Turkey or Chicken Stuffing
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This is my mother’s recipe which has been in my family for over 50 years.  It is nothing fancy and is really traditional but it has great taste.  You can use it as a base to experiment with adding other ingredients and spices.  It comes out great in either a turkey or a chicken. Many stuffing recipes that you find online or in books call for adding melted butter, beaten eggs or chicken stock.  When I try adding those, the stuffing always turns out mushy or like soup so I omit any liquids from this recipe.  I think that those recipes are more for cooking the stuffing on the stove instead of in the turkey.  This recipe is only for use in cooking it in the turkey. I don’t toast or dry the bread since in this recipe you don’t need to.  Just don’t use expensive white bread because it will have too much moisture in it.  Just use Brand X white bread.  The moisture in the cheap bread makes up for the lack of other liquids in the recipe.  It may help if the cheap bread you buy is near its expiration date. If you cannot find poultry seasoning then just use sage.  In fact, poultry seasoning is mostly sage and salt so you can just use sage and your own salt. Many people swear that adding cooked giblets is absolutely necessary, but I think it tastes just as good without them.  Ingredients: 1 loaf cheap white bread torn into stuffing sized pieces 1-2 yellow onions, peeled and chopped 1-2 tablespoons poultry seasoning or sage from the spice aisle in the supermarket Giblets from the bird, heart & liver, boiled 30 minutes, cooled and chopped fine (optional) Salt & pepper Always stuff the bird just before putting it into the oven.  Do not stuff it ahead of time because nasty bacteria can grow that way.  Combine everything and stuff the bird nearly full, to allow just a touch of room for expansion.  Don’t forget to take any extra stuffing and stuff the loose skin area around the neck!  Use poultry pins to pin down the loose skin at the neck and the rear to keep the stuffing in place inside.  Roast the bird according to the manufacturer’s instructions, which will say that the roasting time is a bit longer for a stuffed turkey than for an unstuffed turkey. So that is a basic traditional turkey or chicken stuffing recipe.  Once you see how easy it is you can experiment with adding other ingredients.  Ingredients to experiment with: Sausage (cooked and crumbled or small raw pieces) Mushrooms (Try sautéing them first. I think raw mushrooms will release too much  moisture and make the stuffing mushy.) Rosemary Marjoram Thyme Herbed bread cubes from packaged stuffing (just a few for flavor) Celery Celery Seed Parsley (for color) Rye bread or some cornbread mix in combination with the white bread Dried or fresh cranberries Grated raw carrot Chopped raw spinach Chopped apple, pineapple or apricot pieces Pecan or Walnut pieces