Get Stuffed!

Here are three stuffing recipes:

• Crab-apple and chestnut -- good with pork, turkey and chicken

• Cranberry-Orange -- good with duck and turkey

• Sausage and Oyster -- good with turkey

All three were used in a Turducken.. to great effect!




















Crab-apple and Chestnut Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh crab-apples
• 1 lb fresh chestnuts
• 1/2 loaf white bread
  
• 1/2 onion
• 2 sticks celery
• 4 oz butter
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried sage
  
• salt and pepper
  

Method
1. Heat oven to 425F, score an "X" in the chestnuts with a sharp knife.





















2. Roast chestnuts in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Check one to see if they are cooked... carefully though, as they are hot.
















3. Remove from oven, and let them cool down. Then remove the shells. This can be tricky.. don't worry if the majority of them fall apart. Also, try to remove the thin skin from the chestnut as well, as this can make them taste bitter.
















4. Prepare bread-crumbs by thinly-slicing the loaf, then cut into squares. Place on a baking tray and cook in the oven at 250F for 20-30 minutes, turning a few times. The aim is not to toast the bread, just dry it out (ie make it stale!). Note: you can then use a food-processor to make smaller crumbs if you want.












5. Finely dice the onion and celery, then fry gently in the butter for 5 minutes.




















6. Peel, core and dice the crab-apples. This can take a while as they are small and fiddly. Add to the onions and cook gently for 5 minutes.











7. Add the cooked chestnuts, sage, thyme and celery salt to the onions and crab-apples and cook for a further 5 minutes.




















8. Add bread-crumbs and cider. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.











9. Let the mixture cool. Store sealed in the fridge until you need it.

10. Either use inside the bird as stuffing, or put into a non-stick baking-tin, cover with foil and cook at 350-400F for 45 minutes.


Cranberry-Orange Stuffing

Ingredients

• 3-4 shallots
• 1/2 loaf white bread
• 2 x 12 oz bags of fresh cranberries
• 4 oz butter
• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 whole cloves
• 3 whole allspice
• 1 small stick cinamon
  
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 3/4 cup sugar

Method
1. Prepare bread-crumbs by thinly-slicing the loaf, then cut into squares. Place on a baking tray and cook in the oven at 250F for 20-30 minutes, turning a few times. The bread should now be dried out. Let it cool, then put bread into a food processor to create bread-crumbs.











2. Rinse the cranberries, remove any bad ones and place in a sauce-pan. Add the orange juice, cloves, allspice, orange zest, sugar and bring to the boil. Cover and lower the heat - simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.





























3. Finely dice the shallots and fry gently in the butter for 5 minutes.










4. Remove whole-spices from the cooked cranberries, then add the cranberries to the onion mixture.










5. Mix in the breadcrumbs, then leave to cool. Store sealed in the fridge until ready to cook. Cook as stuffing in the bird, or separately for 45 mins at 350F in a baking tin covered with foil.












Sausage and Oyster Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 lb smoked sausage (eg pork and venison)
• 1 x 3.75 oz tin smoked oysters
• 3-4 shallots
• 2 small sticks celery
  
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 loaf white bread
• 6 oz mushrooms
• fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
• 8 oz butter
• handful of raisins
• handful of pine-nuts
• salt and pepper
• Optional: 1 egg and dash of milk when cooking separate from the bird
  

Method
Note: as both the sausage and oysters are already cooked, just assemble the stuffing, but don't cook it beforehand. Store in the fridge until day of cooking.

1. Slice bread and heat in oven at 250F for 25-30 minutes, turning once. Cool and then put into food processor to make bread-crumbs.




















2. Dice the onion, celery and garlic and fry in butter for 5 minutes. Add diced mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and let cool.




















3. Remove skin from the sausages, chop into chunks, then food-process until you get a good coarse mixture.




















4. Add sausage to the onion mixture and stir-well.


5. Finely chop and add the herbs to the mixture.












6. Drain oysters and add to the mixture. Optional: chop them into smaller pieces if you want.











7. Add breadcrumbs, raisins and pine-nuts and stir-well.




















8. To cook, either use as stuffing inside the bird, or add an egg and dash of milk, mix well and bake at 350F for 45 minutes in a baking tin covered with foil.