never attempt to make this meal "healthy". Do not substitute margarine for butter. The goal here is "old world goodness". You would never try to make "chicken fry" healthy - same principle here! If you're going to aim toward calorie control - focus on portion size! :)
You will need a large roasting pan and a VERY large bowl for mixing. I often use one of the large disposable aluminum roasting pans for mixing my stuffing.
20-25lb Turkey (keep all the extras - liver, heart, gizzards, etc...)
3 bags of bread cubes*
1-2 large green pepper
1 pint mushrooms
1 large yellow onion
1 large stalk celery
1-2 eggs
1lb (unseasoned) ground pork sausage
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup
1 stick melted butter
approx 1-2 Tbsp ground sage
approx 2-4 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
Chop veggies into small pieces of equal size. You don't want them about the size of a cheerio or slightly larger. Smaller will turn the stuffing mushy, larger and you'll be able to taste the individual veggies - which is not good. Chop all of the "extras" that come in your turkey except for the neck. Add all ingredients, minus the neck and the turkey, to your mixing dish. Using your hands, thoroughly mix together until they are completely incorporated and all bread cubes are covered. You don't want little dry cubes getting left in the corners.
Make sure your sink is VERY clean. Stick your bird (make sure you give her a name and tell her what a wonderful bird she must have been) in the sink and wash with cool water. If there are still feathers remaining, remove them. Inspect for large portions of fat that need to be trimmed around the butt and the neck. DO NOT remove the extra skin at the top of the breast.
Pat your affectionately named turkey dry with paper towel and rest in your roasting pan. Carefully stuff the bird. Stuff from bottom to top, so the first stuff you put in should butt up at that extra skin. I make a big bulge at that end, filling the space that is created by the extra skin. Secure by tucking - you shouldn't need a toothpick or anything. Stuff as tightly and full as you can manage!
Rub entire bird with softened salted butter. Be generous - she's gonna need it! :)
Place remaining stuffing around bird or in a separate 9x13 baking dish. Cover and set in fridge.
Cover your bird completely with heavy duty aluminium foil - careful that the foil doesn't touch the bird. You'll have some skin removal if it sticks.
If you've never slow roasted before, I recommend inserting a thermometer. You will feel more sure that way! :)
You'll want to start baking around midnight, the night before. Set the oven temp at 200-225 (slow roasting remember). When you wake up in the morning, your home will have the faint aroma of "HOLIDAY". Increase temperature to 350 around 9 or 10am. Be sure you are basting the turkey every hour at this point. Remove drippings to separate dish as well. You will use these for gravy AND for basting the extra stuffing. Remove foil for the last hour of baking to allow skin to get crispy. Turkey should be done around 1-2pm. Watch her, she'll let you know when she is done. After you remove her from the oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for at least 30 min. SHE WILL NOT GET COLD - I promise!!
The rule in my house is, we eat when the Turkey is ready. So that is typically around 2:30 or 3pm.
Baste remaining stuffing (in baking dish) with juice from the turkey and bake at 350 for 45min to an hour.
Oh - and you can throw the neck away now...
*For a gluten free variation, bake Pamela's Wheat Free Bread (Pamela's Baking mix) and cut into cubes - dry in oven at 170-200 until crispy.
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