Bowl of Stuffing for a Chicken

A couple of years ago, when she was preparing to make Thanksgiving dinner, Lora Wiley decided to turn her back on the white-bread standby that most people know as “stuffing.”

Instead, she created her own stuffing with wild rice, Spanish ham, red grapes and roasted chestnuts.

“It was really, really tasty, and it was something different,” says Wiley, who owns Au Marche, 931 Mass.

This is chestnut season, Wiley says, so the stuffing takes advantage of the fall’s bountiful harvest. And there are plenty of grapes available at supermarkets.

“I’d say people don’t think about combining fruit with poultry or other meat,” Wiley says.

But she realizes that out-of-the-ordinary stuffings might not be popular with every family.

“Everyone’s got their own family traditions,” she says.

Here are some recipes for creating gourmet stuffings for this Thanksgiving:

Sausage and apple stuffing

1 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced celery

1 pound bulk sausage

8 cups diced or cubed bread

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced apples

1/4 cup melted butter or margarine

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

1 teaspoon sage

1/4 chicken broth or water

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fully cook the sausage, onions and celery in a skillet or frying pan. Drain all fat. Transfer sausage/vegetable mixture to a large bowl. Add bread, apples, melted butter or margarine, parsley and sage. Mix until barely moist. Add chicken broth or water and salt and pepper. Gently mix all ingredients until moist, but do not overmix. If stuffing is too dry, add more chicken broth or water. If it is too wet, add more bread. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Source: Associated Content

Chestnut-mushroom stuffing

1 stick of butter or 1/3 cup oil

1 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced celery

1/4 cup small-diced carrots

6 cups of bread, cubed

2 eggs, beaten

1 4-ounce can mushrooms, drained and chopped

1 1/2 cups canned chestnuts, drained and chopped

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a frying pan or skillet, saute onions, celery and carrots in butter, oil or margarine. Add mushrooms and chestnuts to pan and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add parsley, sage and poultry seasoning to vegetable/nut mixture and saute for approximately 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Place bread cubes in a large bowl, then add vegetable/nut mixture to bowl. Add beaten eggs, salt and pepper. Gently mix all ingredients together. Place stuffing in a greased baking pan, or casserole dish and bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Source: Associated Content

Roast chicken with chestnut stuffing

3 1/2- to 4-pound whole chicken

1 pound fresh chestnuts in the shell

1 1/2 cups uncooked wild rice

4-ounce slice jamon serrano (Spanish ham)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cups celery, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

40 red seedless grapes, sliced lengthwise

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the cavity with sea salt and black pepper.

Chestnut Stuffing: Roast and peel the chestnuts, and cook the wild rice as directed below. Chop the serrano ham into 1/2-inch dice. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat and fry the ham until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion, celery and parsley, and saute for 5 minutes more. Stir in the chopped chestnuts, cooked wild rice, grapes, sage, thyme and marjoram. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Spoon the stuffing into the cavity of the chicken, reserving the leftover stuffing. Place the chicken in large, shallow baking dish and sprinkle the breast with coarse sea salt, if desired. Roast the chicken in a 375-degree oven for approximately 1 3/4 hours, or until an inserted thermometer reads 180 degrees. About 25 to 30 minutes before the chicken is done, spoon the reserved stuffing into the baking dish around the chicken and return it to the oven for the remaining cooking time. Serves 4.

To roast and peel the chestnuts: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut a small, shallow “X” on the surface of each chestnut. Place the chestnuts in a shallow baking dish and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the chestnuts from the oven and cool for approximately 30 minutes. Using your thumbs, pull apart the chestnut shells. At the “X,” the shell will have started to pull away from itself, making it easy to strip the shell from the nut. Coarsely chop the chestnuts.

To cook the wild rice: Wash 1 1/2 cups of wild rice in cold water. Place the rice in a saucepan with 4 cups of salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir, cover and simmer the rice over low heat for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Uncover the pan, fluff the rice with a fork and simmer for 5 minutes more. Drain excess liquid if needed.

Source: Lora Wiley

Cranberry/apple/walnut stuffing

1 1/2 sticks of butter or margarine, or 1/3 cup oil

1 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced celery

1/4 cup carrots, diced small

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced apples

6 cups diced or cubed bread

3/4 cup dried cranberries, sliced

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup chicken broth or water

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pan or cooking pot, saute onions, celery and carrots in butter, oil or margarine. Saute vegetables until just soft. Add the diced apples, cranberries and walnuts to pan. Saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add bread cubes and remaining ingredients. Gently mix all ingredients together until uniformly moist. Do not overmix. If stuffing is too dry, add a small amount of water or chicken broth. If stuffing is too wet, add some more bread cubes. Place the stuffing in a lightly greased baking pan or casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Occasional basting with shortening or chicken broth may be desired or required.

Source: Associated Content

Pecan/pineapple/raisin stuffing

1 1/2 sticks of butter or margarine or 1/3 cup oil

1 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup small-diced carrots

8 cups diced or cubed bread

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups of raisins

1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped

1 cup pineapple, diced and patted dry

1 1/2 tablespoons parsley flakes

1 tablespoon of basil

2 tablespoons of honey

1/2 cup of chicken broth or water (optional, depending on wetness of stuffing)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onions, celery and carrots in butter, margarine or oil, until soft and tender. Place cubed bread in a large bowl. Add sauteed vegetables to bowl. Gently toss ingredients until just barely moistened. Add beaten eggs and remaining ingredients. Gently mix together, adding chicken broth or water, if needed, depending on consistency of stuffing. Place stuffing into a lightly greased baking pan or casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Source: Associated Content