It's Thanksgiving, and I decided to cook a few dishes using my own recipes. This year, I'm in charge of making the gravy, a sweet mashed potato dish, and -- as you will now see -- the stuffing!
Since I'm fucking bored and pretty much have nothing better to do with my life, I'm going to photo-blog the process.
Now you can make "Phil's Kick-Ass Stuffing!" Just call me Rachel Ray. EVOO.
Since I'm making stuffing for two turkeys, I want to note that I'm making a lot.
I first baked a loaf of cornbread, which will serve as one of the many secret ingredients I'm going to utilize for this recipe. Then again, I guess by blogging my stuffing recipe kills the concept of a "secret ingredient."
Anyhoo, I followed the directions on the cornbread mix package, except I whisked the egg with 1/3 cup of half-and-half instead of milk; it adds a bit of creaminess to the cornbread. Baking at 400 degrees, I wanted the cornbread to be hard and easy to crumble into the stuffing, so I cooked it for 25 minutes.
Next, I gathered the vegetables that I'm going to add to the stuffing mix: 1 large white onion, 4 stalks of celery, and a potato. The potato adds a bit of starch and volume to the recipe and prevents the stuffing from being too moist, mushy, and flat -- and lemme tell ya, this fucking recipe has a lot of liquids in it.
Interestingly, I came across a mutant potato that I aptly named the "Wonder Potato." Damn you genetic engineering!
Heating a big-ass saucepan, I added a few tablespoons of delicious extra virgin olive oil (or, for you Rachel Ray fans, EVOO) to the bottom. This is going to be used to saute the veggies. As for the veggies themselves, I coarsely chopped them and dumped them into the EVOO.
Another secret ingredient: wine! I fucking love cooking with wine in all my meals; it adds a certain flava to dishes. In a separate pan, I poured around 2 cups of Sauvignon Blanc white wine -- when it comes to good food, use good, non-cooking wine. Anyway, I let the wine reduce into a thick sauce.
In the big-ass saucepan, I sauteed the chopped onions, celery, and potatoes till the onions and celery were semi-translucent. Afterwards, I added the reduced-wine sauce to the vegetables.
Since I'm cooking six boxes of stuffing, I'm going to have to use a shitload of butter -- three sticks, in fact. I had to melt them in a pan, so I cut the butter into workable pads. It melts quicker this way.
Adding the boxes of stuffing to a large bowl, I next mixed in the melted butter.
A lot of stuffing mixes call for water, but I like to use chicken broth instead. The broth adds a lot of fucking flavor to the stuffing, and I recommend using it in any dish that calls for water (well, except maybe pancakes or sweet breads of sort; that's just plain nasty).
To the stuffing/butter mixture, I stirred in 4 cans of chicken broth. A mushy mess, if you ask me -- at least in this state. After creating the primary stuffing ingredients, I folded the mixture into the sauteed vegetables and wine sauce.
Next are the herbs and spices. I added a few teaspoons of black ground pepper, dried oregano, dried basil, and dried rosemary. These spices will give the stuffing a nice, savory, and rustic flavor.
To add more color, I finely chopped some fresh parsley and added it to the mix.
Cornbread's done!
After letting the cornbread cool, I crumbled it into the stuffing mixture. Since the cornbread dried the stuffing out a little, I also stirred in yet another can of chicken broth.
Heating the shit up, I folded the stuffing mixture to ensure all the ingredients blended together.
And voila! "Phil's Super Awesome, Totally Radical, and Orgasmic Stuffing of the Ages!" Yes, I changed the name of my recipe. The cornbread stuffing is sweet, savory, and delicious. It's ready to stuff into the turkey's ass or is ready to eat as is.
Enjoy the recipe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
pleasantly brought
to you by phillip retuta Wednesday, November 23, 2005 @
11:34 PM
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